EnySpree wrote:

mreinman wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Mathews has hip problems. He was out most of last season. Just saying.

Matthews, dragic, Melo, Okafor and then signing a legit 4 for cheap would be a good off season. It's different than anything we've talked about so far.

Mathews played 82 games last year.

I meant the two years before last. Anyway i was just saying he has a injury history that's worth noting. I did say that it would be good of could sign him.

the fewest games he has played was 66.

In todays NBA he is almost Lou Gehrig

Finestrg wrote:There's a lot of good 2Gs in the NBDL right now. I like Wes Matthews -- I wanted Matthews when he went undrafted a few years ago, but don't know if it'd be wise to sink a lot of money into this guy now given our situation. This guy's probably gonna want and get $10-12mm a season over several years, maybe more. I think we're better off targeting more higher end talent for that type of money or more. No doubt our SG position is in need of a facelift though. How about taking a good hard look at a guy like Elliot Williams instead? He appears to finally be over the knee and achilles issues that plagued him in the past. Dude's a real solid overall SG -- he scores it well in a variety of ways (over 21 ppg in the DL logging over 36 mins per, over 47% FGs, over 37% from 3, he defends and he just might be one of the better passing 2Gs around averaging over 7 assist per game--his playmaking is really what separates him from the other top DL 2Gs like Manny Harris or Kevin Murphy imo). Williams has really been ballin' this year. Looks real spry out on the court now -- glad to see his injuries are finally behind him...Instead of using up valuable cap space on a Wes Matthews, how about looking for some cheaper/comparable talent? I think Williams, now that he's finally healthy, very well might be just as good a player as Matthews, maybe better, and certainly better than anything we currently feature at the position -- Shumpert, JR Smith or Hardaway.

Another very good fit for next year from the DL -- 6'9" 230+ PF JaMychal Green. This guy has really evolved into a very nice player. Currently averaging something close to 22 & 11--he does it all out there. He looks long as hell to me, he's quick up the floor/quick off the dribble, has a nice little post-up game, he features a real reliable jump-shot from anywhere in the mid-range, he bodies up inside, plays physical and is always around the rim. Very good nose for the ball...Looks very polished to me overall. Reminds me of a young David West/Antonio McDyess--I think he could be that good and if not, maybe a tick below that level which is still very good. No question JaMychal Green is good enough to play in the NBA (compare him to a DeMarre Carroll on Atlanta's roster for example -- not the best comparison as Carroll's more of a hybrid 3/4 but overall, Green's a better player than Carroll imo). He almost made the Spurs outta training camp. They really wanted to keep him but had no room. James McAdoo's another young athletic PF in the DL I find intriguing but I feel Green's more polished and the better player overall. As of right now, in addition to our own Westchester prospects and Seth Curry, Williams & Green are probably my two favorite players to watch in the entire NBDL:

Here's hoping we hit the mark in the draft with something BIG in the top 3, get one or two major impact players either in FA or via trade over the next couple of years and then add some real good "value talent" to round out the roster -- a value big like a Lavoy Allen for instance; Donald Sloan/Chris Copeland; guys like E'Twaun Moore/Cameron Bairstow if Chicago renounces either of them for cap room; maybe a guy like Lou Williams; Lance Thomas; New Orleans has quite a few value guys that could work for us here: Alexis /Jeff Whithey/Luke Babbitt/Dante Cunningham; Justin Hamilton/Hassan Whiteside; Kalin Lucas/Nick Calathes; Kosta Koufos; maybe we look at reacquiring Wayne Ellington; Josh Smith; Draymond Green; Greg Smith; some of the domestic talent playing abroad that we targeted in the DL expansion draft (Craig Brackins, Rich Howell, Curtis Jerrells, DaJuan Summers); guys like Elliot Williams/JaMychal Green/James McAdoo/Quincy Miller/Seth Curry from the NBDL, etc... Add a player or two from each of these categories to some of the better talent we may have left over from this year's team (Early, THJ, maybe we retain Cole Aldrich, etc.) and a few callups from our own Westchester squad (Thanasis, Langston Galloway?), hopefully it all comes together eventually around Melo. Remaining hopeful..

We eventually will need to find probably 3 solid players in the range of 2-3.2m for their starting salary, also for at least 2 year deals, probably 3 years with team or player option for 3rd

Id be very willing to take on Mcgee's 12mm$ next year for the 10th pick in the draft and use the stretch provision on Calderon and get rid of Prigs.

IF I could get three 1st round picks and 1 high second--I would do it. Id be VERY VERY aggressive with trying to acquire draft assets while realistically looking at 1 major FA.This is a great draft for big players and I think that there are a couple of gems at the back end of rd 1 early 2. We could do a complete draft rebuild this year and spread the FA retool over 2. To me this is a 2 year deal and I would be unconventional and aggressive. I want a complete new set of big men and PG's.

yellowboy90 wrote:Matthews is exactly the type of player the knicks need and can afford while getting another good player. Monroe is the type of player they need to stay away from at the price he will ask for. Also, if they are going to draft a big in the draft then why use top money on a big?

The knicks have not had a starting quality true SG for 4 yrs.

I'd actually like a PG who can really shoot it. A PG who controls game flow who can also shoot. I think Phil tried this with Calderon but its an epic fail. The price that Matthews will cost--the Blazers will pay. Id probably spend my money first on either Jackson or Dragic over Matthews. AND I would still try to add a high quality PG through the draft IF we are able to obtain more picks. Id like to see us grab two bigs and two PG's. Im not really worried about SG with my higher end assets. The Spurs are a perfect case where they can find SG's for 2-4mm $ Y-Y. There are a couple of late 1's early 2's SG prospects who we might be able to acquire and we have the time to really look over the D league. We cant spend 10mm+ On Wes Matthews. Greg Monroe has 50+ games still coming this year and now has space. I d still take a long look at him.

yellowboy90 wrote:

Right now the knicks have $22M dollars to work with plus the MLE. SO how do the knicks upgrade the C, PF, PG, and SG positions?

In theory they could do this a lot of ways but what they will have to do if they can trade Calderon or JR for an expiring is cut/stretch JR.

JR's cap hit would reduce to $2.13M and would open an extra $4.27M + $22M = 26.27M - 500K(open roster spot when team >12) =$25.77M

1st comes the draft. If they draft a big like OK4 or Towns they could easily move either player to the 4.

So if Matthews is added at $10M that would leave $15.77M.

Say they use that on Dragic($15.77M).

They still have the MLE since they are under the Apron.

Say they use that to go get Kostas Koufos.

Before FA though would have come the draft and if they get into the top 2 OK4 and Towns should be there waiting. Grab one(OK4) to play the 4 and they are set.

In this scenario they upgraded 4 positions but like I said they can still upgrade 4 positions by going about a different combination. Maybe give out $11-12M to Knight if the Bucks do not feel he is worth it. That would save them another $3-4m to add a back up like Ed Davis or Brandon Bass. There are ways to do it if the knicks are smart but trading JR or calderon for an expiring would help more.

YellowBoy, that isn't how contracts work for the MLE

To use the FULL MLE, you must be under the tax apron but OVER the average salary cap which we woud not be since we are under the cap
Since we have a bunch of expirings, we will be eligible to have the Bi Annual Exemption aka LLE, which would be right under 3m and could be used every other year a team is under the cap

However, there are ways we can beat the system

Assuming we will not use the bird rights to resign players like STAT and AB if they expire on the team, we must

1- First in order to have salary cap space we must remove our bird rights of players and their cap holds, therefore losing the ability to resign them with other than cap space
2- The cap hold for Cole Aldrich is the vet min but we have his EARLY bird rights, since we signed him 2 years in a row, we can use up all our cap space by signing players/making trades,

THEN resign Cole Aldrich with EARLY BIRD RIGHTS, with the ability to pay him about 5m per year on a multi year deal

3- After that we go over the salary cap and have the full MLE to use on as many players as we want, the MLE will be about 6m for next season, so we can use it on multiple contracts or one contract if we like
4- We could also go over the cap by trading for a player WITH OUR TRADE EXEMPTION AFTER, that we acquired with the Dallas trade, ONE OF THE REASON's PHIL Jackson made the deal, but it expires exactly one year from the date of the trade

5- Other than that we are not permitted to go over the salary cap once we remove our bird rights of the players in order to spend the money on free agents through signings and/or trades
We can also trade for players and give them back a trade exemption, that is how we acquired Tyson Chandler the first time and Dallas gave us the draft rights to 2 players so they can get back a trade exemption
because we didn't need to make the trade with them, we could have signed him without deading with Dallas

Many people on here that post and on most message boards have no clue how this works, when it is very important on understanding the effects/affects of everything
Yet they make STRONG opinions of

how we should build a team
what players to target
what a player is worth (especially when it comes to CA's contract)
who has the better side of the trade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_salary_cap

================================================

Exceptions[edit]
Because the NBA's salary cap is a soft one, the CBA allows for several important scenarios in which a team can sign players even if their payroll exceeds the cap. The exceptions are as follows:

Mid-level exception[edit]
Once a year, teams can use a mid-level exception (MLE) to sign a player to a contract for a specified maximum amount. The amount of the MLE and its duration depend on the team's cap status. The MLE was initially set at $5 million for a duration of four years for teams that are over the cap either before or after the signing, but under the luxury tax apron, which is $4M above the tax line. Teams above the luxury tax apron have an MLE that was initially set at $3 million with a three-year duration. Teams with cap room, previously ineligible for the MLE, have a new MLE, initially $2.5 million with a two-year duration. The MLE was frozen at the stated levels through the 2012–13 season, since then, it will increase by 3% per season (with the percentage based on the initial amount of the exception, and not compounded).[6] In turn, this means that MLEs in the current 2014–15 season are:

$5.305 million for teams without cap room, below the tax apron
$3.278 million for teams over the tax apron
$2.575 million for teams with cap room
Before the 2011 CBA, the MLE was equal to the average NBA salary for all teams over the cap. Teams with cap room were previously ineligible for the MLE.[6] The Mid-Level Exception for the 2008–09 NBA season was $5.585 million.[23] The MLE was $5.854 million for the 2009–10 NBA regular season.[24]

Bi-annual exception[edit]
The bi-annual exception was used to sign any free agent to a contract starting at $1.672 million. Like the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception was also split among more than one player, and was used to sign players for up to two years, with raises limited to 8% per year. This exception was referred to as the "$1 million exception" in the 1999 CBA, although it was valued at $1 million for only the first year of the agreement.

An example of the bi-annual exception was the Los Angeles Lakers' signing of Karl Malone to a contract before the 2003–04 season.

The exception was eliminated for luxury tax paying teams following the 2011 NBA lockout as many high spending teams were using this as a tool to gain top paid players.[6]

Rookie exception[edit]
The NBA allows teams to sign their first-round draft choices to rookie "scale" contracts even if their payroll exceeds the cap.

Larry Bird exception[edit]
Perhaps the most well-known of the NBA's salary cap exceptions is the Larry Bird exception, so named because the Boston Celtics were the first team permitted to exceed the salary cap to re-sign one of their own players (in that case, Larry Bird). Free agents who qualify for this exception are called "qualifying veteran free agents" or "Bird Free Agents" in the CBA, and this exception falls under the terms of the Veteran Free Agent exception. In essence, the Larry Bird exception allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, at an amount up to the maximum salary. To qualify as a Bird free agent, a player must have played three seasons without being waived or changing teams as a free agent. Players claimed after being amnestied have their Bird rights transferred to their new team. Other players claimed off waivers are not eligible for the full Bird exception, but may qualify for the early Bird exception. Prior to an arbitrator ruling in June 2012, all players that were waived and changed teams lost their Bird rights.[25][26] This means a player can obtain "Bird rights" by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination thereof. It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him. Under the 2011 CBA, Bird-exception contracts can be up to five years in length, down from six under the 2005 CBA.[6]

Early Bird exception[edit]
The lesser form of the Larry Bird exception is the "early Bird" exception. Free agents who qualify for this exception are called "early qualifying veteran free agents", and qualify after playing two seasons with the same team. Players that are traded or claimed off waivers have their Bird rights transferred to their new team. Prior to an arbitrator ruling in June 2012, all players that were waived and changed teams lost their Bird rights.[25][26] Using this exception, a team can re-sign its own free agent for either 175% of his salary the previous season, or the NBA's average salary, whichever is greater. Early Bird contracts must be for at least two seasons, but can last no longer than four seasons. If a team agrees to a trade that would make a player lose his Early Bird Rights, he has the power to veto the trade.

A much-publicized example for this was Devean George, who vetoed his inclusion into a larger trade during the 2007–08 season that would have sent him from the Dallas Mavericks to the New Jersey Nets.

Non-Bird exception[edit]
"Non-qualifying free agents" (those who do not qualify under either the Larry Bird exception or the early Bird exception) are subject to the non-Bird exception. Under this exception, teams can re-sign a player to a contract beginning at either 120% of his salary for the previous season, or 120% of the league's minimum salary, whichever amount is higher. Contracts signed under the Non-Bird exception can last up to four years (down from six under the 2005 CBA).

Minimum Salary Exception[edit]
Teams can sign players for the NBA's minimum salary even if they are over the cap, for up to two years in length. In the case of two-year contracts, the second-season salary is the minimum salary for that season. The contract may not contain a signing bonus. This exception also allows minimum-salary players to be acquired via trade. There is no limit to the number of players that can be signed or acquired using this exception.

Traded Player Exception[edit]
If a team trades away a player with a higher salary than the player they acquire in return (the deal hereafter referred to as "Trade #1"), they receive a Traded Player Exception, also known as a "Trade Exception". Teams with a trade exception have up to a year in which they can acquire more salary in other trades (Trade #2, #3, etc.) than they send away, as long as the gulf in salaries for Trade #2, #3, etc. are less than or equal to the difference in salary for Trade #1. This exception is particularly useful when teams trade draft picks directly for a player; since draft picks have no salary value, often the only way to get salaries to match is to use a trade exception, which allows trades to be made despite unbalanced salaries. It is also useful to compensate teams for losing free agents, as they can do a sign and trade of that free agent to acquire a trade exception that can be used later. Note this exception is for single player trades only, though additional cash and draft picks can be part of the trade.

Disabled Player Exception[edit]
Allows a team that is over the cap to acquire a replacement for a disabled player who will be out for either the remainder of that season (for in-season injuries/deaths) or the next season (if the disability occurs during the offseason). The maximum salary of the replacement player is either 50% of the injured player's salary, or the mid-level exception for a non-taxpaying team, whichever is less. This exception requires an NBA-designated doctor to verify the extent of the injury. Under the 2005 CBA, a team could sign a player under this exception for five years; the 2011 CBA now allows this only for one year.[6]

Note that while teams can often use one exception to sign multiple players, they cannot use a combination of exceptions to sign a single player.

Basically if you are under the cap of 63m, which we will be, you cannot GO OVER to spend it on FA's, and you must be over 63 (or whatever it is set to be, as it goes higher every year with this CBA)

The FULL MLE is meant only for teams that are over the 63m range range but are UNDER the luxury tax threshold, (78m this year) to spend on free agents, which will be about 6m next season

If you are over the luxury tax or close to it, you can use the 3.3m tax threshold or lower MLE (not be be mistaken for the LLE) which
Just say you have about 74m in payroll, then you can only spend 4m on a free agent, if you have 76m in payroll, you can use the 3.2m MLE or taxpayers MLE

Now if you are UNDER the salary cap of 63m (suppose to rise to 68m next year) then you must use cap space and also could have the LLE or Bi Annual Exemption which would be right under 3m next season and previously has been 2m - 2.8m recently

There are rules to go around it but typically teams that go under the cap as their own salaries expire, cannot spend money on OTHER free agents then choose to resign their own players after because of CAP HOLDS

In order for us to spend use the cap space first, we must remove the bird rights and cap holds that would be Amare, AB, Dalembert, and whoever, even Iman Shumpert
We must rescind the qualifying offer, for a player like Iman then he has no cap hit on us, it is possible that the Knicks and Iman agree to a salary that is lower than his qualifying offer of $3,898,691

JR Smith has a player option that he can opt out off
Now if he opts out, we must rescind our rights to him, before we can account for his $6,399,750 salary, to use on other free agents instead, therefore losing his bird rights
And losing the ability to resign him other than using cap space or exemptions such as MLE or LLE aka Bi Annual Exemptions

Each team is required to have atleast 12 players on our roster and 1st round draft picks are guaranteed contracts so every contract must be accounted for
Even if we have no players on our roster,

The cap hold of each roster spot is right about 500k or the min salary of 1st year rookies, which is what Travis Wear is making, $507,336
So even if a team has no contracts heading to the year, the cap holds of each roster spot would be at minimum 12 x $507,336
So you could only spend the money you have left over the cap hold of 12 roster spots, including 1st round draft picks that are guaranteed contracts versus 2nd are not guaranteed (a reason why early 2nd round picks are actually worth more than the final picks of the first round

For mroe info on cap holds

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-salaries/nba-salary-cap-notes/

BRIGGS wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Keep Melo and Calderon and do everything possible to trade jr smith. Draft a big man, and focus on the other big man slot (Monroe, Millsap, Harris) and the offguard (Matthews or Dragic who can play there.) make sure to get two of these high level players. You now have three new players to join Melo and Calderon. I understand no one is crazy about Calderon, but he's not the problem. Let him play with good players around him, no need to replace him now. Must get two major free agents and one quality rookie. Continue to work on the bench while hopefully bringing back hardaway, Aldrich, and Acy. But get the first five set and go from there.

How can anyone justify keeping Calderon for 7.5 mm when we can stretch his contract and gain 4.5 and 4.8mm in cap space? He's terrible and not an acceptable starting PG in this league anymore. If we use logic--then we cant pay him that kind of loot. The smart move is waive him after the season ends.

Dragic is a very consistent performer--Dragic would be smart money spent.

Thing thing is if you stretch Calderon, you get less than 5m, more than 4m per year
With that money you can find a PG that is decent if there was a team around them

Lets let AB heal up and see how he the team plays when AB gets back his legs
I am not expecting us to go to the play offs but I want to see if he can actually run a team when there is actually OFFENSIVE talent out there

We know he isn't a penetrating PG that Lin is that pushes the tempo for easy baskets
But he is one of the better spot shooters in the league if there is good floor spacing/shooters to space the floor

But he is a player that is capable of controling tempo and providing leadership when there are players that actually listen and have decent/high IQ in place
Right now the team is a mess

I was hoping we would have targetted Bayless from the start, who is playing a pivotal role in the Bucks
Right after Livingston and Collison was picked up, I was praying that we would go to him before someone else did
I just didnt think Pablo had in him at his age but he has been a decent surprise this season despite his inabilities
But Yes, I think going for Smith was a poor choice

I don't understand the Smith pick up anyway, are we going to offer him a vet min contract next? After we pick up some BIGS that can post and hope that he takes it after getting overpayed the first year?

Calderon is overpayed but I am glad we got rid of Felton as he was completely useless
Tyson was never going to work in this system or fit with the holes we have on this roster, he needs a 7 footer to pair with him with high IQ like Dirk, not CA
He needs a team that knows how to play as a team on both ends and some fresh legs, the only time we had that was with Lin