Not if they continue honoring these rumors such as Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford and now Vince Carter.

I think they have to entertain options for improving the team. The goal is to win a title, not get under the cap. The two things aren't always associated with each other, tho many seem to think so. Still I get the impression that since they are so close that they will be much more careful, unless something gets thrown in their lap, like KG or something. The Knicks won't have to do much to get under it. All they have to do is let Steph, Francis and Malik's contract expire. Right there that's $46.7 mil, which is half of the whole cap number.

This summer will tell us a lot. If we make it thru the summer and no big trade is made there's a greater chance that we may see this team take a conservative approach and look to get under the cap in 2 years.

Dolan said Hell No, why stop a good thing. Ratings are up and we get the back page again. Besides, Davey boy is cutting me a nice check for all this "trouble." And he also said F U Bonn1997.

He said it not me.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Still I get the impression that since they are so close that they will be much more careful,

This summer will tell us a lot. If we make it thru the summer and no big trade is made there's a greater chance that we may see this team take a conservative approach and look to get under the cap in 2 years.

What have the last three summers told you?

Tell me when was the last time the Knicks have had this much youth and been this close to getting under the cap at the same time? It hasn't been anytime in recent history. This is a different situation. It's no guarantee that they won't make some kind of deal, but it is in the equation now as an option. We've already heard Grunwald mention this very fact and they haven't really done anything but buyout contracts. Isiah has said repeatedly that things are different now. They don't have to make big trades anymore. Unless they get something great, I don't think they'll do anything drastic right now. There really aren't many deals to be made that make sense for this team right now. Small moves are one thing, but it's hard to find a good deal that won't make us older and still not guarantee a title shot.

Right now there are so many deals floating around. Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, JO, VC etc. NY is always gonna be at the top of the list due to our history of making those kinds of deals. The Knicks are at a crossroads now. We can actually see cap flexibility in the near future but there's always the temptation to try to buy success quickly. I think given the poor results of some of our recent moves, that the Knicks are gonna take a patient approach. I say this due to the combination of factors. The core of the team is young and has many years ahead of them. We have 2 years to go and then we're out of cap hell. There aren't many deals that would guarantee a title contender. They will likely weigh all the same factors when they go to make a decision.

Posted by Bonn1997:

You realize they've had a consistent linear trend of getting farther and farther from the cap every season, right?

Bonn this year we were at $139,381,526.00, next Season we'll be at $87,779,428.000, not including our Draft pick. In 2008/09 we'd be about the same, but at the end of that season we'd drop to the neighborhood of about 42 mil or slightly more. The main point is that we'd be under the cap. 2 seasons is not a long time to have to wait. Curry would be only 26 and we'd still have a good number of years to make a title run. Isiah knows this and it's a very likely scenario to imagine him taking a pass on any deal that would mess up our future cap situation.

Another thing to remember is that we'd be losing the salary of Steph, Francis and Rose. If we make a deal now and use some of our young players as well as a vet like Jamal, we wouldn't incur any further damage to our ability to get under the cap. So isiah could still find a way to improve the team but not destroy our cap situation in the future. It's in Isiah's best interests to hold onto the contracts of Steph, Francis and Rose, so that we can benefit from their expiration, giving us cap space. I believe that this kind of move is the most likely scenario, cuz I think isiah is well aware of the chance we have to have a good team and cap space in 2 years.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Bonn this year we were at $139,381,526.00, next Season we'll be at $87,779,428.000, not including our Draft pick.

How can you say "will" when Isiah hasn't yet found another bum to give a 5 yr, $30 mil contract to and hasn't found another over-priced star to use our expiring contracts on? There's no precedent for the team deciding to save money over the off-season

Bonn you keep repeating the past history, without any regard to the current situation. I've stated clearly why I believe that they've made such statements that they don't plan on using the MLE or how Grunwald has already stated their awareness of the cap decreasing significantly in 2 years.

There's another issue. Given the lack of playing time available on this current roster, there doesn't seem to be any way that they can add another player unless they move someone. It would seem to me that we're stocked pretty full of guys right now and unless we make a trade which clears some roster spots then I don't see how we could sign a guy and be able to promise him any significant PT. We already have a bunch of guards, even if they're not all great they CAN PLAY! Unless we can get rid of one I don't see us using the MLE to ge one. Not when we can get a much cheaper and younger SG in the draft. We've got a lot of forwards too. Frye, Jared, Lee, Balkman, Morris in particular. Unless we use some of these guys in a trade to get a guy like JO, then why would we add a guy using he MLE.

The most likely scenario is a trade. Given the fact that we have 3 guys who have only next season and the year after that left, I'd think we should expect that we'd stay the course with those guys rather than trade any of them to take back a longer contract. LOOK! We have young talent and we're in no rush. We can surely afford to wait 2 years with a group like this. It would allow us to take a longer look at the guys we've drafted and to see how far we can go with this group. Then in just 2 years we can make a big move if we want.