RonRon wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

blkexec wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

TPercy wrote:

Finestrg wrote:I don't get this move at all. So many better options out there for a roster spot. How many open spots do we have now anyway? You figure one is almost certainly going to Thanasis (who, if so, should occupy the Lance Thomas spot). If anything, Thomas should've been allowed to compete for a spot with the SL team. I mean WTF--this dude Mo N'dour looks like a vastly superior player to Lance Thomas. Not only that--Shved is much more of a priority. WTF man--get Shved done first--or at least OFFICIALLY offer Shved either the room exception or the rest of the cap space, either/or. Let me hear he turned both down, then I'll move on. Now Phil went and torpedoed one avenue to bring Shved back. Sorry, Lance Thomas doesn't do a thing for me. Better players in the DL for Pete's sake. Not happy.

Phil has a team of NBA professionals, so he clearly knows what he was doing with this move. We are just coach potatos who drink beer all day. If it is any consolation, newyorkerforver was offering to text Phil Jackson that people were not okay with this deal.

Oh gimmie a friggin' break with Lance Thomas being a professional, OK? These guys are all professionals... It's about prioritizing, talent evaluation and finalizing this roster the right way. On what planet is Lance Thomas more of a priority than Alexey Shved?? Someone care to explain that to me. What criteria are we using to determine that exactly? Is he more talented than Alexey Shved? The answer is a resounding NO here. Oh, but I guess he's more professional and statesmanlike though, right? I mean come on man, WTF are we talking about here??? Bottom line--Shved performed extremely well here, much better than Lance Thomas, and should've been more of a priority to bring back. Case closed. I had Shved as the starting SG for Christ's sake, or at the very least first guard off the bench. Lance Thomas shouldn't even be on the team, let alone in the rotation. Look, if for some reason Shved's the one playing hardball here and being unreasonable with a contract demand, fine, but tell us! Let us know! Haven't heard anything about that--if that was going on, we would've heard about it. Begley over at ESPN stated the Knicks offered Shved a vet minimum contract early on in FA that he turned down (less than what we just gave Thomas I believe btw -- a slap in the face quite honestly, based on how Shved performed). That's the only bit of news I've heard regarding bringing Shved back. Nothing else. Not only is Lance Thomas a fringe NBA player, we didn't need him back--we have that position covered and if we wanted more depth at that spot, there are better options. Lance Thomas returning over Alexey Shved is hard to swallow. All there is to say.

Whoa there killer. I'm pretty sure I read that Phil already offered Shved a vet min contract and he declined and also a couple other teams offered the same and he declined all of themy and that was offered to him way before this L.Thomas deal which would mean Phil did make signing Shved a priority over signing Lance.

In the past....we wouldve over paid for shved and that wouldve called for a similar thread. I know its hard to believe but some agents are hired to make their client rich. You saw that with Lin. Seems like Phil rather add role players that want to be here for other reasons than just money. Shved and his agent are trying to get paid.

Lin leaving NY for Houston was a completely different situation. Come on man--I don't need to tell you that. No crazy poison pill type deal with Shved--dude is just looking for fair market value. Something close to what Lin got from Charlotte perhaps, maybe a little more. I don't think that's too much to ask. After Melo went down for good last yr, Shved was easily our best player once he arrived. Not Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson or anyone else...it was Shved. Did Shved not perform well in the triangle? Of course he did--he was the one with the ball in his hands initiating it, making plays within it, excelling in it. I mean I don't get it--some of you are talking about how we need players that fit this damn triangle more than anything else...So for a more than reasonable contract starting in the $2.5 - 2.8mm range maybe less, Shved, a guy who performed better than any other player late in the season somehow now is looked at as some greedy player who's just in it for the money and nothing else? A guy who's some detriment to the locker room or less of a locker room presence compared to end-of-the-bench Lance Thomas? I'm not making Shved out to be Michael Jordan--I know exactly who he is; have a good idea what he's worth too, and I think he'd be worth every penny of a deal starting somewhere in the vicinity of 2.5mm. I think some of you are severely undervaluing Shved's importance to this team. Some of you who have gone out of your way to sing this man's praises now couldn't care less if he's even retained, insinuating that he somehow doesn't fit the triangle profile anymore. Laughable.

and one of our weakness's are penetration with the ability to finish and facilitate
Pushing TEMPO, while Galloway and Calderon are both shooters that play better OFF the ball and doesn't have the ability to penetrate consistently though not nearly as bad as Pablo/Jason Kidd

We simply need players that could score and facilitate and maybe choosing between Shved/Daniel Hackett
Signing LT, ruins any chance of retaining both Shved and AB or Josh Smith *still would be a steal at that price and hold more trade value with the room exemption to 3m deal

And if we sign Thanasis with the minimum, who has lock down defensive potential with a HIGH MOTOR and HIGHER upside than LT, he will not be very happy after he took a 500k less to choosing D League over Europe as Phil Jackson requested, for Euro players with 0years of experience, they are unlikely to signing with NYK's with a starting salary of 500k, as our Summer League roster has some possible keepers especially if they do well along with Hackett...

Wesley Johnson
Gereld Green

are both solid signings that signed for the vet min on contenders, while we might have had a chance to sign them to multiyear deals on contracts of 2m to 3m and still have greater trade value

Jeremy Evans signed a 2year vet min with Dallas and like Gereld Green was a Slam Dunk Champion with great length and athleticism at SF/PF who has much higher potential than LT
Lets not forget that DeMaRRe Carroll was from Utah and barely played like Evans...

Memphis has 4 PG's with

Conley
Udrih
Nick Calathes
Russ Smith

I was hoping we would be able to get Russ Smith last year and his ability to penetrate/finish/and facilitate will likely improve much this year
He has great athleticism fits rights through picks as he is skinny, with great quickness/speed/athleticism and strength reminding me a bit of a young Manu with Grant/Smith developing together would be ideal

Last season, I was hoping we would acquire Tony Wroten and thought he was going to break out with MCW's injury
This season, Russ Smith appears to be ready after his rookie season, like many rookies, it takes at minimum 1year to show potential

As KP gets stronger and fills out, he will be a GREAT PnR weapon like talents such as Dirk, Pau Gasol, KG, and Anthony Davis...
Surrounding KP with 3 and D talents with HIGH IQ to space the floor would be ideal for our future as it takes time to develop in The Triangle and Build Chemistry

Sam Thompson is a G/F that reminds me a bit of a young smaller Ariza

A lot of good points, Ron. Agree Shved provides intangibles guards like Galloway and Calderon don't supply (intangibles we need out of at least one more guard beside our rookie Grant otherwise our backcourt as a whole will feel unfinished); agree Thanasis is a probable to make the team for the reasons you gave and that Lance Thomas is completely redundant and superfluous with Thanasis in the mix; agree the LT signing ruined any chance of adding TWO additional young players over the vet minimum (there's still enough money left to resign Shved--hopefully Phil comes to his senses and resigns him) and I even agree there are better talents out there to finish off this roster with. No argument from me on any of these issues.

Finestrg wrote:

blkexec wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

TPercy wrote:

Finestrg wrote:I don't get this move at all. So many better options out there for a roster spot. How many open spots do we have now anyway? You figure one is almost certainly going to Thanasis (who, if so, should occupy the Lance Thomas spot). If anything, Thomas should've been allowed to compete for a spot with the SL team. I mean WTF--this dude Mo N'dour looks like a vastly superior player to Lance Thomas. Not only that--Shved is much more of a priority. WTF man--get Shved done first--or at least OFFICIALLY offer Shved either the room exception or the rest of the cap space, either/or. Let me hear he turned both down, then I'll move on. Now Phil went and torpedoed one avenue to bring Shved back. Sorry, Lance Thomas doesn't do a thing for me. Better players in the DL for Pete's sake. Not happy.

Phil has a team of NBA professionals, so he clearly knows what he was doing with this move. We are just coach potatos who drink beer all day. If it is any consolation, newyorkerforver was offering to text Phil Jackson that people were not okay with this deal.

Oh gimmie a friggin' break with Lance Thomas being a professional, OK? These guys are all professionals... It's about prioritizing, talent evaluation and finalizing this roster the right way. On what planet is Lance Thomas more of a priority than Alexey Shved?? Someone care to explain that to me. What criteria are we using to determine that exactly? Is he more talented than Alexey Shved? The answer is a resounding NO here. Oh, but I guess he's more professional and statesmanlike though, right? I mean come on man, WTF are we talking about here??? Bottom line--Shved performed extremely well here, much better than Lance Thomas, and should've been more of a priority to bring back. Case closed. I had Shved as the starting SG for Christ's sake, or at the very least first guard off the bench. Lance Thomas shouldn't even be on the team, let alone in the rotation. Look, if for some reason Shved's the one playing hardball here and being unreasonable with a contract demand, fine, but tell us! Let us know! Haven't heard anything about that--if that was going on, we would've heard about it. Begley over at ESPN stated the Knicks offered Shved a vet minimum contract early on in FA that he turned down (less than what we just gave Thomas I believe btw -- a slap in the face quite honestly, based on how Shved performed). That's the only bit of news I've heard regarding bringing Shved back. Nothing else. Not only is Lance Thomas a fringe NBA player, we didn't need him back--we have that position covered and if we wanted more depth at that spot, there are better options. Lance Thomas returning over Alexey Shved is hard to swallow. All there is to say.

Whoa there killer. I'm pretty sure I read that Phil already offered Shved a vet min contract and he declined and also a couple other teams offered the same and he declined all of themy and that was offered to him way before this L.Thomas deal which would mean Phil did make signing Shved a priority over signing Lance.

In the past....we wouldve over paid for shved and that wouldve called for a similar thread. I know its hard to believe but some agents are hired to make their client rich. You saw that with Lin. Seems like Phil rather add role players that want to be here for other reasons than just money. Shved and his agent are trying to get paid.

Lin leaving NY for Houston was a completely different situation. Come on man--I don't need to tell you that. No crazy poison pill type deal with Shved--dude is just looking for fair market value. Something close to what Lin got from Charlotte perhaps, maybe a little more. I don't think that's too much to ask. After Melo went down for good last yr, Shved was easily our best player once he arrived. Not Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson or anyone else...it was Shved. Did Shved not perform well in the triangle? Of course he did--he was the one with the ball in his hands initiating it, making plays within it, excelling in it. I mean I don't get it--some of you are talking about how we need players that fit this damn triangle more than anything else...So for a more than reasonable contract starting in the $2.5 - 2.8mm range maybe less, Shved, a guy who performed better than any other player late in the season somehow now is looked at as some greedy player who's just in it for the money and nothing else? A guy who's some detriment to the locker room or less of a locker room presence compared to end-of-the-bench Lance Thomas? I'm not making Shved out to be Michael Jordan--I know exactly who he is; have a good idea what he's worth too, and I think he'd be worth every penny of a deal starting somewhere in the vicinity of 2.5mm. I think some of you are severely undervaluing Shved's importance to this team. Some of you who have gone out of your way to sing this man's praises now couldn't care less if he's even retained, insinuating that he somehow doesn't fit the triangle profile anymore. Laughable.