There are quite a few UFAs that I'm interested in but the two big FAs I really want are both restricted.
Depending on who we draft, I'm narrowing my top 2 choices down to these 2 combinations of players draft/FA:
#1 - Draft Okafor/sign Brandon Knight (or Goran Dragic, 2nd choice).
#2 - Draft Mudiay/sign Enes Kanter (DeAndre Jordan would be a distant 2nd choice--I really want Kanter if we go for a big in FA).
I think it's paramount that we retool with both an impact big AND PG. No way around it--we need both. One thing that's important to me--if Melo ever went down, I'd want to forge ahead with plus talent but on the young side. Okafor and Mudiay are both 19 & 18; Kanter's 22 and Knight's 23. If Melo ever went down, I wouldn't want to be stuck with an older roster that had to be broken down again. That's my one big preference...Having said that, I'll take Dragic if I can't get Knight (and I like Knight better than Reggie Jackson btw) -- Dragic's about 5 years older than Knight but he's a potent enough player (the high shooting % from 2 & 3 and low TO rate really stick out) where I think we just say F it, here's the money Goran, let's go for it. Not like he's 40 either--he'll be 29 next year.
Back to going younger, in order to get either Knight or Kanter, I'd be prepared to offer substantial money early on in the FA process (I'd want to immediately jump back into FA for our 2nd choices if our offer got matched while the other top alternatives are still out there). Looking to make it hard on either Milwaukee or Utah to match here. Depending on who we draft--I might decide to get real bold and offer either guy the max. There will still be money left over for several lower-level signings to round out the roster after a big splash.
Not sold on Karl-Anthony Towns btw. Of course I see the potential but I just don't know if that young fella will be ready to step in and have an immediate impact like I think an Okafor or Mudiay could. All of these top players in the draft will require some time to adjust. That's a given. Now maybe I'm wrong but I just see Towns taking the longest and going through the most growing pains of these few top players. Reserve the right to change my mind--if Towns went out and had a monster 25/15/5 blk game coming up I might feel differently. As of right now though, I just don't know if I see that in him. Towns very easily may never achieve the lofty level of play many feel he will. I'm not sold...Who knows what Melo will be in 2-4 years down the line or whenever Towns is ready to really have an impact. A guy like Enes Kanter to me is a much more advanced big man over Towns (I think over Okafor too really)--not to mention I don't think Kanter's even peaked yet. All he needs is more minutes and touches--more than he's getting right now. If this guy gets 35 mins a night and enough shots--I definitely see a 20/10 player here -- as soon as this year even, if Utah ever decided to play it like that with him. If I got this guy, that's how I'd play it with him right from day 1. I'd be betting that Kanter responds well to the larger role and really takes off. Towns by comparison doesn't looks ready for that type of role and I honestly don't know if he'll ever get there. Gotta be honest -- in a lot of ways, I like Kanter better than either Okafor or Towns (plus I like Mudiay's game a lot at the point from what I can see). I couldn't bring myself to pass on Okafor but if that didn't work out, I personally think we're set up real nice with a Mudiay/Kanter combo., both in terms of talent at the right positions and age-wise.
Carmelo's body/health is a huge concern to me. I feel like we really need to expedite the process, retool as quickly as possible and really hit the ground running with BOTH a PG and big man upgrade where both guys are capable of contributing substantially right out of the gate next year. I think that's very important. Let's go after this while Melo is still hopefully at the top of his game. If not, my silver lining--if the worst ever happened with Melo injury-wise God forbid, we then forge ahead with 2 real solid young players we acquire in this draft and FA -- the younger the better in a way, hoping to have a young enough/good enough nucleus left over to move forward with. Without Melo, I'm OK being patient, rebuilding from scratch with project-types even if it came down to it. With Melo headlining, I think there needs to be more of an immediacy to what we're doing regarding the players we target. Ideally I'd like to acquire players that fit both categories -- young, yet ready to go and have legit impact.
