Posted by Uptown:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by 4949:

If we can't acquire super stars as free agents or draft a top draft pick, then how are we ever going to get out of the gutter, by continuing to acquire mediocre bums and locking up our huge salary with very expensive-long term contracts?

i think that's the crux of the problem & i agree w/u... we need to continue to stockpile young talent & stop taking on bad contracts so we have some assets to deal should a good player become available in a trade or as a FA... if that player becomes available now i'm open to considering it but what team out there is realistically going to trade us a topnotch talent at this point w/o asking for the absolute moon in terms of our lottery pick & future picks? i don't see Melo coming here anymore than fishmike doesn't see Lebron or Wade coming here in a couple years... we need to acquire some assets & gain the cap flexibility down the road so that we CAN realistically begin to target such players & stop taking on the Zach Randolph's or Jalen Rose's of the NBA... Players w/serious health concerns like TJ Ford & Kenyon Martin who also have longterm contracts should also not be considered unless we're unloading a bad contract of our own... we need to start thinking responsibly about our longterm cap situation & stop looking for the immediate quick fix solution at every turn... any contract that extends beyond 2010 needs to be looked at extremely carefully.

So lets say for argument sake Anthony becomes available. Anthony is 23 yrs old and would be the type of talent Walsh would go after if he is able to get under the cap in 2010. If Walsh goes after him hard this summer, that essentially would be going back on his word in terms of not making any aquisitions that would hurt our chances at lowering the cap over the next 2-3 years. How would Walsh be viewed in the NY/in the papers/by fans for going back on his word?

Isiah pretty much used the same logic when he acquired Marbury. He reasoned that Marbury is the type of talent you go after if you were under the cap anyway. I dont disagree with that logic, but obviously I think most disagree with the personel choice.

i've voiced my opinion on Melo in other threads, but personally i would prefer not to target Melo even if the chance was there... IMO it would take way too much to acquire him in terms of picks & i don't view him as a player i would wanna cash all my chips in & build my franchise on... just my personal preference... i don't view him as a leader, i view him as a scorer, much in the same way i viewed a guy like T-Mac when he was in his prime... Marbury was brought here much in the same way to make that huge splash like you pointed out but his leadership skills were severely lacking & our franchise suffered because of it... i'm not saying Melo's mentally insane like Marbs is now but you get my point i think... if we're going to go all in on a guy let it be for someone who we all know can be a leader as well as a tremendous talent... a guy like Lebron, Paul, Kobe, Wade are all better choices IMHO than someone like Melo... if we can't get any of those guys than hopefully we'll be able to get lucky in the draft & make some other smart acquisitions to build a team like fish wants but at the same time not rushing to take on the first bigname that becomes available to us just to make some backpage headlines when he's not the right guy to build around to begin with.

Posted by 4949:

We're not talking about any particular deal. We're talking about 'a foundation' to make good deals on. We don't have a healthy foundation to make good deals. The best deals that our money should be able to buy.

exactly... & even before we do anything we have to dig ourselves out of the quick sand this franchise is in right now & stop trying to throw dirt on it to keep us afloat, which is pretty much what Isiah's been doing ever since he made that Marbury trade to begin with.

Okay, your right. But that wasn't my point.

the 4th option comment was in reference to if we had to choose between guys like Lebron, Paul, Kobe, Wade or Bosh.

We go through this every year. Player X wants to come to NY...marketing clause in contract, etc...

It's probably a pipe dream but hey...without hope there's no point to living life. Hope springs eternal.

Doomed.