Posted by TMS:

Posted by martin:

Posted by TMS:

shoulda traded them at the deadline last year like i said... now we're handcuffed bigtime... Lee & Nate not only have to agree to where they're being traded to, but the Knicks also need to find a team willing to give up a usable asset in the process for someone they can simply offer a FA contract to sign if they want them... it's not gonna be easy to get a good deal done over the offseason... the only realistic way to get good value now is if they sign both these guys & trade them before the deadline next year, but even then they have to make sure they sign both guys to reasonable contracts that will be tradeable, & both players have to be productive & stay healthy up til that point... basically you're taking a huge risk that you'll be stuck w/both contracts on the books past the deadline & thereby fugging up your 2010 plans in the process if u sign them to FA contracts this offseason.

i have no idea what Donnie was thinking when he didn't trade those guys last year when he had the chance... we could have gotten some picks & expirings for them, or at the very least a quality player who could have factored into next year's plans i'd have to assume... he really may have cut off his nose to spite his face on both those decisions.

in the offseason year 2010, a TON of teams will have cap space that will be able to absorb Lee or Nate if the Knicks still have them and want to get rid of them. No worries.

of course there's worries... like i said u gotta make sure u sign both those guys to tradeable contracts & both guys have to stay productive & healthy until they get traded... & who's to say that any teams w/cap space will wanna help us out by taking their contracts off our books? don't u think those same teams will be after the big names that offseason too? why would they settle for players like Lee & Nate when they can spend those dollars on better players & not have to give up any assets in order to do it? that's not realistic.

I guess there's the other side of the coin too.... if all of the teams want to wait until 2010 to sign the big free agents, Lee and Nate WON'T get big, unrealistic offers this offseason. And if they do, it will be from teams that really crave them and may want to offer up something to ensure it happens at a reasonable price. Not too many teams have salary cap space where each of Nate, Lee is the final piece to the puzzle.

Posted by King1:

Wouldnt it have been easier to sign them before the season for 5/35 to 40 and then you have none of this to worry about. Walsh has the propensity to wait on giving people money.

I agree with this. It was a major mistake. And this notion that is ok to let them walk is insane. You don't let assets just walk away. Another GM would be hounded by the press if they let that happen. Like I said before even Isiah gave Kurt Thomas that reasonable extension and then dealt him.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by King1:

Wouldnt it have been easier to sign them before the season for 5/35 to 40 and then you have none of this to worry about. Walsh has the propensity to wait on giving people money.

I agree with this. It was a major mistake. And this notion that is ok to let them walk is insane. You don't let assets just walk away. Another GM would be hounded by the press if they let that happen. Like I said before even Isiah gave Kurt Thomas that reasonable extension and then dealt him.

going with what martin said, i don't think the knicks expect to have to let them to walk at all. it's a gamble, calling other teams' bluffs, but i think a smart one given the need for the knicks to get better asap, imho.

they just don't expect either player to get the kind of offer sheet that will be so large that it won't make sense for the knicks to match, given the market, interest by many teams to be under the cap in 2010, and likelihood nate/lee are a final piece worth of overpaying where it really hurts their value.

if the knicks re-sign them/match a sheet offered and it's reasonable, we can even move them before the feb trade deadline. however, the worst case scenario of having them walk, would mean additional cap space, but i think unless the players are given astronomical offer sheets (which seems unlikely) both guys will be knicks to start 2009, unless they can be signed-and-traded this summer as well.

Posted by martin:

Posted by Marv:

Posted by King1:

Wouldnt it have been easier to sign them before the season for 5/35 to 40 and then you have none of this to worry about. Walsh has the propensity to wait on giving people money.

it wouldn't have made any sense. would you want nate signed for the 5 at 35 to 40? i wouldn't. i'd like lee for the next 5 at 30. think it might happen?

besides which we have discussed this a thousand times and Kingme still says it would have been easier to sign Lee for 5/35M before this past season broken-record style.

What if Lee showed NO signs of developing a jumpshot this past season? What if he went all Curry-style and ate himself to death? What if he showed little aptitude to fit into the MDA style offense?

As an executive of a new team you always evaluate first. Do you think Donnie was just going to go on Isiah's notes and resign Lee without talking and seeing him practice and play first hand? It's reasonable to do that kind of thing.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Anyway it's a past thing, so who the **** cares. Lee got better and will get a better deal. Lee got better and the Knicks are a better team for it. Win win.

Exactly, Martin - Hindsight is 20/20.

And let's be honest, it's not like we just missed out on resigning Kobe Bryant here, this is David Lee...