RonRon wrote:Ira wrote:One more thing. If the Knicks didn't pick up Billups option, they wouldn't have to use the amnesty on him.
Yeah, after the Melo trade, I was pushing for the Knick's not pick up his contract the more I watched him. He just doesn't mix in well at this point of his career with what we were doing. Most importantly, it would have allowed us to go after a FA center, which we knew were going to be available. Maybe never imagining Tyson Chandler be available but there was still Dalembert/Kris Humphries/Nene.
After our exit in the 1st round, some people on the board said, the 4.4ish mill that would be used to buy out Billup's contract would be held against the cap.
I don't know, I totally agree we shouldn't have picked it up after what we saw in Billup's vs what Felton provided.
I don't think anyone also thought we would gain an amnesty clause to use either.
With the buyout, New York would only be about 9 million under the cap if they renounced Brown because of Chauncey's cap hit, so they'd basically get Dalembert and that's it (because apparently he's not taking MLE money and Nene is basically getting the same money as Chandler). All things considered, the Knicks were better off keeping Billups because his expiring deal was a potential trade chip. They caught a lucky break with the anmesty clause, really. Chandler is significantly better than Dalembert, too.