Isiah has shown a lot of patience with young talents in the past, dealing with Sweetney is no different. I am pretty sure that he will give him all the time in the world to show that he is worthy before trading him. Who is responsible for checking on what those players do during the off season???? are they being monitored properly, I.E. Sweetney's weight, TT's workout regimen, Crawfford and Ariza gaining muscles, etc?????? do we have a system in place for such a thing????

Is that the job of Agwire or a health/fitness/nutritionsist????

The key to Sweetney's off season is whether or not Aguirre can fulfill his promise to transform Sweetney's body over the course of the summer.

Posted by Bonn1997:

What better way to kill his trade value than to tell teams you're so low on him that you won't even pick up his rookie contract option?

yeah, I agree with this. I mean, Sweetney IS the main chip to aquire Kwame, but you have to make it seem like we value Sweetney. Washington doesn't want to throw away Kwame - they want value. Picking up the option COULD be a way of saying, "hey, we value Sweets, so, you wanna trade for him, it's not gonna be cheap..."

Posted by crzymdups:

Posted by Bonn1997:

What better way to kill his trade value than to tell teams you're so low on him that you won't even pick up his rookie contract option?

yeah, I agree with this. I mean, Sweetney IS the main chip to aquire Kwame, but you have to make it seem like we value Sweetney. Washington doesn't want to throw away Kwame - they want value. Picking up the option COULD be a way of saying, "hey, we value Sweets, so, you wanna trade for him, it's not gonna be cheap..."

another team isnt going to be swayed by an option being picked up, if anything Im sure the other team would rather have the decision. if a team decides to trade for sweetney, its because hes a good ball player, not because Isiah picked his option up.

I think it only makes sense to pick up his option. If a team is looking to trade for him, chances are they would like to have him for another season at a cheap price. It would be dumb not to pick his option up.

There has not been a lot of media discussion about how Sweetney's off-season training regimen has been going since the end of the season....only the usual fat, overweight or eating jokes from a few out of the loop posters on this board. This is a very good sign. When I think of all of the garbage players (and there have been many) that have had an opportunity to stick on this team that never showed anything remotely special (i.e. Kurt) it just boggles the mind that some are so impatient to not see the process through with a kid that has shown flashes.

Now I predict Sweetney is going to be a borderline Allstar this year (yeah I said it) because I think he has made a commitment to get his body right for next year. Moreover, it's not consistent wth Isiah's mode of operation to give up on a young player he's invested so much time in so quickly (i.e. O'Neal, Bender, Tinsley, etc). Sweetney will start this year and he's coming back with a chip on his shoulder with a lot to prove to all the naysayers. One other player in recent years comes to mind when I think of a body makeover that changed a lot of perceptions, Udonis Haslem with the Heat.

I said it more than a few times last year but, if Isiah trades Sweetney before the coming season get's going I might be leaving with him (although I don't see him doing it). The Nets will be right down the street in just a few. If Isiah doesn't get this ship righted from the previous way of doing business (only playing mostly done over vets) the Nets are gonna at the very least take Brooklyn. Folks here are clamoring for a team they can call their own. However, last years draft along with this years draft has me thinking the Knicks are heading in a new - better direction.

Bottom line. No Kwame for Sweetney. Sweetney will be with us this year.



[Edited by - Junkmein on 07/02/2005 06:18:11]

Posted by Knicksfan:

I hope you all are right and we keep Sweetney. Just look at his stats with the time he was given. Imagine how good he woulc be if he was our starter? Yeah if he can't stay in the game that hurts a lot, but I think that he can be a great player for us to have. We need a post up presence like the one he gives us...

While I agree with you... the problem is that if Sweetney ends up not being able to keep his weight in check and the Knicks missed out on their oppourtunity to trade him when his vaulue is still high, like right now. I'm a big fan of Sweets, I hope to god that he keeps his weight in check becauase he could really provide some girth and lowpost prescence down low. With that said, if he can get us a quality big man downlow from another team looking to make a change (like the Wizards) I'd be all for trading him Mike, becuase I think he's going to have a hard time keeping his weight for his whole NBA career.

Looks like it's gonna be JYD for Kwame.