My shortish list:

PG:

Ray Felton
Kyle Lowry
Jeremy Lin
Jordan Farmar
Luke Ridnour

Wing players (SF/SG types)

Andre Iguodala
Nicholas Batum
Mike Miller
Travis Outlaw
Matt Barnes
Sasha Pavlovic

Bigs (PF/C types)

Carl Landry
Marcus Camby
Brendan Haywood
Amir Johnson
DeAndre Jordan

a la Briggs:

Under the radar in the draft
Elliot Williams Memphis
Jimmer Fredette BYU
James Andersen OKst
Elias Harris Gonzaga

NBA
In terms of cheaper free agents to possibly steal on the cheap but get nice production for the $$
Amir Johnson F[4 years 18.5mm]
Travis Outlaw F [4 years 18.5mm]
Sasha Pavlovic F/G[minimum]
Mike Miller [2 years 14mm]
Brendan Haywood[3 years 18mm]

Outlaw is the most realistic target because he expire this year. $4M salary this season. Good fit for the Knicks?

Batum is healthy for the first time this season and looks real good according to these guys:

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/home/2010/2/2/believe-in-nicolas-batum.html

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/why-not-start-nic-batum?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DwightJaynes+%28Dwight+Jaynes%29&utm_content=ESPN

Love Iggy as a 2nd banana. Would you rather pay for his two way usefulness on defense and offense or max out Joe Johnson? If Philly is looking to shed his contract I could see him as a very poor man's Pippen.

DeAndre Jordan is young and unpolished but super athletic and could be a cheap guy who gives us a lot on the boards and as a shotblocker. Under contract for this season and the next at under $1M.

Carl Landry is under contract for this season and next season at $3M per. Wouldn't he a much cheaper alternative to paying David Lee?

but i think we want a bigger score than that, no?

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:Thought it would be a good idea to keep one consistent thread for players the Knicks should have their eye on other than the guys we've all been discussing to death this season (the big 2010 guys)

My shortish list:

PG:

Ray Felton
Jeremy Lin
Jordan Farmar
Luke Ridnour

Wing players (SF/SG types)

Andre Iguodala
Nicholas Batum
Travis Outlaw
Matt Barnes

Bigs (PF/C types)

Carl Landry
Marcus Camby
DeAndre Jordan

Outlaw is the most realistic target because he expire this year. $4M salary this season. Good fit for the Knicks?

Batum is healthy for the first time this season and looks real good according to these guys:

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/home/2010/2/2/believe-in-nicolas-batum.html

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/why-not-start-nic-batum?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DwightJaynes+%28Dwight+Jaynes%29&utm_content=ESPN

Love Iggy as a 2nd banana. Would you rather pay for his two way usefulness on defense and offense or max out Joe Johnson? If Philly is looking to shed his contract I could see him as a very poor man's Pippen.

DeAndre Jordan is young and unpolished but super athletic and could be a cheap guy who gives us a lot on the boards and as a shotblocker. Under contract for this season and the next at under $1M.

Carl Landry is under contract for this season and next season at $3M per. Wouldn't he a much cheaper alternative to paying David Lee?

Under the radar in the draft

Elliot Williams Memphis
Jimmer Fredette BYU
James Andersen OKst
Elias Harris Gonzaga

NBA

In terms of cheaper free agents to possibly steal on the cheap but get nice production for the $$

Amir Johnson F[4 years 18.5mm]
Travis Outlaw F [4 years 18.5mm]
Sasha Pavlovic F/G[minimum]
Mike Miller [2 years 14mm]
Brendan Haywood[3 years 18mm]

- for the backcourt, i'd take Kyle Lowry... quickness of the dribble, tough defender, good rebounder, can push the uptempo game, plays with balls.

- on the wings i like Matt Barnes too, he'd be a nice fit w/his shooting & athleticism & he'd come cheap

but to sign role guys like this you're looking at letting D Lee walk in free agency cuz we won't have the cap space to sign him & still target a max FA & fill the rest of the roster with anything other than veteran's minimum type signings.

i'd use 1 of our 2nd rounders on Nic Wise from ARI, he'd be a good fit for an MDA style offense

knickstorrents wrote:We have to think about timeframes and I think using history as a guide can be helpful.

Is our timeframe 1 year or 3-4? I love Camby but does he make sense if we can't get a championship within 2 years? I also love Raymond Felton... but can you win a championship with him?

A lot of that will be determined by free agency in the summer. Every championship caliber team needs at least 1 go to guy to take the winning shot. Lakers have Kobe, Celtics have Garnett/Pierce, 90's bulls had Jordan, Spurs had Duncan, etc.

Take a look at championship mvp history for the last 20 years:

http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

I'm not sure you can make a generalization based on position from that list, but here it goes - championship mvps for the last 20 years

PG 4x MVP - Joe Dumars, Isaiah Thomas, Chauncey, Tony Parker
SG 7x - Michael Jordan, Kobe
SF 1x - Pierce
PF 2x - Duncan
C 5x - Shaq, Hakeem

So besides Jordan and Kobe (I consider both more of as playmakers than off the ball guards anyway) the most critical component to a championship team is the Center and Point Guard.

In today's NBA as players get bigger and stronger, would LBJ be considered the playmaker to build a championship around? If that's so, then you don't need a playmaking PG in the traditional sense (a good defensive PG with a good spot up shot like... Toney Douglas would work). The need for a defensive center remains though so Camby still works IF we can get LBJ.

If we CAN'T get LBJ, I'd be careful about how 'good' you want to make the team... remember... of the MVP's you see in the above list, how many were drafted by their teams and never left for free agency? The only people who who left in the past 20 years on that list are Shaq and Chauncey Billups!!!

It might make sense, if we can't get LBJ, to then take the long term view and become a lottery team to draft a transcendant talent. I think we can try to make the playoffs this year, and next year as our cap situation matches the league's free agent pool... but afterwards, we may be better off pulling a Nets/Portland/Memphis and amassing talent for a while. I don't think it's necessary to tank completely... but missing the playoffs is a good idea unless you can win the championship THAT YEAR.

And I think placing as one of the bottom 3 teams should be a priority as this gives a good chance to get a top 3 pick.

Talent wins championships and the draft remains the best way to get talent. The draft is the only way to get talent on a cheap, multi-year rookie contract, which gives you enough time and cap flexibility to sign championship level role players (I consider Amare, Bosh, Joe Johnson as role players, much like Ray Allen was for the '08 celtics)

Bottom line - if we can't get LBJ, save cash and sign young role players, and aim to get a top 3 pick until you can get a championship level talent.

centers and points win MVPs because the drop off between teh best starter and the worst is significantly more dramatic that the drop off between the best and worst starts at the 2-4. Guys like Erick Dampier or Jerome James get the contracts they do because managements make the mistake of "I NEED A CENTER." No. Just go after the best players you can

Restricted FA
Sergio Rodriguez
Ty Thomas
Josh Childress

Unrestricted FA
Javaris Crittendon
Hakim Warrick

2nd Rd Draft Picks
Craig Brackins
Greivis Vasquez
Jerome Jordan

SupremeCommander wrote:I'd be happy with Lee, Felton, and Miller if a big time UFA follows in 2011

I think we'd all be disappointed... but that would wind up being a fun team to watch:

PG Felton
SG Miller
SF Gallo
PF Wilson
C DLee

think we'd need a defensive center and that wouldn't be so bad.