I think that the Knicks need to trim the roster and rid themselves of redundancies. So with that goal in mind, I'd suggest:

The Knicks trade: Nate, Frye, JJ1, JJ2 --> Sacramento
The Kings trade: Artest and Kenny Thomas --> New York

First of all, does this move happen?
Would Sacramento bite?
Would Isiah do it?
Is it a good move?

Here's my opinion:

The Knicks do it because it clears up roster spots. It removes redundancies -- do we really need Nate and Crawford? Do we really need Balkman and Jeffries? It removes some MLE mistakes in Jeffries and James. Next, it brings in a defensive-minded SF and a veteran PF. I'd do this move even if Artest never played a game for us. I'd do it even if we sent him home and let him ride out his deal. Another key to this deal is that it does not add future payroll commitments past where we were already paying. Neither Kenny Thomas' deal nor Artest's run longer than any of the Knicks traded.

Knicks new roster:

Eddy Curry
Kenny Thomas
Ron Artest
Jamal Crawford
Stephon Marbury

David Lee
Quentin Richardson
Renaldo Balkman
Malik Rose
Randolph Morris
Steve Francis
23rd Pick

The Kings do it because Frye and Nate are still young players. Frye can step right into Kenny Thomas' role and probably produce more. Frye fits better in their system than he does in NY. Nate Robinson is a young guard, a spark plug. He can be their first guard off the bench. JJ2 is a defensive minded SF that fills in for Artest on the defensive side. Plus he's not a head case. Jerome James is a waste but he completes the deal and he has to come with this package of youth. Sac also fills some roster spots. They only have 9 guys signed next year, they'll also have their first round pick -- this deal, plus their first rounder, puts them at twelve players.

Kings new roster:

Brad Miller
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Jared Jeffries
Kevin Martin
Mike Bibby

Nate Robinson
Channing Frye
Quincy Douby
Francisco Garcia
John Salmons
Jerome James
Lottery Pick

Thoughts anyone? If you don't like this trade or you think it needs to be tweaked -- chime in with your suggestions. Or if you have another roster consolidating move that you think is better or more likely to happen -- please share.

[Edited by - eViL on 04-19-2007 7:30 PM]

i'd make that trade yesterday... but i think it's fair to assume Isiah will end up giving away a lot more than that to get those 2 players, so you have to ask yourself would it be worth it in that case?

i'm not saying it's lopsided... i'm commenting more on Isiah's penchant to pay more than he has to in order to get a trade done... like i said, i love the trade & would make it right now if i could... but i think Isiah would likely give up a lot more than what your trade includes, & then you have to wonder would it be worth it at that point.

Posted by eViL:

I think that the Knicks need to trim the roster and rid themselves of redundancies. So with that goal in mind, I'd suggest:

The Knicks trade: Nate, Frye, JJ1, JJ2 --> Sacramento
The Kings trade: Artest and Kenny Thomas --> New York

It will never be that simple. The amount on those contracts is just too rediculously high for anyone to take on. Unfortunately for us, we will not find a GM that dumb, because the dumbest GM in the league is on our team. Thomas may be good at picking young talent, but he's horrible with money management. This is why I suggested maybe buying out a portion of some of the contracts, to make it a little more attractive to other GM's. Bob responded to my suggestion and told me to 'shut up'! That really helped.