team would be in much better shape dropping to 12-15 and grabbing Speights who could be better than Randolph or McGee and getting rid of a contract so you have flexibility to sign people. Walsh first thing he should do is get rid of Zach.

Posted by bitty41:

We dump Zach and we'll have the *ability* to develop a core without a ball-hog who complains if he doesn't get his share of touches and minutes.

A core of who? Other then Lee and the midget none of our younger players have played well over an extended time period nor have they even proven to be legit NBA players. So how can you say developing young core?

Draft picks, trades, and FA signings. Think long-term. No one thinks we'll have the core intact next season


[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-24-2008 2:20 PM]

Posted by crzymdups:

i think you have to wait and see what happens on ping-pong day before talking about what to do with the pick.

i think the two trades the knicks should pursue are:

marbury and lee for jermaine o'neal

and

zach and jamal for zydrunas and wally

gets us plenty of cap space for 2010 and jermaine oneal to help us play more respectable ball next year. indiana does it to get cap space a year earlier and quicken their rebuilding effort. cleveland does it to add more young talent to their team, get a legitimate second scorer behind lebron. lebron can keep zach in line. craw has value, he's twice the player hughes was.

Give up David Lee to JO? Why??? JO will be retired by the time we're good anyway.

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by crzymdups:

i think you have to wait and see what happens on ping-pong day before talking about what to do with the pick.

i think the two trades the knicks should pursue are:

marbury and lee for jermaine o'neal

and

zach and jamal for zydrunas and wally

gets us plenty of cap space for 2010 and jermaine oneal to help us play more respectable ball next year. indiana does it to get cap space a year earlier and quicken their rebuilding effort. cleveland does it to add more young talent to their team, get a legitimate second scorer behind lebron. lebron can keep zach in line. craw has value, he's twice the player hughes was.

Give up David Lee to JO? Why??? JO will be retired by the time we're good anyway.

the point of all those trades is getting under the cap for 2010. acquire new players thru the draft while saving cap space.

re-signing lee makes getting under the cap almost impossible.

j oneal gives the team a new face and semi-respectability for the next two years while we wait for 2010.

I'd rather not be respectable (at least next year) and get a better draft pick. If you're trading Lee, you have to either be dumping a major contract or at least getting a player back who will be part of the long-term picture.

Posted by crzymdups:

i think you have to wait and see what happens on ping-pong day before talking about what to do with the pick.

i think the two trades the knicks should pursue are:

marbury and lee for jermaine o'neal

and

zach and jamal for zydrunas and wally

gets us plenty of cap space for 2010 and jermaine oneal to help us play more respectable ball next year. indiana does it to get cap space a year earlier and quicken their rebuilding effort. cleveland does it to add more young talent to their team, get a legitimate second scorer behind lebron. lebron can keep zach in line. craw has value, he's twice the player hughes was.

I dont like these deals--they have no benefit for the long term.

How does the Lee trade clear out the roster? It just gives us a longer contract for an older player

Zach isnt a starter and your paying him 17 million through 2011. I hope you trade Lee so he can average a double-double and shoot 55% and have a broke Oneal playing about 30 games a year making twice the money.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by Bonn1997:

How does the Lee trade clear out the roster? It just gives us a longer contract for an older player

the contract ends before 2010 and signing lee to an extension will count against our cap.

lee is not a starter in this league. jermaine oneal is. for my money, it's worth trading steph and lee to see if jermaine oneal can get back to where he was. if joneal doesn't work, then you let him expire and he have tons of cap room for 2010.

signing lee to $8 million a year sets back the cap big time. he's not a starter. i love the guy's heart, but if we're talking about cap room and rebuilding, i don't think he can be part of the plan - purely because we have to pay him soon and because, realistically, he cannot defend other power forwards in this league. joneal can defend and led the leagues in blocks a little while ago.

in 2002, people were saying camby was always injured and blah blah blah and he went on to anchor Denver's playoffs teams for the last 5 years. joneal can come back and if we can get him relatively cheaply and see what happens to him for two years, we have to do it.


[Edited by - crzymdups on 24-04-2008 8:28 PM]

But if we want to keep JO, we're gonna have to give him a big extension too. You're not clearing out cap space by avoiding extending a player--you're under no obligation to extend a player. There are lots of options rather than re-signing the player if we decide that not re-signing him is in our interest. I still don't understand what the point is of getting a guy for Lee who either won't be part of the long-term picture or if healthy will be part of it but will cost a lot anyway. If you're concerned about cap room (which, like me, you seem to be), you have to get rid of one of our players with contracts going into 2011 (or have to at least try!). And Lee is the best asset we have to use to achieve that.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 04-24-2008 11:45 PM]

that's why I proposed trading craw and zach to cleveland for zydrunas and wally, who expire before 2010.

getting joneal is a flier to see if he's worth keeping. we can sign him to a reasonable deal, or a backloaded deal to preserve 2010 cap space. if he can't stay healthy, you let him expire. but i'd like to see what a healthy joneal and curry would look like in the front court. i think if nothing else, joneal can help rehabilitate curry's value and possibly allow us to trade curry next summer - i think we all agree that trading curry now is next to impossible.

lee is an asset, but if we're going to trade him, it has to be now or he becomes a base year compensation player or a RFA which is much harder to trade. i think lee is definitely getting traded this summer, one way or the other.

king1, i like lee a lot but he cannot defend power forwards in this league. i'd want him on this team as the perfect 6th man, but he isn't a starter and if we're trying to get under the cap i don't think we can pay him.

people who want to keep lee - do you envision starting him at PF? if so, who do we start next to him at center? I can't envision a defensive frontcourt i'd want with lee starting, short of starting him next to tim duncan or andrew bynum (oops)


[Edited by - crzymdups on 25-04-2008 12:58 AM]