I don't mind being the minority in willing to trade pick#1. I know how to build a championship team. My goal would be to get a soft under the table commitment from Monroe first. .....trade ok4 or russell who i think are over rated....but still quality players. Trade ok4 for stein and possibly another 1st or another vet with leadership.

If im wrong with ok4....or russell....fine. But im not wrong about stein or kaminsky for example....proven college senior players at the top of their game against college players Who are hungry system players without the pressure of being picked at the top of the draft. I want to see a new version of the twin towers in nyc.......imagine the headlines.

Towns and Mudiay really intrigues me the most.....Towns might be the only keeper for me. Mudiay will fall and could be had with a smart draft day trade. But im open for trade options on ok4 and mr wonderful russell. There are other PGs in the draft that everybody is sleeping on......who will go in the second round and will be better than any PG on our team right now. We are that bad. Im building my team from the inside out.

Weve been undersized for too long....remember David Lee and tje guy in indiana was our starting center. Towns and Monroe are my dream pickups. I dont care if OK4 is the best low post scorer in the draft.....hes not better than Melo? But i can say towns and stein are better than melo on defense.....by far. Melo wouldnt have to bang anymore and his knees would be able to heal while others do the dirty work... thats when melo is at his best.

nyk4ever wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I think what you are seeing is people were emotionally invested in Ok4 initially including the media but now Towns is emerging as the best player in the draft so a lot more people are saying they would take him #1. Even the media and draft experts now

i gotta be honest bro - i dont think anyone on this board has been invested in okafor, but i do feel that way about towns. as i said previously, i would take towns over okafor PERSONALLY, but i think it's a tossup.

Most mocks still have OK4 1. I agree that Towns is starting to flash the potential scouts said he had. But OK4 has been getting it done against guys with NBA size all year. It's March Madness and we're still wondering which Towns will show up from game to game. A lot can change from now to the championship game, but Towns still has work to do if he wantsbto obertake Towns.

It was reported the other day Knicks been to 20 of last 30 Kentucky practices which might tell more than just games.
Im sure other teams have been there as well.

Calipari sells this kind of stuff to recruits as practice is about an NBA combine preview but just for the kentucky kids. Calipari can run his practic to showcase his kids.
With so much talent on that team the talent will show thru as it would in games.

Last summer, prior to the draft, I compared Elfrid Payton to Gary Payton, not knowing he even had a son in the NCAAB
ELfrid Payton has shown glimpses of his potential early in the SUMMER LEAGUE and during the season, though they have a very poor record, they play extremely hard and play "right" basketball
He was my dark horse to win ROY, I said he was going to flirt with triple double numbers with a combined 3 steals and blocks together on a nightly basis, still being able to defend both the PG/SG positions
Like Olindipo, they both will have to work on their shooting, especially Payton who has stuggled much at the FT line in addition to shooting 3pters and the mid range, but he has improved much with Olindop as well

Like Gary Payton, Elfrid, has great size/length for the PG position, with potential defense in addition to the ability to rebound for a guard, steals, and defend multiple positions
Some forget Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were the orignal "LOB CITY" and the GLOVE fully utilized his physical abilities and his mouth in trash talking

Like Billups, Ron Harper, Briawn Shaw, Gary Payton, these ex players that played the PG position, can surely help the development as development coaches, all with different skill sets/styles, of our future PG's with DEFENSE, CONTROLLING TEMPO, ABILITY TO REBOUND FOR A GUARD, FUNDAMENTALS that today's game surely is missed with veteran leadership/mentors, sacrificed on soley potential players without the X factors to help guide these talents to maximizing their potential with the right guidance, fundamentals of the game, work ehtic, consistency, and his ability to POST UP at the GUARD position, which would really fit in our system if we added a player with this ability to do so

For player development coaches, we have to bring in HIGH IQ players that are versatile that would translate in todays game that has changed/evolved much but still could take a page of the history of these players
Getting a former player that has the respect would do wonders on our future young players, especially with this upcoming draft and D League call ups

Rasheed Wallace - ONCE a KNICK, ALWAYS a KNICK, he is one of the better PF/C with all round game that could play in the POST and to spread the floor, was also a under rated passer/faciliator/defender/shotblocker/rebounder, evidence of his ability to develop players would be Chris Copeland who was mentored by Wallace, Camby/Kurt Thomas, and improved his game, especially DEFENSE/REBOUNDING/POST/USING HIS BODY to box out/fight for position when he was a rookie and then improved much later in the year but was under utilized by Woodson
Though he wasn't able to play much due to his age/injuries with Kurt Thomas/Camby/Kidd, their signifigance to the team was very important to our 54 win season, especially in terms of leadership that Billups has said recently that CA lacks with the ability to facilitate, it just isn't his game, while he is a very good shooter and scorer

HAVING ALL MANAGEMENT working together, to come with a philosophy to communicate together on how to develop talents/players in the GYM, on the court, on the bench/locker room, in the gym, in film sessions, and taking each SUMMER to work on their games individually and then as a team to build chemistry during training camp
SPEND THE MONEY NEEDED for the above with equipment needed to maximize the potential of our picks, especially if we will be acquiring more picks/young players to get in this summers draft, while preserving cap space to acquire maybe 2-3 or more UFA's in 2017

I cannot illustrate the importance of having the right combination of having these type of player development coaches and get quaility trainers, nutrionist, maybe physical therapy/yoga training to prevent injuries and add flexiblity
Since then ,Wallace, he has been an assistant coach/development coach for The Detroit Pistons and we have seen Greg Monroe/Andre Drummond improve their games much in these past 2 seasons

Jermaine Oneil - another one of my favorite old school PF/C's that utilized his length/mobility/athleticism to make up for his size/weight and was great in the POST given his lack of weight and also was a great rebounder/shot blocker as well and surprisingly was still largely effective last season play for GS when Bogut was out

Ray Allen/Peja/ Price, Steve Smith, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond, Barry brothers, Jim Jackson/Kapono *some of which have played for Phil Jackson before on the Lakers* as our shooting coach, especially in TODAYS "POTENTIAL" with this being the weakness of many players with the size/athleticism that cannot be taught

Shane Battier/Grant Hill/ James Posey/ Scottie Pippen as our DEFENSIVE COACH for the WINGS ESPECIALLY, taking Thanasis as their project, who were all GREAT TEAM DEFENDERS and 1v1 DEFENDERS that has played as role players and except for Posey, as all also played as the go to "MAN" they all know how the fundamentals that our league currently lacks, with the ability to spread the floor, intangibles, communication and the importance of how to do so both in the game and on the bench to prepare for a game/match up

Elfrid Payton will have a very solid career in my opinion, he is currently their future with Olindop and Vucevic, I am not so sure about Aaron Gordon who shocked most people on draft day being picked 4th?
Though Aaron Gordon has great athleticism, he is undersized, and though he has a bit of a mini Blake Griffen in him in terms of freakish athleticism, he also is undersized at the PF, and not skilled enough to play the SF, making him a tweener, depending on how he develops in the gym the next couple of years and work on his weakness much like Griffen has added a solid 17 footer to even 3pt shooting this year if wide open to spread the floor

Though Griffen has improved his ability to shoot and facilitate much, he MUST be able to mix it up with more POST PLAY which he has gotten away from this season, to compliment DeAndre Jordan on 1v1 opporutnies to grab the OFF REB or get LOBS when the defense cheats or catches them sleeping, though should be on another post/thread

I think Tobias Harris must play at the PF in order for him to be effective, where as when he plays the SF, he has trouble defending the position and doesn't nearly have the mismatches he creates when he plays the PF, similar to CA

Gary Payton JR's game has some skill sets both strengths and weakness's like his father, who BOTH are great gym rats with great work ethic, comparable to a more athletic Avery Bradly that could probably even defend SF's with GREAT SHOT BLOCKING in addition to rebounding for a Guard, Danny Green/Wade *in his younger days*
Our problem with Tyson Chandler was that we never teamed up his abilities with enough 2way players and defenders that had enough HIGH IQ, GOOD TEAM DEFENDERS AND 1v1 DEFENDERS that could also be sufficient OFFENSIVE players outside of that run with Jeremy Lin with D League type offensive talents that played as a team/chemistry as ONE UNIT effectively

Payton JR is a bit older, with that comes the maturity that some lack with the "potential", I think his game would translate and develop well with Thansis TOGETHER, as both have great physical abilities that allow them to be versatile team defenders and 1v1 defenders with lock down potential, having a multiple effect with each other and the right combination of defensive players together like The Celtic had with

KG as the TRUE anchor of the team on DEFENSE, that Rivers totally brought the best out of with lineups/rotations that allowed them to compete as one of the TOP defensive teams for years when piror to their physical declines of the BIG 3, then there are the under rated DEFENDERS that probably deserve more credit that enabled them to becoming contenders and one of the TOP teams with Detroit for a good couple of seasons, before Lebron was able to team up with Wade/Bosh

Perkins *when he was younger* and Glen Davis
Tony Allen andJames Posey
Rhondo *when he was a good defender*

Many sites have Payton JR as undrafted on mock drafts, which would make him a complete steal
Some other 2nd rounders or/and late 1st rounders I would like to add include

Christmas who I see as a Taj Gibson type player
Dakari Johnson - who talents are hidden behind the depth of Kentucky

Terry Rozier who has been all over the place from mid teens in this draft to the mid 2nd round in this draft, with a bit of Eric Bledsoe in him

Christian Wood/Brian Upshaw with Upshaw's injury moving him down but is unlikely to fall much as he has NBA body already and Wood is pure potential with a lot of rawness potential to be untapped with a lot of work both on the court and in the gym

Andrew Harrison and Harrison brothers, are versatile and maybe "tweeners" that play in Kentucky and has very good defensive potential and pretty solid all round games/fundamentals/intangibles

Gary Payton JR, Briggs is great in finding value/potential players and this draft has many players/talents that could be our FUTURE while solidifying it in 2017 when we can form a trio and more of talents that FIT in the Triangle, while signing cap friendly deals and/or POISON PILLS in these next 2 seasons, especially taking a chance at Middleton/Draymond Green, the worse that could happen is if they match it, of which we lose NOTHING

IF we can trade CA, take some contracts like David Lee to get in the 1st round, their could be so many combinations of talents that could be part of our foundation of how we want to play with our own TOP 3 pick
We can then possibly move up/down to get as many of these potential talents, while utilizing our cap space wisely to free agents this summer that will be part with us or tradeable assets

For instance if we can acquire Terrence Jones/DMO and New Orlean's 1st rounder and our own 2nd round pick this summer, we can possibly move up to pair our own 1st rounder and maybe get talents like

Mario Hezonja - really depends on where he goes on the draft, if he falls to around 9-10 or later, though he has talent, there is always the possiblity that Hezonja stays in Europe if he doesn't want to join a bad team but joining NYK and the possiblity of winning in the bright lights could = major endorsements as incentives, especially if Dolan utilizes his own TV network/business opporutnities off the court/ to make more money to make up for the STATE TAX and PROPERTY prices, this goes for ALL STARs and role players, a reason why we have trouble signing free agents for the cheap....

Stein - Tyson Chandler like
Justise Winslow *who I see as Jimmy Butler prior to his development in shooting while Derrick Rose was injured*
Frank Kaminsky - Pau Gasol skill set but has to work on his mobility/lack of athleticism especially the vertical jump and PnR DEFENSE on switches, with his strength/conditioning

Pair these guys up with OK4, Towns, or Russell and that is a very bright future, and while it may not be more picks than Philly/Boston, we will have enough pieces to be legit contenders, and attract the UFA's to choose New York over those teams if we play our cards right

As I have said in many other posts, I believe there will also be another amensty when 2017's CBA as it would benefit both players *getting paid for their contracts while possibly getting another contract like players like Birdman, Josh Smith, Mike Miller, Andray Blatche, and many others have proffitted from* while teams get the chance to CUT their payroll and sign new free agents like Chicago has done last season with Gasol, Mirotic *who was signed for more than his salary with cap space in order for him to buyout his European team and take the leap to the NBA*

So if we do trade CA and can acquire assets in the process, who could be the next H20 at some time in career with his past injuries in addition to this latest one at his age...
Given the fact that Chicago's owner is CHEAP and already has went all in with the amensty of Boozer, while expected to offer a MAX extension to Jimmy Butler in order to be a contender, and Derrick Rose's injuries, would it be a possiblity to trade CA, expirings, with many draft picks that they own with his 20m + salary for 2 more years after this years contract, which is the same length of Calderon's contract
I certainly would consider taking such conttracts for multiple assets in place, so when we have the amnesty again, it will speed up our ability to build a LEGIT CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER utilizing this summers draft picks and next year as a showcase of the development to attract ALL STARS to come to New York
Of course in order to so, we must put together a group of talents to attract considerations, as winning in New York would have great potential in endorsements world wide, so it is a risk that younger players would take that the extra year of a 4year deal vs a 5year deal wouldn't be as important to them and worth a gamble in DEPENDENT on the talents we can acquire this summer and the salary we can preserve in 2017 to go after a combination of 2-3 STAR's and maybe some 2nd/3rd tier stars/quality role players

2015 was the plan but 2017 will make or break our franchise for the next decade, in Phil Jackson we must trust

They just moved gary Payton to rd 1 on nba draft.net