I think there are two directions we can choose from on draft night.

One of those options would be to go all in right now (or as some people like to say on this board, starphuck). Contrary to what a lot of people believe, we do have enough resources to make this team significantly better and go to the 2nd round of the playoffs next season. There are a lot of very good players that are attainable (e.g. Jermaine O'Neal, Marcus Camby, Michael Redd, Leandro Barbosa, Ron Artest, Baron Davis, etc.). We have enough to get 2-3 of those guys by using the Marbury expiring, the 6th pick, and pieces like Lee. I understand that a lot of people wouldn't want to go in this direction and thats fine. There is nothing wrong with being patient. Still, I don't think this option is a bad one because I personally think we could put together a very good team rather quickly. Its been said that we can't do what the Celtics did by bringing in a player like Kevin Garnett and that is correct. However, while we can't bring in an MVP type player we can bring in multiple very good players and have more than 3 weapons along with top-notch depth.

The other option is to simply take the best player available at 6 or wherever we pick. We need an impact player, it is really that simple. Someone that can play point guard would be ideal, but in the end, we have to take the guy we think will have the best career regardless of position. There are too many holes on this roster to say that we only need help in one or two positions. We need post defense, perimeter defense, playmaking ability, good shooting, smart decision making, etc. We aren't going to fill those holes with one guy, so we have to try our best to come out of this draft with an impact player. In this scenario, we also would have to be a little bit more patient and do our best to stockpile on young talent in the next 2 seasons. I think it goes without saying that we would also try to get under the cap in this situation...

There is nothing wrong with either of these two options. I can see this franchise improving itself dramatically as long as it sticks to either of these two directions. What I really don't want to see however, is us trading the 6th pick for someone like Barbosa or Ford and then keeping the rest of the roster intact. We have too many holes to simply trade for one good veteran player. If we are going to add a Barbosa or Ford, then we have to look to add 1-2 very good players on top of that or else trading the 6th pick for a veteran makes no sense whatsoever. I trust Donnie though, he has a good track record and I think he realizes that these are the 2 main directions we should choose from. In the end, his objective is to make the Knicks relevant again. I think most people forget that if he gets us into the playoffs, then his job has been accomplished. We all want a championship but at the same time, all you can really ask of your GM is to put together a competitive team that makes the playoffs and gets that opportunity or two to become a contender.




[Edited by - s3231 on 06-22-2008 10:17 AM]

To be honest I think we could try either approach and chances are neither will work. We can go and "starphuck" all we like and we may not get a combination of players that will actually click. Just loook at our own recent past. Or we could try to be patient and get the BPA @ 6 and tank another season.

I think overall we all agree that this team has too many bad players that need to be moved, cut or benched for us to get anywhere. And we will not get all of this accomplished in one season. So to me the best approach is to try and do this one move at a time. Right now we are faced with the draft and our goal is to get solid two-way players on the team, the easiest way is to sit tight and draft one.

Then if there are other trades that will land us some of those free agents that can play on "both" sides of the ball, we should definitely go after those. But let's not trade our assets away to fill the "need" on this team. The real need is patience and understaning the big picture. No point guard or defensive big will make us contenders, we are too far gone for that.

Posted by loweyecue:

Then if there are other trades that will land us some of those free agents that can play on "both" sides of the ball, we should definitely go after those. But let's not trade our assets away to fill the "need" on this team.

not trying to give u a hard time, but how do you expect to land any players we would want without giving up any of our assets? we don't have any cap space to land any topnotch FA's at this point, so unless we're getting Ron Artest to sign for the MLE you have to assume that you'll have to give up some of your assets to target any good players you want... the other option is to hope that whoever you take in the draft turns out to be good... this franchise hasn't gotten either one right over the past decade, giving up its assets in bad trades & wasting its draft picks on overrated prospects.

Actually we have 3 choices we could trade down and work towards a plan of doing damage in 2010/2011. Add to this plan in gutting the roster.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 06-22-2008 11:03 PM]

Posted by BasketballJones:

I say we shoot for doing damage in 2030.

Nothing wrong with that either start planning now.