bigbasketballs wrote:Gotta say i'm intrigued by Whiteside, if you're taking the KP/Gallo/Grant longview.

Plus, would free up O'Quinn and maybe even in the right circumstances, Lopez, to free up cap room to hunt for a guard. But I LIKE Lopez, I'm in no way pushing him out the door.

Not everyone with cap room will land free agents. O'Quinn and/or Lopez might have some trade value and/or just move the contract value to clear more cap.

Haven't seen much of Whiteside but my sense was that he is a hot head and needs to be managed as a player, ala a lesser JR. Don't think Phil would be interested in that type of personality in this situation.

GustavBahler wrote:KP's emergence should make attracting a third star more feasible. The Knicks could always add better role players, but Im interested in seeing if any stars will do more than talk about playing in NY.

Reasonably, what star is available next year that would come to the Knicks and would fit the Knicks?

I think Batum is more likely than Conley, though Conley'd be the better fit.

Conley
Afflalo
Melo
KP
Rolo

That's a hell of a starting five.

crzymdups wrote:Batum and Conley would be at the top of my list.

I think Batum is more likely than Conley, though Conley'd be the better fit.

Conley
Afflalo
Melo
KP
Rolo

That's a hell of a starting five.

I don't know much about Conley outside of the fact that he recruited MGasol to sign back to the Grizz. I think it's almost a lock that he stays too.

If I max a player, I want him to be in his twenties and to be a total 2-way player or elite. I think someone else said it best: playing Conely max for ages 29-34 at the PG position is a little scary. Never saw him as a defensive player but maybe I'm wrong?

martin wrote:

crzymdups wrote:Batum and Conley would be at the top of my list.

I think Batum is more likely than Conley, though Conley'd be the better fit.

Conley
Afflalo
Melo
KP
Rolo

That's a hell of a starting five.

I don't know much about Conley outside of the fact that he recruited MGasol to sign back to the Grizz. I think it's almost a lock that he stays too.

If I max a player, I want him to be in his twenties and to be a total 2-way player or elite. I think someone else said it best: playing Conely max for ages 29-34 at the PG position is a little scary. Never saw him as a defensive player but maybe I'm wrong?

I've always thought of him as a plus defender. This article has some good videos of him -

http://www.sbnation.com/2015/4/23/8474739/mike-conley-memphis-grizzlies-highlights-stats

But, yeah, I've heard that he recruited Marc Gasol to stay in Memphis and Gasol said he'd "run through any kind of brick wall" to keep him in Memphis, though he'd let him make his own decision.

Buuuuuut, Memphis is approaching a rebuild or a retool with ZBO approaching 34-35 and their grind it out style not really going to get them past the second or maybe first round in the West anymore.

I'd be surprised if he were to leave, but he'd be my top target. Maybe Memphis gets cheap with him? But Knicks would need to create $20M+ in cap space to get enough money for him (I think we'll have around $18-19M)

His age is less of a concern to me because he doesn't play a super athletic style. Most guys don't hit truly unrestricted FA until they're 27/28 at this point. And most we can offer him is a four year deal, I believe. And he'd be in the same age range as Rolo, Afflalo, Melo - a few years younger than all those guys. He just seems like he'd fit with them really well.

But, yeah, overall I think he stays in Memphis. Though that team is a little stingy and on the tail end of whatever run they made without needing a retool, so maybe there's a chance?

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

LivingLegend wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:Here is a nice list:
http://hoopshype.com/2015/08/15/nba-free-agency-2016-the-top-players/

Durant at Small Forward would be a dream. Wonder if he could actually fit here. Worried a bit about his health and this year will be a great test.
Mike Connley at PG would be great. I think we trade Jose if the opportunity arises and with his good play, I think we can. Sorry Jose, nothing personal.
Batum is another nice player. Good 2 way player, coming off a tough year.
Bring Timofey back home?

I think we have the chance to really assemble an extremely balanced team with one more max cat, but if not, with two more nice players, we can possible have the best combo of starters and bench in the NBA...

EMS

I think I want Batum - don't like the KD fit or potential for him to in street clothes for years.

Batum would give us great versatility at the 2 and 3 he also provides us the flexibility to either go big (Batum at PG) with AA at SG or small (Batum at SF) with Melo at 4.

I just think Batum gives us great balance and the ability to match up against almost any opponent.

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

He's a guy who got to put up numbers on a mediocre team for years and never made it past the first round of the playoffs. In GSW, he has sacrificed some personal stats for the ability to play a major role on a title contender. He was Finals MVP and he'll likely get the chance to do it again this year. I mean, maybe in two more years he'll be ready to leave? But he'll also be 33 years old by then.