kt & ward to dallas for van exel & 2nd rd pick / sprewell to the bucks for big dog & johnson / eisley & harrington to utah for ostertag / sign donyell marshall to the full mid level exception. spoon & anderson to phoenix for penny... let me explain why it works: we already know dallas is willing to do that deal as well as the bucks being willing to do the deal, that leaves utah, why is because stockton is 90yrs old, they do have the euro guy coming over but eisley knows the system already plus they want ostertag out bad. finally we have phoenix, you know they want penny out bad as we want spoon gone, the 2nd rd pick to sugar coat it. (dallas pick, it won't hurt) c=johnson / pf= mcdyess / sf=big dog / sg=houston / pg=van exel bench: c=ostertag / pf=marshall / sf=penny / sg=postel / pg=williams / with only knight on the end of the bench. NOTE: OSTERTAG & JOHNSON ARE IN THE LAST YR OF THEIR CONTRACTS !!! This is a viable solution !!! AND REALISTIC TRADES !!! With that lineup DUNCAN, KIDD OR MOURNING may now be attracted to play for the KNICKS next year !!! all trades clear on REALGM.COM

[Edited by - K9 on 07/15/2002 10:31:55]

[Edited by - K9 on 07/15/2002 10:52:47]

kt & ward to dallas for van exel & 2nd rd pick

I'd rather not do this trade, but might during the trading deadline if the roster needs some stirring up and Dice is playing well.

sprewell to the bucks for big dog & johnson

No thank you very much. Spree is better then Big Dog although 2" shorter. EJohnson is an old backup center.

eisley & harrington to utah for ostertag

Don't think that would be a smart move PR wise for the Jazz since Ostertag showed his big heart in giving his kidney to his sister and basketball wise it would be good to be rid of Eisley but Ostertag might become a health risk because of the kidney.

sign donyell marshall to the full mid level exception

I really like Donyell but unless there are some other trades giving the knicks another center (if that spree trade to the bucks went down, EJohnson isn't enough alone at the center position so still the midlevel would go to Keon or JJ) the midlevel shouldn't be given to Donyell although Rodney Rogers instead of Donyell would be a possibility the size would still hurt.

[Edited by - knicksbabyyeah on 07/15/2002 11:39:18]

I pull the trigger on Van Exel for KT/Ward, I sign James (With performance-related clauses) and sit tight - See what Chaney can do...

Uhm excuse me k9, to snatch up a marquee free agent without involving a sign and trade you have to be severly under the cap to be able to offer them a top contract, which is roughly 42 million (while the "hard cap, the so called luxury tax cap is roughly 54 mil aka teams won't go over the official cap then more by 12 mil). Any amount you're under the cap you can offer to a free agent.

So if you'd want Duncan or Mourning or Kidd or whoever next year who can command a max salary anywhere without a trade..well..

the knicks would have to trim down their current 90 mill salary, 70+ mil in actual salaries + the salaries of LJ and Longley making it 90 mil to a whopping maximum of 30 mil . Orlando figures to be a player in that FA market, but they'd only have Tmac, Grant Hill, Mike Miller and this years rookie on their roster(Ryan Humphrey). So you'd have to gut the roster, not make minor tweaks. Spree vs Big dog + Johnson would save you just 4 mil + the 6 mil you'd gain from Ostertag..oh my, you just saved 10 million of a 90 mil roster (that btw is going to be bigger as the midlevel exception is definitely going to be used).

You want a shot at the top FA? You'd have to make outrageous trades giving all the players away for Scottie Pippen and Juwan Howard, BOTH, in order to be a player in the FA market and hope someone wants to play here.

Fugeddaboutit, NYK will only improve through trades, signing players to exceptions and hopefully draft picks for a looooooooonnnnnng time to come.

sign & trade anyone on our roster like marshall, big dog & 1st & 2nd rd pic in 2003 for duncan. just an example

CRAZY RICH! - Although to put 90 million into perspective, OPRAH makes more in a year...


Cheers-

The biggest problem in New York is that the future is NOW. And is always like that. So the trades and signings must always be centered to working right away. Even when they (past and present GMs)have tried to build something for the future they always have faced the demanding treat of being center of attention.

Personal opinion: I'll go for the Van Exel trade and see how the "new trifecta" and nick the quick come along.