The latest kick in the nuts from Walsh...

Knicks Won't Use Mobley In Trade - Berman 10/14

The Knicks are no longer using retired Cuttino Mobley's expiring contract as a trade pawn, according to president Donnie Walsh.

The Knicks still have to keep Mobley on the roster as they await the one-year anniversary of his Knicks' physical following their Nov. 21 trade.

In late November, a hearing will be held to determine Mobley's heart condition – cardiomyophathy – is a career-ending injury. It's a formality. Once it is officially deemed a career-ending injury, Mobley's contract comes off the 2009-10 salary cap.

All that does is help owner James Dolan save a bunch of money in luxury tax - $9.5M. The Knicks are still over the luxury-tax threshold for this year, so they pay a dollar-to-dollar tax. Not only do they save the $9.5M in tax, insurance will also kick in and pay more than 60 percent of the $9.5M.

Even if they waived Mobley today, insurance would kick in because of something known as temporary disability. It made Mobley a terrific trade asset for any team over the cap trying to save dough and luxury tax money. But the Knicks would only have taken an expiring contract in return, a player that was worth the savings on Mobley.

Walsh said the Knicks would likely keep 14 players and Mobley at the end of preseason, but gave no assurances in these cost-cutting days. One cut still needs to be made. But Joe Crawford and Marcus Landry must prove they are worth keeping 14 men.

Nice. I agree with this, because it was wrong of them to use him in a trade anyway.

Posted by fishmike:

bad news. Getting traded has zero impact on Mobley. He's done in the NBA. This is a setback if we had any chance of trading Curry or JJ it would have involved this contract and the attractive savings to another team it represented

there's not too many big expirings we could have feasibly been able to trade a combination of Mobley & either Fishlips or Curry for that i can think of... & really there's not much savings to be had if you're taking back the extra year on those other guys' contracts... to be a valuable trade asset Mobley would have to be traded 1 up for a player w/an expiring deal of similar value... trying to think of possibilities there... i'll post em after i take a look at the salaries on teams likely to be trading partners in that type of deal

Posted by TMS:

Posted by fishmike:

bad news. Getting traded has zero impact on Mobley. He's done in the NBA. This is a setback if we had any chance of trading Curry or JJ it would have involved this contract and the attractive savings to another team it represented

there's not too many big expirings we could have feasibly been able to trade a combination of Mobley & either Fishlips or Curry for that i can think of... & really there's not much savings to be had if you're taking back the extra year on those other guys' contracts... to be a valuable trade asset Mobley would have to be traded 1 up for a player w/an expiring deal of similar value... trying to think of possibilities there... i'll post em after i take a look at the salaries on teams likely to be trading partners in that type of deal

how about Curry, Mobley and Chandler for McGrady and a pick?

Posted by JohnWallace44:

Why would it be "wrong" of them to use him in a trade? For a second there I thought this was a business.

it's wrong because they were flaunting a dying man in the market. but i don't understand why they won't use him?

well... regardless Yao's minutes would be limited and if he came back next year Curry could back him up. A 28/20 type minutes split makes some sense. Curry would be in his walk year so while he's an expensive backup its a short term thing.

Posted by JohnWallace44:

Posted by orangeblobman:

Posted by JohnWallace44:

Why would it be "wrong" of them to use him in a trade? For a second there I thought this was a business.

it's wrong because they were flaunting a dying man in the market. but i don't understand why they won't use him?

He's not a dying man. Playing professional ball poses a risk to his heart. He can live a normal life, and the trade doesn't effect him.

TMac would be the perfect match for that contract along with Curry. If Curry could get on the floor and TMac were injured it would really be a no-brainer.

1. houston wouldn't let mcgrady go i dont thinkb ecause he is about to have a RIGHTEOUS year
2. we don't want mgrady because he will stunt the development of the young guns, this is an isiah move.

Posted by fishmike:

well... regardless Yao's minutes would be limited and if he came back next year Curry could back him up. A 28/20 type minutes split makes some sense. Curry would be in his walk year so while he's an expensive backup its a short term thing.

Houston can do better than T-Mac for Chandler.

TMac has an expiring contract that will be tough to match up and his knees may never again allow him to play a full season. They're also not a contender anymore.

I don't see too many other deals that would be out there for them, but they do have a very good and creative GM, unlike our team.

Chandler doesn't become valueless just because of a couple of preseason games.

Posted by TMS:

Mobley, Crawford & Hunter for Ray Felton & Raja Bell might have been a possibility if Charlotte wanted to give up the talent for the savings, but then we'd have a huge glut of G's on this roster w/Duhon, Nate, Douglas, Hughes & Chandler also all looking to get minutes in the backcourt as well.

Mobley & Jordan Hill for Carlos Boozer might have been a possibility because Utah is also over the luxury tax threshold, but then u have to sign up Boozer to an extension to make any kind of sense out of a deal like that & there will be better options in free agency next year anyway... same goes for guys like Joe Johnson, Josh Howard, Manu Ginobili and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

bottomline is we wouldn't have been able to get much more than just role player types using Mobley's contract unless we also added in a nice piece like Jordan Hill or Wilson Chandler, & trading away young pieces like that for pending free agents would be pointless.

we could have probably landed at least a pick in the 2010 draft out of trading Mobley for scrub expirings tho, so in that sense i think Donnie's missing the boat if he doesn't use this trade asset.

MObley and Jordan Hill for Boozer and our draft pick back would be a no brainer for us. Hell, I would also give them $3 mill and our second round pick.

[Edited by - thegame on 14-10-2009 14:04]