Knixkik wrote:

TMS wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:The article from todays KnicksFanblog on buyouts is pretty interesting. It explains a scenario where Eddy and Jeffries could both be bought out lowering their cap number. I think there is a shot that Jeffries will be traded so there is no rush there. However, if Dolan is willing to buyout Eddy for the max and Eddy is willing to only take 5.5 mil. for his option year the Knicks would be in great shape without having to drastically change the current roster. I hope Walsh has already brought up Curry's buyout to Dolan and that it is being considered right now.

Curry won't take $5.5 mil less than what he's owed... no one's gonna pay him that amount to play for them... the most he'll agree to is $1.9 mil less than what he's owed cuz the veteran's minimum is the most he could possibly hope for... no team is gonna sign him to a multi-year deal at more than that until he can show he can be productive again & stay healthy & motivated for a single season, which at this point is still a huge question mark.

As far as i'm concerned, curry can either take whatever the Knicks give him to leave or STFU. If he doesn't want to eat some money to get out of the current situation, then he should be happy on the bench collecting his paycheck.

doesn't make a difference what u or i think... Curry's gonna be a pain in the ass & whine like a little baby if he doesn't get the playing time he wants or the buyout that he's looking for... & he won't agree to anything more than $1.9 mil less than what he's owed in all likelihood... so for the Knicks they need to decide is it worth it to have him be a distraction for the next year & a half or are they just gonna tolerate it?

thejerk wrote:

TMS wrote:

thejerk wrote:I agree with op in that we dont have to throw money at the first max player available this summer. Joe Johnson and Bosh while great players are not going to change the direction of this franchise. We need to make some smart moves and they all dont have to come this summer.

so basically for u it's either Lebron or nothing this offseason?

We are not getting LeBron guys.

Wade aint leaving Miami either, we might have a shot at Bosh and Carmelo being that they play on teams that are in the middle of nowhere.

Johnson is good but he is not the answer, his career average is like 20 a game and you can find two guards like that for less than a max contract.

We need a star and if we cant pick one up this summer we should wait for one.

After saying all of this, I would still be very happy if this summer comes around and we get both Johnson and Bosh which would definitely be an upgrade from what we have currently as well as what we traded away last year (ZBO and Craw), but will it be enough?

i agree, we need a star... i also agree that if we can't get a star player this offseason then i'm fine w/waiting another year to try & get Melo, but i don't think Dolan shares that point of view... he's gonna want to sign a bigname guy this offseason, no way the Knicks will come out of the 2010 offseason w/o at least 1 huge FA signing... who that will be is anyone's guess, they obviously have an order of preference... my guess is it's Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Dirk, Amare, Johnson, then everyone else including Lee, Boozer, Harrington, etc.

Lebron may come to NY to be King of New York tho... where Bosh ends up is anyone's guess... i think there's a good chance he ends up in Miami too.

BigSm00th wrote:

TMS wrote:i don't see any way D Wade leaves MIA... no state income tax, hottest girls anywhere, South Beach, warm weather, best nightlife in the world, already has huge international marketing appeal... he'll do his best to lure Lebron, Bosh or some other FA to MIA, but he won't leave... Wade is already King of Miami.

Lebron may come to NY to be King of New York tho... where Bosh ends up is anyone's guess... i think there's a good chance he ends up in Miami too.

very good points, plus he's already won a ring there whereas lebron hasn't won a ring. going from cleveland to NY is a huge upgrade whereas, as you said, MIA to NYC is basically a wash.

whatever we have to do to get Lebron to NY, we gotta do... whether that means giving up some assets to free up cap space to sign Bosh, Amare or Dirk to play alongside him, or if he feels that us keeping D Lee will entice him to come here, or whatever else... if Lebron can't be convinced to come here, we should focus our attention on Bosh, re-sign Lee, & then bide our time until 2011 to go after Melo... that's how i would approach this offseason if i were Donnie.

We are heading in the right direction. If Lebron doesn't come... Well, I have no plan for that, depends who's available and what type of players fit the system (shooters, defenders).

I also wasn't too fond of Anthony maybe 2 years ago. But he has taken his game to a whole new level this season, and there is no doubt he can do this for the next 10 years. The guy can flat out play, and he is aggressive as hell goin to the rim this season.

playa2 wrote:

TMS wrote:

thejerk wrote:I agree with op in that we dont have to throw money at the first max player available this summer. Joe Johnson and Bosh while great players are not going to change the direction of this franchise. We need to make some smart moves and they all dont have to come this summer.

so basically for u it's either Lebron or nothing this offseason?

With Lebron it all depends on if his teammates sac-up or not in the deep post season.

If they suck and they get bounced in their first real test he's AUDI

i think he's outta there... Shaq is washed up & is off the books after this season... Lebron knows he's taken that team as far as it can possibly go w/o a major addition & if CLE resigns Lebron this offseason they won't have any cap space to sign anyone to more than a MLE contract.

the Knicks are an infinitely more inviting destination for him to come to than to stay in CLE IMHO... not only for the marketing opportunity for him & his Nike sponsor, but also the surrounding cast in NY will be superior to what he'll have in CLE, especially if the Knicks sign another impact FA to play alongside Lebron.

BasketballJones wrote:If we can't get a second Max Free Agent, can we at least get Max Headroom?

if the knicks have only enough space for lebron this offseason and sign him, bring back lee/harrington/duhon to reasonable contracts, (duhon, chandler, lebron, gallo, lee w/ harrington, toney D, hill) i'm too tired to get into the math but i imagine the expirings of curry and jeffries in 2011 would give them space to sign another max guy or close to it the following offseason. also, given MDA's apparent style preference, it doesn't seem the knicks need more than 7-8 contributing players, which makes the filling in of the roster fairly easy. fill the rest of the bench with marcus landry type guys, take a flier, hope to get lucky.

BigSm00th wrote:

BasketballJones wrote:If we can't get a second Max Free Agent, can we at least get Max Headroom?

if the knicks have only enough space for lebron this offseason and sign him, bring back lee/harrington/duhon to reasonable contracts, (duhon, chandler, lebron, gallo, lee w/ harrington, toney D, hill) i'm too tired to get into the math but i imagine the expirings of curry and jeffries in 2011 would give them space to sign another max guy or close to it the following offseason. also, given MDA's apparent style preference, it doesn't seem the knicks need more than 7-8 contributing players, which makes the filling in of the roster fairly easy. fill the rest of the bench with marcus landry type guys, take a flier, hope to get lucky.

if the Knicks sign Lebron & u bring back Lee, u don't need Duhon... Lebron will be the one orchestrating for the most part... it would make a lot more sense to bring back Hughes to a reasonable deal if u could fit it under the cap cuz he brings more of a 2 way game, better size & quickness at the point, & better scoring ability than Duhon... u could even make due w/Toney Douglas as your starting PG if u had to... & u won't have enough cap space to sign Al Harrington as well as Lee unless u can dump Fishlips or Curry's contract this season for an expiring.

At this point tho, i believe we have a great chance at lebron, and need to sign lee at all costs. We went from arguing about if he's worth keeping, to now watching him nearly price himself out of our market. Hopefully it doesn't happen because i want him back over Bosh and Amare for a few million less. He's almost as good and more durable. He's a 20-10 player alongside lebron, no question about it. He's the closest thing to our second max FA we covet.