Knicksfan wrote:

martin wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:

martin wrote:No to Maggettee and Diop, not enough talent coming back.

I would consider Tyrus and someone like DJ Augustine though.

Charlotte has to do something with Augustine after drafting Kemba, and I am not sure it makes sense to have them both. Augustine is up for an extension.

Taking Tyrus off their hands saves them a bunch of cash.

Would mainly be a salary dump, which as only that is good enough to me. Can we really get anything valuable for Amar'e? I doubt it as of today.

How is trading Amare for nothing good? Especially when the salary cap would all but guarantee not being able to sign anyone of significance?

First you'd have to see what market is out there for Amar'e. It might be better than I expect, and crazier things have happened in the NBA so we might be able to get talent for him. But in my opinion, which is that of a pessimistic fan right now, I find it hard to believe we can get more for Amar'e than salary relief, considering his health issues, his uninsured contract and the amount and length of his contract.

This move would mean we don't have high hopes for next season. Considering how our last playoffs run have gone (I know this one is not over though it looks like), we would need to make a few moves to make this team stronger and more capable of beating the Heat. Since we'd have less flexibility to do so (heck, we might not be able to keep many of our bench, which at full strength is a deep and talented bench).

Salary cap, as we know, isn't only to sign players, but to make trades for talented players, so we would be more active on the trading market (when aren't we?).

As of today, I'd trade Amar'e for cap space in a heartbeat. If it comes with a pick or two, better yet. I understand the best thing would be to get talent back, but I doubt it will be easy to do under the condition of Amar'e and his contract. If so, salary cap and/or picks will be just as valuable.

I don't think that is true - whether Amar'e can co exist with Melo or not, the fact is when Amar'e was hurt, we played fine and would have been great with a role playing rebounding Reggie Evans type PF up front to fill in.

Teams that might have interest are the ones that would be able to buy low for him, while taking a risk that they almost set on being a playoff caliber team. We traded Zack Randolph to Memphis for an expiring to Memphis, helping them solidify what they have become today. Teams like the Bucks, Pacers, Houston, and maybe with New Orleans. Generally teams that have a center and PG to compliment Amare.

New Orleans has talent on their roster, with some not good contracts as well.
New Orleans has a new owner, a reason why they didn't want to add salary.
But it would be up to the new owners if they would consider a trade for Amare.
They might not have had a great record this year but they beat many good teams and kept it competitive against many teams. They were one of the better defensive teams this year and dealt with many injuries. A scorer like Amare could help that area while he can be the alpha dog there with a balanced roster. Ariza played some games this year but isnt a big need while Ok4 barely played at all. Both have injury problems and are not considered good contracts, making this a realistic trade.

It will depend on what they do with Kaman(unrestricted) and Eric Gordon(restricted) with who they target with their upcoming draft picks.

Jack
Gordon
Aminu
Amare
Kaman

Vasquez
Smith? The guy that bum rushed Blake Griffen
A couple D-league surprises and young role players developing
Multiple draft picks with 2 lottery this year with 2nd round picks and future upcoming draft picks

The Western Conference is much tougher than the East. With the current playoff contenders and a healthy T-Wolves and Blazers, Houston, Golden State, and depending on what happens to Nash(or who they target in the off season) for Suns are all possible playoff contenders to compete with

martin wrote:No to Maggettee and Diop, not enough talent coming back.

I would consider Tyrus and someone like DJ Augustine though.

Charlotte has to do something with Augustine after drafting Kemba, and I am not sure it makes sense to have them both. Augustine is up for an extension.

Taking Tyrus off their hands saves them a bunch of cash.

FoeDiddy wrote:I think melo playing 4 would ruin his body. Him playing defense on power forward brutes is not ideal at all.

Melo at the 4 would be fine. You don't have him always defend the opposing PF, you base it on matchups. Long term i think he would be a good fit there, especially if you have a SF who is big and a good defender, someone like Marion, Ariza, etc.

SupremeCommander wrote:I would consider that if they wanted to throw a picks with minimum protection into the mix

I would take their pick this year