Posted by Anji:

Yeah but is who ever you get at 8-10 better then who ever you pick up at 17 and a Tyler Hansbrough or Ty Lawson or Nick Calathes???? They person the knicks want at 10 might be there at a later pick too. What about that, you get the player you want and pick up an extra pick.

i think u can legitimately get a talent like Patterson, Budinger, Derozan, Mullens, etc. who IMO have higher upsides than a Hansbrough or Lawson... & where did this talk about an extra pick come from? i thought ur premise was to move down in order to dump Jefferies' contract? i'm all in favor of picking up extra picks, which is why i think trading Lee & Nate is in our best interest at the deadline this year... we're not picking up an extra pick while moving down AND dumping Jefferies, that's not reality.

Posted by Anji:

I didn't say a salary dump, I said a swap for a player like watson or Cardinal. You think JJ2 & a pick 8-10 is worth Cardinal/Watson and 1 pick that is no hire then 19???

The Twolves have 19&30 and Thunder have 26&25

8-10 for 19&30 or 25&26= Knicks giving more
JJ2 for Cardinal or Kristic/Watson= Thunder/Twovles evening out the trade

Posted by Finestrg:

Posted by BRIGGS:

I think I would be looking to trade up first [were not getting pick 1] but my targets would be Thabeet Hill or Harden--after that the draft sinks down a level imho . Secondly I would seek out the Warriors or Jazz and offer it to them for either Randolph or Koufus. If these two options were off the table then I would be looking at either taking the best player available for us at the pick or moving down and trying to dump Jefferies.

The number 1 goal is to get the best talent giving up as little as you can to get it. The cap space with Jefferies and taking a much lower pick is last because it's uncertain and you would be moving from 8-10 to 27 or something like that. You will get a good salary restricted player 8-12 in this draft--it starts getting dicey after that. We cant give up talent just to get rid of Jefferies--that is a last case scenario.

That's a sound plan. I'd go along with that. Let's hope Walsh has some kind of agenda in place like that.

Only thing is I'm just not completely sold on James Harden yet. I know he's good, I know the numbers are there and that everyone loves him but I need to see a little more before making up my mind. ASU's currently ranked 18th in the country - let's hope they make a nice run in the tourney and he's eventually able to show well against some of the better teams in big spots the deeper they get. That would go a long way in selling me. The 40 pts. against UTEP was nice but might be more expected than special. He did have back to back solid performances on the road against UCLA then at Arizona in January that were noteworthy but right before that he layed a big egg at USC netting only 2 pts. on 0-8 shooting in 34 mins. Tonight he gets a chance to avenge that bad performance - USC @ Arizona State, 10pm MSG plus. I'll be watching. He should destroy USC tonight - I'd be surprised if he didn't go for 30+. There are so many pluses with him and I'm not looking to knock the guy but there are some things I see in him that need some work - despite the plus size and bulk at 6'5" 220lbs. I'm not so sure he's a great athlete - not overly quick. Appears to be playing at half-speed at times/maybe not going all-out or maybe that is his top speed - I'm not sure, he looks a little too lefthanded, when his feet are set he's money from deep with a nice lefty stroke but shooting off the dribble doesn't appear to be part of the arsenal.... I just don't know how great he'll wind up being in the NBA. NBAdraft.net compares him to Manu Ginobili and I don't know if that's accurate. A healthy Manu is one special player - you can never accuse Ginobili for ever playing half-speed that's for sure. Manu can handle the ball too and facilitate and I don't see that outta Harden. They're different players. When Manu's right he's a real dog out there on both ends with a grit & determination that's really unparalleled. Ginobili was also a major contributor on a couple of championship teams in San Antonio and a Gold medal winner for Argentina in the Olympics... Maybe Harden turns out to be a slightly bigger version of Anthony Peeler. That wouldn't be terrible, Peeler had a standout career for Missouri then played a long time in the NBA for a few teams. But if a team winds up taking Harden at #2, they'd be looking for a hell of a lot more than that. Not even sure he's better than Thaddeus Young, another young lefthander that came out recently. I know they play different positions - Young's bigger and a legit SF and this kid Harden's a 2 all the way in the NBA, but to me, Young's more skilled overall than this kid. To me, a top lead guard like Jeff Teague makes more sense picking that high over a James Harden as of right now. We'll have to see...

Speaking of MSG plus, we got Miami playing North Carolina very tough right now. One point game with a little over 4 mins. to go. Jack McClinton playing big - he's got close to 30. He's strong and a very good scorer. There's a spot for this guy McClinton in the NBA as an instant offense spark plug type for the right club. Big upset if Miami could take this game...


[Edited by - finestrg on 02-15-2009 9:39 PM]

James Harden, the Pac-10's leading scorer at 21.6 per game, had 13 points for ASU. Just like the first meeting between USC and Arizona State, Harden was hounded by Daniel Hackett. Harden was held to six field-goal attempts and made five. Not great, but much better than the last meeting between teams.