We had to go to russia just to find one with some decent potential...

Knickoftime wrote:

xeo wrote:we really don't have enough cap space to sign deandre jordan? is it that he will demand so much or that we won't have any space...

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/knicks.jsp

Knicks have $36.7m committed between Stat and 'Melo.

Billups has a team option for $14.2m but can be declined at a buyout of $3.7m.

So they're at $50.9m with Billups, or $40.4M without him.

Bottom line is (look at the link) Knicks might would have a few dollars to spend IF they decline Billups option, but NONE if they exercise it.

So the question is, do you want to cut Billups loose for nothing on the chance you can both sign a RFA to an offer and AND their teams decline to match?

Unless there is a very solid replacement for Billups, you almost risk taking a step backwarde if you let him go. Is there a PG/C combo who would fit in cap-wise and also do well with with what we have?

crzymdups wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

Tier 1
Marcus Cousin

Fine, I've been noticing this guy's boxscores/stats in the d-league, but haven't seen him play. what do you know about him? He seems intriguing.

Unfortunately I never followed him in college Crzy. Don't remember him..The few games I did tune in to watch the Cougars play, it was to get a good look at Aubrey Coleman..I guess those couple of times I either had tunnel vision on Coleman and/or Cousin just never stood out to me. However, back in January the NBA channel had a bunch of NBDL games on over a 3-day period that were being televised from St. Padre Island--they we're calling it the 'D-League Showcase' and the Austin Toros were one of the teams I saw. That's the first time I saw Cousin and came away impressed..Then I saw him play in the DL all-star game a couple of weeks ago -- again, he was impressive..He looked even better actually..Givony over at Draftexpress.com has a nice write-up on him that's pretty much right on the money -- talks about how he's a late bloomer and discusses his impressive skillset -- big, long, great jumpshooter, solid rebounder..I concur with DX--I've seen it now with my own eyes. All true..I'd actually go a step forward and say that he's an even better athlete than they give him credit for on that site..He plays hard and seems to be a really nice combination of power & finesse/offense & rebounding in a sturdy 6'11" 260 lb. body..Early on I thought Chris Johnson and Courtney Sims were the two best DL centers..Don't get me wrong, they're pretty good, both put up more gaudy numbers than Cousin, but numbers don't always tell the whole story sometimes..I'd much rather have Cousin over these two if I had a choice..I think he's got the brighter NBA future..

We could absolutely use this guy. He's got quite a few youtube clips that continually show the same thing: his ability to excel using his good height/body and rather polished set of skills..One of the clips shows him playing very well matched up against lottery pick Jordan Hill (which is who he reminds me of actually---Jordan Hill, even some Al Horford)..Reviewing the highlights & numbers from his senior year at Houston (which weren't outstanding but very decent---let's face it, this dude Coleman was ball-dominant and took a majority of the shots there; whatever shot attempts Cousin got were probably leftovers) I honestly can't believe he wasn't drafted..Now that he's excelling in the DL, there's nothing left to prove...I prefer him over these other guys we're talking about adding because of his age (he's only 25, born in 1986 I believe). Based on his age, skill and upside, he's the type of guy we could get right now and it'd be like adding an in-season 1st round pick with experience (4 seasons at Houston, 1 in Europe, and this year in the NBDL)..He'd help out right away and possibly be an option for us long-term for decent money..Let's face it, we've got a lot of money tied up in Amar'e, Melo and probably Chauncey for next year once his option's picked up..Fields is gonna get paid..A couple of other core bench guys will probably be asked back...That doesn't leave a lot of cap room left to manuever with...We're gonna have to be smart and creative to a certain degree with things here...We should be looking at guys like this..I see him as more than a rental -- he could be a nice young talented building block for us..He really would fit in perfectly with us. There's no doubt about it.

Dalembert would be ideal at this point. Hell even old ass Camby would be sweet.