Nalod wrote:Rock Bottom was the trial with Isiah. Dolan is an funny dude, he publically embarassed (with cause) Isiah yet loves the guy. HE shows a lot of loyalty to guys he likes such as Herb Williams, H20, and any of his six coaches. They get extensions then fires them.

Isiah phuchs him over and he extends him?

But he has handed the reigns to Donnie and thats cool. Dolan needs to just stay out of the way and not pretend he has a brain like Cuban. Quiet owner with a big check book and good people working under him works well.

Hornets have Ok4 and expiring Peja, along with Cp3's big contract and a new owner with Im sure lots of Debt.

Cp3 is only 25 and in 5 seasons has had 2 with injury. THis year was bad.

Dr Callahan needs to sign off on him if he comes our way.

Funny but Ok4 would be a perfect compliment to Dlee but not at that money.

just looked at OK4's contract, and wow!! thing stretches on forever... I just hate those types of deals...

fishmike wrote:OK4's contract is market. He didnt have a great season last year, but he's a 27 year old defensive center. Shoots >50%, 10+ rebs every night and blocks a lot of shots.

Thats what those guys get paid. I dont know why you guys think these are MLE type players. OK4 is being paid market value, and the Knicks would be pretty damn good with Lee and OK4 up front. OK4 is Lee on defense. He's a poor offensive player. Doesnt have good instincts, not the best hands, his post moves are robotic, he is a good finisher.

OK4 is 6'10 with a 7'4 wingspan. He's bigger than Horford.

The Knicks have a good scoring balance with Lee, Chandler, Gallo and Douglas. They need a playmaker and they need someone who can guard the post. OK4 adds 15 wins to this team right now. Earl Barron is a garbage 7 footer. OK4 is a legit defensive center. He's the guy we have been talking about putting Lee next to for a couple years.

Obviously I want Lebron, Wade and Amare first, but using cap space to add OK4 and putting a resigned Lee next to him is a solid move.

If trade Chandler and a 2nd rounder for Ok4
OK4 makes $11.5mm next year
Give Lee 6 years $70mm (starts at $9mm)

You would still have about $16-$17mm left in cap space depending on what the final # is. That leaves you about as close to max money as you can get. If you cant sign Lebron or Wade you can at least get Joe Johnson. OR go for a mix of players like $7mm (Mike Miller) $3mm Shaun Livingston, $2mm Earl Baron, $4mm Kyle Korver. Tons of options still

I feel you fish, but I just don't like those long deals huge for players like OK4, but as you said, that is market price. Ok4 is a heck of a defender and he will protect the paint..I like collison, but CP3 will give us that "star" power we are lacking right now, especially if we don't get lebron..

As far as amare, he was one of my favorite players, but watching him last night(yea, I know that is just one game) I really am going to have a problem justify paying him a lot more than david lee..

Chris Paul doesnt make sense. He's the face of that franchise. So long as he's hurt that team gets a pass. If he's healthy they can field CP3, West and a bunch of scrubs, play close to .500, make the playoffs, get bounced and sell fans on a playoff team with a star player.

Paul's health is a concern but whats worse would be the asking price, which I am sure we cant meet.

OK4s contract is 5 years. He's 27.

I just dont know what people are looking for. Would you rather pay Brandon Haywood $12mm?

A Gallo/Lee/OK4 frontcourt with $14-$17mm left in cap space seems like a good place to start if we whiff on Lebron, Wade or Amare.

I also dont know why people think he wouldnt do well on MDA's team. Am I dreaming or what Jarred Jefferies getting starter minutes until he was traded? Dude has YMCA skills on offense.

I dont really have a hard on for OK4, but if we whiff on the big 3 in Wade/Amare/Lebron I would much prefer an OK4/Lee combo than Bosh and filler.

CHRIS PAUL HAS SUCCESSFUL SURGERY ON LEFT KNEE
Paul out four-to-six weeks

February 4, 2010

New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Thursday afternoon for a meniscal repair. Paul is expected to be out approximately four-to-six weeks. Paul underwent the surgery in Pensacola, Florida by Dr. James Andrews. He will be on crutches for the next two-to-three weeks and will begin rehabilitation immediately.

Allanfan20 wrote:

s3231 wrote:All I know is I'm not even a Hornets fan and Paul's removed meniscus scares me. Bone on bone grinding? Yikes.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/354816-knee-issues-could-potentially-hinder-future-of-nba-all-star-paul

They removed his meniscus? Did they replace it with a cartilidge transplant? If not, that's a major microfracture surgery waiting to happen. I'm becoming more and more scarred away by Chris Paul by the moment. I'd go after Okafor though. What makes people think that NO would trade him for cheap just because he has a bad contract though?

Yep, they actually took it out which really scares me.

Simmons wrote about this too right after the surgery:

After seeing Boston string Celtics fans along with KG's bum knee and the Clippers legitimately lie about Blake Griffin's knee injury, when I heard the Hornets claim CP3 would miss only "four to six weeks" after "minor" knee surgery, my BS Detector started beeping. Especially since we learned that doctors removed Paul's torn meniscus ligament rather than repairing it.

Intrigued, I asked Will Carroll (the injury expert for Baseball Prospectus and Basketball Prospectus) for his thoughts. Will pointed me toward a piece he wrote about meniscus removal a few years ago. The key section: "One reason teams are so quick to allow this surgery is that the players come back so quickly, usually in a matter of weeks. But … surgeons don't repair the meniscus in most cases; they just take it out, either in part or in whole depending on the size of the tearing. That leaves the athlete with no shock. Eventually, with the remaining meniscus overstressed and aging, they end up with the bones grinding together. Yes, that's as bad as it sounds in a game of running and jumping."

(Hold on, we have to wait for the Hornets fans to clear out that puke from their mouths. Waiting … waiting … OK, we're good.)

They basically took the quick and easy route so that Paul could potentially help the Hornets make the playoffs.

Would I still take a chance on Paul? Of course. But I'd be careful about how much is given up to get him.

loweyecue wrote:Any team we draw up with Lee in the starting 5 will have this same problem. I do like what he has done for the Knicks and he has been the one truly dependable player we have. But unless he has a miraculous improvement on defense he cannot make the starting 5 of a contending team.

i agree, and i would accept lee if he simply puts effort into d (on a regular basis). the fear i have is if he is a 2/3rd option, we overpay for reduced stats + less than avg d. effort on d would make up for a drop in scoring, so i would hope.

I could easily see us coming away with very little or having to significantly overpay for someone.

nixluva wrote:I believe they only repaired a tear. It wasn't considered career threatening.

CHRIS PAUL HAS SUCCESSFUL SURGERY ON LEFT KNEE
Paul out four-to-six weeks

February 4, 2010

New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Thursday afternoon for a meniscal repair. Paul is expected to be out approximately four-to-six weeks. Paul underwent the surgery in Pensacola, Florida by Dr. James Andrews. He will be on crutches for the next two-to-three weeks and will begin rehabilitation immediately.

Dude they completely removed it... It was SUPPOSed
to be just a repair but they took it out co pletely
scarrrry

nixluva wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

nixluva wrote:I believe they only repaired a tear. It wasn't considered career threatening.

CHRIS PAUL HAS SUCCESSFUL SURGERY ON LEFT KNEE
Paul out four-to-six weeks

February 4, 2010

New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Thursday afternoon for a meniscal repair. Paul is expected to be out approximately four-to-six weeks. Paul underwent the surgery in Pensacola, Florida by Dr. James Andrews. He will be on crutches for the next two-to-three weeks and will begin rehabilitation immediately.

Dude they completely removed it... It was SUPPOSed
to be just a repair but they took it out co pletely
scarrrry

I don't know whether to believe the article you posted or not, but from what I read in that article the said they removed Part of it and not all of it. If this is true it's still not a death sentence, tho it would be a concern. Per the article you listed:

"There are two menisci in each knee however Paul now only has one in his left knee, creating a partial bone-on-bone grinding situation in the knee. Paul may very well fully recover this year, and may not feel the effects for a few years."

"This is not as serious as the dreaded micro-fracture surgery, but there is a possibility that this could lead to more knee surgery just a few years down the road."

I would also add that with Pro athletes the wear in the knee joint is probably one of the most common and almost no athlete comes out of their career 100% in the area of the body. The removal doesn't guarantee his knees are done.

From my recollection Amare had damage requiring Micro Fracture while still having his Meniscus still in the Knee joint. I would guess that even with your Meniscus intact you could still wear down Knee cartilage causing a need for Micro Fracture Surgery as Amare had. It's something to be concerned about, but it's like the Gallo situation. You can't predict that it's gonna shut him down at this point. Paul didn't have to have Micro Fracture surgery, so he's still got cartilage. We'll see how long he's able to play from here.

I'm no doctor but this is how I understand the situation. A meniscus is a cartilage cushion. You have two of them and they are there basically to allow smooth hinging and movement of the two leg bones.

So one side is bone on bone grinding. This is bad. How this isn't seen as bad I have no idea. So he doesn't need microfracture--YET. Microfracture surgery is basically inducing cracking of the kneecap to artificially stimulate the regrowth of cartilage.

Would I take a chance on Chris Paul? Depends on what happens on UFA. If the team can't get a healthy player I would have no problem trying.

But to take on Okafors behemoth contract and a PG to run a high octane offense with 75% of his cartilage in his knees? Eh, I'd prefer to err on the side of caution