1) Sweetney is ready to start, or at least take starting minutes. They're saying he's more comfortable now. 14-8? Maybe. That would spell doom to 'Spoon and Harrington.

2) Lampe proves he's ready to be in the NBA. It's weird making predictions on his contributions-- you wonder if he's a better version of Travis Knight at this stage of development or more, perhaps much more? Gasol looked very mediocre in his rookie summer leagues-- then exploded a few games into the regular season. Yeah, I'd like to see him as our starting center

3) Vranes somehow embarasses all of these college veteran big men and earns a spot on the team, moving Travis Knight further down the depth charts... (somehow I doubt this will happen)

4) Ugonna Onyekwe surprises and turns into the next Tayshaun Prince... and knocks off Lee Nailon from the team. Not that I don't like Nailon, but Onyekwe sounds like a complete player, with "Pippen-like" defensive intensity and length. (technically we have Shandon Anderson...)

Any other things on the wish list? Oh yeah.

5) Frank Williams thoroughly outshines Billy Keys... and shows he's ready to take on Ward and Eisley for the starting job. Last year was a learning experience for Williams. If he shows he can handle 15-20 minutes on the floor w/o killing the team, it will definitely make Ward expendable. The problem is that losing Ward for nothing would completely suck. Ideally the Cavs would be interested in him... Is there anyone on that team we might be interested in? Jumaine Jones? (athletic rebounder/3pt shooter/defender/young)

I hope it happens just like that...

I just want to mention a few things, though...

• Lee Nailon is a free agent, so I think he's gone anyway. Onyekwe should be a good pickup.


• Just having Vranes makes Knight expendable (at the very least he's as good as Knight in his current raw stage and costs less $$.


• We have Sweetney, who has a much greater upside than Spoon. Spoon should be traded, whereas Othella is good off the bench (and this would be good for our cap, too).


• I also would like to see us get something for Ward, but just having more room off the cap would still be a step in the right direction. They can buy out Ward and sign Billy Keys (if Keys has a good summer run), still shaving down the cap in the process.

Why are fans so concerned about the Knicks and the cap? Do we feel that the payroll of the Knicks directly affects us (in ticket prices)?

I've been wondering what letting go of Ward does for the team--- sure, it potentially gives a younger, cheaper player a shot... but since we're going to be sooo over the cap for the next 3 or 4 seasons, does it really matter?

I think trading Harrington or 'Spoon might be imperative, but who is going to take them? Who exactly wants an undersized PF and a mediocre defender?