(1) Gerald Green - young/untra-talented SG/SF for the future. Wouldn't have cost much - the guy just got a 1 yr. deal for under $900,000 with Dallas. We couldn't have used a young guy with this type of potential that can play 2 positions?!?!? I don't get it... Dallas fans are delighted to get a talent like this to add to their mix for basically nothing. Explosive, great slasher/dunker, three point shooter. Needs maturity and a little time to develop but has remarkable size & ability. This was a guy a lot of people wanted over Channing Frye a few drafts ago - we could've picked him up for peanuts a month ago and didn't. A lot of things need to break right after a rough start, but has all the skills to be a star. Tailor made for D'Antoni and his system.

(2) Louis Amundson - Walsh is suddenly talking "glue players," after dealing Balkman no less, and while the Ewing Jr. deal does address this, Amundson is one of the better unknown glue guys out there that would've come in here for the league minimum. Not a great scorer, but man, talk about a glue guy and intangibles. Relentless hustler/scrapper that would play some D, rebound the ball and blocked a shot or two from either the 3 or 4 positions. Would've been an instant crowd favorite.

(3) Justin Williams - ditto Amundson comments. Together with Amundson would've really tightened up the defense around the rim (Williams was an outstanding shot-blocker and rebounder in college). Would come really cheap. Additions of Amundson, Williams or both would've really made it easier to deal David Lee even if Zach were to be traded. Still available.

(4) Jaycee Carroll - good call by Briggs. Absolutely a lights-out shooter. Better, younger alternative to Anthony Roberson, who I think we jumped the gun with after he had a few hot practices. Can never have enough shooters (esp. on a D'Antoni-run team) and this is the best out there at a cheap price. Still available.

(5) Darko Milicic - Do this deal for Zach already. You're not gonna get much better than this (the Clippers didn't even wanna give us any talent back in return). As this deal currently stands, not the secondary pieces I would've wanted from Memphis but we unload Zach's contract and pick up a player in Darko with potential - we're talking 22/23 yrs. old, 7'1", mobile, can put it on the floor and shoot with range out to the three point line and supply much needed interior defense, both weakside and man to man. I stand by these words - right now I see a player who's raw and far from a finished product. With over 30 mins./night as a regular rotation player (along with a little bit better commitment to the game and to getting better as a player himself) we could be looking at 15 pts. (maybe more), 8-10 rebs., over 2 blocks a game (somewhere among the league leaders) with much better chemistry. Is that that much of a stretch? D'Antoni could develop this kid into a steady big man for years to come. With his versatility, if he can't play and play fairly well for D'Antoni then he really is a stiff, but as of right now I'm not ready to close the book on this kid just yet. D'Antoni's obviously been around and knows talent. He knows how to maximize and get the most out of that talent - the fact that he actually wanted the Suns to acquire this kid when Amare went down a couple of seasons ago speaks volumes to me. We're looking at a huge presence with a ton of untapped ability here.




[Edited by - finestrg on 09-07-2008 02:15 AM]

I wasn't gonna respond at all until you mentioned Darko. That alone is worthy of this topic getting deleted.

Darko is a pile of **** just like Eddy Curry. Except he actually thinks he's good and acts like a bitch. The only reason anyone would be happy to get him is because his contract expires in 2010. That's it.

Posted by BRIGGS:

Fin--these are all fringe guys at best--we need a superstar. If we ask why didnt we take Bynum insted of French Frye then you'd be talking

I understand, believe me I'm waiting for that to help turn this thing around myself, but you guys know that you don't build a team with 15 superstars. I agree with you Briggs and hopefully we see our financial plan through and clear enough cap room to get that elusive star by being a big player in the FA market in a couple of years. In the meantime, I'm worried about building a team here and filling deficencies. Deficiences that can't be ignored any longer. You need role players. We have some role players in place already but only a few that address our needs and major weaknesses. And BTW, with hard work and dedication, I think Green and Milicic could be more than just role players but that's just me. Those two in particular really intrigue me as I think they really have the talent to become special. Thing is they're so young, inexperienced and underdeveloped at this point that they're just scratching the surface in terms of what they could eventually turn out to be. Now this is where a team like the Knicks come in - a team that has no way to look but up, a team that should be all over these type of guys - young guys with that type of ability for that price. Guys worth taking a chance on. In fact, every guy I mentioned was/is available for the right price - for our price.

Gerald Green - we've been talking JR Smith for a while now and this kid's basically the same thing only a year younger, 2 inches bigger and at a fraction of the cost. If I were a betting man, I'd say he could've definitely realized his full potential playing for D'Antoni within his high-scoring, faced paced strategy. I don't care how many wings we currently have (Jamal, Q, etc...) this kid's got a good chance to be a lot better than all of them. The type of guy you get first then worry about trimming you roster down later. Too good a talent with tremendous upside that's too good to pass up for chump change if you're the Knicks. But no, Dallas, one of the better teams in the league for the past few seasons, goes out and gets him. Huge missed opportunity here.

Louis Amundson - Never gonna be mistaken for being the most talented player out there but no one I've ever seen plays the game harder. Just was reading that he was the D-League's most improved player last year and he's gotten great praise from the likes of Bobby Knight (I just read that coach Knight, after a UNLV/Texas Tech game during Lou's last year in college, had said that he hadn't seen another player in recent memory that he would rather coach than Louis Amundson & commented about how tough Lou was and how hard he hustles - - taken from Youtube poster "unlvrebelx") and recently from Steve Nash, talking about the new additions the Suns made in the off-season: "There wasn't a lot of cap space or options for us. To pick up the players we did is really exciting. We're way deeper, more energetic and hungrier. I think the chemistry is really important. We made subtle, great moves." That's huge praise from two guys who know a thing or two about winning and what you need to win. Big missed opportunity here, not getting this guy.

Overall, a nice off-season for the Knicks so far, just on the executive and coaching changes alone, but I feel we could've done a little better filling out this roster by adding available, cost-effective talent to the mix up to this point.


[Edited by - finestrg on 09-07-2008 08:43 AM]