Uptown wrote:

TMS wrote:you can still go hard after Melo or Parker next year as long as Curry's contract isn't used in any sign & trades now... that gives us at least $11M in cap space in 2011... 1 other trade to free up $5M & you have your cap space to land that other big fish in free agency... Wilson Chandler is more cap fodder that can be unloaded for extra cap space... i'm talking about using the cap space left over (we still have $20M in cap space right now) &/or a possible D Lee sign & trade to land that other player this summer.

I dont disagree with that, but if you remove Parker and Melo from the equation, who is obtainable this summer that can help us jump into the top 4-5 in the east as you waould like us to do? Randolph is a good piece but still needs to develop. Doesnt' sound like Monta is on the table, even if he was I doubt he's getting us to the next level. Felton? Miller? Ridenhour? RJefferson? The pickens are slim.

Even if we don't get Bron, I gotta say that I'm excited about the prospect of an Amare, Randolph Gallo frontcourt. If we get Ridenhour in here to run the pick and roll and keep defenses honest with the J -- I don't think playoff are out of the question. Melo probably won't come next year, but if we faciliate a trade for Tony Parker or another good perimeter player with Eddy's carcass, we're back in the game. At the very least, we're an exciting team again. If Yao Ming's recovery is slow, we can also look forward to a low lottery pick that can possibly be packaged. Things aren't as gloomy as they were a year ago.

Uptown wrote:

TMS wrote:you can still go hard after Melo or Parker next year as long as Curry's contract isn't used in any sign & trades now... that gives us at least $11M in cap space in 2011... 1 other trade to free up $5M & you have your cap space to land that other big fish in free agency... Wilson Chandler is more cap fodder that can be unloaded for extra cap space... i'm talking about using the cap space left over (we still have $20M in cap space right now) &/or a possible D Lee sign & trade to land that other player this summer.

I dont disagree with that, but if you remove Parker and Melo from the equation, who is obtainable this summer that can help us jump into the top 4-5 in the east as you waould like us to do? Randolph is a good piece but still needs to develop. Doesnt' sound like Monta is on the table, even if he was I doubt he's getting us to the next level. Felton? Miller? Ridenhour? RJefferson? The pickens are slim.

who knows who's available or not? that's Donnie's job to be working the phones & aggressively pursue all those "options & flexibility" he was selling everyone on when he made the trades to get us to this point... if we fail on landing Lebron you telling me it would be acceptable for Donnie Walsh not to have an acceptable contingency plan in place? & by that i mean not overpaying for underwhelming talent, but landing a legitimate player that can help this team going forward & be an integral part of what we're trying to build... a player that along w/Amare will help to form the core for the foreseeable future... right now with Amare & Gallo we have 2 nice pieces... we need a third to be a contender this year, preferably someone who can orchestrate the offense effectively... i realize the pickings are slim, but i'm not the one who chose to go all in for the summer of 2010... this is the situation Donnie's led us to, so he needs to deliver.

At least that way, he can say he's added a potential star.

knickstorrents wrote:Much love for the Don. Classy and Professional.

yeah, i mean, we can bitch about some things for sure, but nice to have a sound pro at the top. he put us in a good spot to make a run.

A sign and trade that doesn't send us back Ellis and gives us AR and Turiaf is the best we can hope for. If AR turns into the player most think he could be we have one of the better front lines in the NBA. Turiaf if healthy is a tough guy that can play a little center.

Lebron chooses miami he is Prince Harry.

Fishmike - in some ways the Anthony Randolph deal keeps the present and future bright

Knicks add another versatile and talented big man and the spare cash to wave in front of Carmelo or the next candidate at lead guard

Lebron does NOT get showered with love in The Garden unless he is wearing white trimmed in orange and blue

I can live with that

Walsh did everything right in his attempt to get James, but he was not starting out with a player like Wade to serve as a lure.

He faced a true Catch-22 situation. Create cap space at the expense of presenting a decent team to prospective free agents, or have a decent team with no true stars with room for only 1 max contract, and face the probability that a guy like James would not want to sign into that situation.

Walsh did nothing different in concept when you compare the Knicks plan to what Miami did. Miami just found a way to dump even more contracts, open up even more cap space, so that they could stand by and have Wade lure Bosh to Miami, and then watch as Wade and Bosh reeled in LeBron, who stopped struggling after Bosh said he would join Wade in Miami.

Not sure what else Donnie could have done, and I doubt that having this or that player instead of someone we did draft, would have made a difference.

MS wrote:It was a no win situation for the guy, maybe some of us were a little hard on him. I was one of him. The amare move is genius if we grab Lebron, good if we don't.

A sign and trade that doesn't send us back Ellis and gives us AR and Turiaf is the best we can hope for. If AR turns into the player most think he could be we have one of the better front lines in the NBA. Turiaf if healthy is a tough guy that can play a little center.

Lebron chooses miami he is Prince Harry.

I will modify my prior response by saying if we can trade Lee for Randolph and Turiaf without picking up Ellis's overpriced contract, then I would move Walsh's grade up from a C+ to a B+. I think Randolph will be a very solid player in 2-3 years after he fills out and learns the game better.