MSG3 wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:If it does not hurt our cap situation, I don't know why you would not take him back, even though the contract is a ridiculous one, IMO.

The guy does not suck, by the way. He is a solid defender, a good passer, a decent rebounder, and he runs the floor well. You hope that he has worked on the release for his jumper, and gets back to being the shooter he was his rookie season.

Another reason why he might have more value this year is Kidd. Don't think that Kidd won't appreciate have a cutter like Fields to pass to. Same goes for Prigioni, if he is on the roster, and gets some minutes with the second team. He also works well with Lin, and they seem to be good friends.

Do you folks actually think that the PGs the Knicks will now have on the team are going to be standing around passing the ball to Anthony all game and waiting while he takes seven seconds or more (you can call it the SSOM offense)to decide what he is going to do with the ball.

I'm hoping that Woodson gradually allows the offense to evolve, as Kidd, Lin, and even Prigioni (I keep on thinking of pignoli... or Pine nuts) exert their influence over the team, and even Anthony.

Kidd stills has some gravitas as a player, and also a ring and two other trips to the finals. I'm hoping/praying, that he is able to influence our offense, at very least when he is on the floor and Anthony is not. If he does, a guy like Fields will be a much more valuable asset.

He does suck and his D is overrated. He rebounds well at the 2 and runs and cuts well. But hes a horrible shooter and hes not a smart player.

If I have to see him leave his feet with the ball and throw it away 5 times a game, miss free throws, miss an assignment on D and watch him on the verge of tears when forced to take a wide open shot that he will absolutely brick 9/10 times next season I will be very upset. He's down there with Anthony Bonner and John Wallace in where he fits in the pantheon of Knicks players. Good riddance.

Lets not forget Mardy Collins and Chris Duhon

It doesn't affect the cap.

Even if we match, we can STILL sign one or more vet min SGs.

Yes, it's a ridiculous amount of money for Landry, but if you're not paying it, and it doesn't hurt us, so what?

The Knicks will have to make a decision on Landry Fields, who started next to Lin. Fields, a restricted free agent, signed a three-year deal Wednesday with the Toronto Raptors worth $18.7 million. The Knicks have until Saturday to match the offer.

Before free agency, General Manager Glen Grunwald said he wanted to keep Fields. It is now unclear whether the Knicks will.

“I don’t know,” Woodson said of retaining Fields.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/sports/basketball/knicks-woodson-says-jeremy-lin-will-stay-and-start.html?_r=1&ref=basketball

loweyecue wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:Don't listen to the board. Fields is going to improve his shot. He shot 39% from 3 just a year ago. He will be fine and needs an offseason with actual NBA people. Hopefully he's actually doing his work. Other than his shot, Fields has been a nice player for us.

I'm sure he wont always dissapear in the playoffs too. That's something that can always change, despite what certain people think.

If Grunwald does match you and I can bring this thread back. If someone that the Knicks could have signed for the vet min (Maurice Evans) blows up for a contender and Fields regresses even more I'll take my medicine.

You guys are forgetting that we have Woody as coach now. He doesn't like Fields, won't play him and the ISo only offense will kill Fields' offensive game.

Offensive game? That's offensive to hear.

Mray20 wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

Mray20 wrote:You don't overpay and bring Field back for one reason he sucks and does not fit this team, We need a SG or SF that can shoot and handle and he can do neither, We don't need a guy that teams don't need to respect on the court .I don't ever want to see another one of his bricks in the garden again

The reason why you don't overpay in the NBA is because it takes away cap space that you can use to sign other players. So I get what you're saying.

But that's not the case here for the reasons others and myself have already listed above. Hello? Bueller?

Ok so bring him back and let him ride the bench and carry Lins bags for 3 years, I can't see him making any positive contribution on the court and he kills the offense when he bricks or doesn't shoot the ball cause he has no confidence in his jump shot.

Ok so if he shoots like he did last year then he doesn't play. I don't see what the downside is again.
What is the downside again? People keep on repeating that he sucks and he's not worth the money. That may be true. But again the money is irrelevant in this case.

Choice A) Not match the offer. We can only sign vet min players. If Fields improves,we miss out.
Choice B) Match the offer. WE CAN STILL ONLY SIGN VET MIN PLAYERS. Nothing changes except if he does develop we get to keep him and it doesn't really hurt our cap situation at all.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.

Bob: Hey we should keep Fields since it doesn't cost us anything really.

Dan: But he's not worth $20 M!

Bob: Yeah but we can't pay anybody else that $20 M. For all intents it might as well be $2M that we're paying him because nothing changes in terms of how we can build our roster going forward.

Dan: But he is NOT worth $20M! He can't even hit a jump shot. We should sign Vet Min X !

Bob: Yeah I get that he's not worth #20M but we can still sign Vet Min X guy AND keep Fields just in case he gets good.

Dan: But he sucks! He's gonna be a bad contract on our books!

Bob: Holy crap. Is anything I'm saying registering at all??

I know I will offend some here, but getting rid of Fields is addition by subtraction to me. I thought he was putrid last season. Not only did he not help, he killed us at times. Bad (and I mean BAD) turnovers. Bad (and I mean BAD) field-goal shooting. Bad (and I mean BAD) free-throw shooting.

I mean, seriously, why do the supporters want him back, even if he were free????? I don't want Fields playing for the Knicks, plain and simple.

Toss in that he would cost a small fortune (I know it's not my money and it does not affect the cap, but still), and no way should he return.

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

markvmc wrote:Question is, is he better than what is likely to be available, and would want to come here, at sg for vet min? If Dolan is willing, there is absolutely nothing wrong with matching him for insurance at that position. If we get someone better too, then terrific. But if not, we're going to need someone to give us 10mpg at sg.

THANK YOU! I think this is the only relevant question. There is no point in deciding whether he's worth $20M. Clearly he is not. The only relevant question is can we sign someone for the vet min that would be worth the roster spot more.
I don't even know if Fields is worth the roster spot or not but the only way you can say it's a bad idea is if you're pretty confident the Knicks will be able to sign someone for the vet min that will be better fit than Fields.

Any names that people can suggest? Anything would be more of a contribution to this thread than "Yeah but Fields sucks"

Markji wrote:We are filling his spot - we signed James White (SF) and now Chris Copeland (SG/SF). Also we picked up Prigioni and there is some thought to have Kidd and Lin on the court at the same time and have Prigioni lead the 2nd team at PG.

Chris Copeland - Shot 44% from 3pt last year in Euroleagues. Also has a lot of playing experience in Euroleague. He is 28 years old.

Both players can fill Landry's position at SF and maybe SG. Field's natural position is SF. And from their Euroleague play, played a lot better than Fields did last year. So we are giving them a chance at minimum pay (which I know you said salary doesn't matter, but it does if we want to cut or trade them in the future. The roster spot is also an important consideration.

Chris Copeland's stats for 2011-2012 in Belgium
Team G MPG FG% 3PT% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
OKA 45 32.8 .535 .44 .80 5.13 2.24 .67 .44 3.0 21.29

Landry Fields playing alongside Jason Kidd, on the second shift, would be a thing of beauty.

Two west coast homeys, surfing and turfing to the hoop with intuitive grace.

It ain't my money.

Sign him up.

In 3 years, basically every player on the Knicks will be coming off the books. So before anyone talks about the Knicks overpaying for a player, just remember that it only changes how much extra cash James Dolan has. Once a team already has no flexibility, it doesn’t matter how much a team pays for a player, as long as the owner is willing to pay.

A lot of the time, fans look at a player by his contract when they should be looking at how the player helps their team. Knicks fans are in a situation where they don’t have to worry about their owner being afraid to pay players. In this regard, the Knicks off season had given them players who can play a role and give them even more flexibility. Is that really overpaying? Are the Knicks really overpaying for Lin? No, because the amount that the Knicks are paying Lin is worth not having the point guard debacle that they had last season.

- Billy Mansmann

Any Questions?