awe1028 wrote:Briggs, I have seen you talk about Fredette before and you seem to recommend him highly. I tried to find the other posts where you

talked about him before but couldn't find them. I have been thinking about who the Knicks could draft in the second round that would

be a good value pick and from what you have said and from what I've been reading he seems like a good value pick. The Knicks are in

desperate need of a point guard and he seems to be an adequate PG-Probably more so than let's say a Toney douglass. Offensively, he

seems to be similar to Stephen Curry and he would seem to be a perfect replacement since the Knicks missed out on Curry. I have not

seen him play but as someone who has undoubtably seen alot of him I'd like to ask you some questions about him.

1) Why do you think he will be coming out in this year's draft all the mocks have him coming out in the 2011 draft?
2) If he does come out do you think the knicks will have a legitimate chance of getting him?
3) How good are his PG skills? Do you think he is good enough to be a starter at that position in
the NBA?
4) Do you tghink his offensive game will translate to the NBA?
5) The biggest question about him seems to be his ability to play adequate defense on the next level; Do you see this as a problem
for him at the next level. And given the concerns the "experts" have about his defense, if not, why not?
6) Am I right about comparing to Curry? And could you give a comparison of the two?

I know these are a lot of questions but I'm actually excited about him and hope the knicks get him they could surely use another

shoter high IQ player thanks for your response in advance

I've only seen Fredette play one game and that was against Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament.

In that game Fredette was outplayed by Jacob Pullen an NBA prospect from State.

Fredette is very fun to watch at the offensive end and he can definitely score the ball. I do think Pullen exposed him a bit in that Fredette really struggled to get the ball over mid-court against Pullen's pressure. He was forced to get rid of the ball early and fumbled it a few times under pressure.

I see Fredette as a Scott Skiles player -- one of my favorite all-time college point guards. Skiles also owns the NBA record of 30 assists in one game. Skiles however had his limitations in the pros as he had to deal with bigger, faster players every night.

I think Fredette needs the right system but I think he can play in the NBA. Not sure he's a star or even a starter but again - only saw him play one time.

crzymdups wrote:if Fredette is there in the second round they should absolutely take him. if you're talking about trying to acquire a late first rounder to get him, you're talking about giving up cap room...

I don't think so bro. It's my understanding that you can exceed the cap to sign you're own draft picks (1st rounders for sure. 2nd rounders I'm not too sure about though - the rule isn't clear. You should be able to though - what if you're a team that's over the cap and you don't have any 1st rounders, only a 2nd rounder or two? You don't forfeit those picks do ya? No. Maybe the minimum wage exception then applies to 2nd rounders. Not sure but I'm sure you can exceed the cap to sign your 2nd rounders as well --- if somebody knows for sure, please let me know)....

In theory, this is how it could work for us: The draft takes place at the end of June. We draft our players but don't sign them right away. Then we go out and get the FAs we want starting July 1st. After free agency has concluded we now go back and sign all our draft picks to the proper amount, exceeding the cap if necessary. Jordan Hill didn't sign with the Knicks until July 11th last summer I believe. Toney Douglas July 14th. As such, I wouldn't mind seeing the Knicks grab as many 1st rounders as they can get their hands on -- not only are they good young hungry players, you can exceed the cap to sign them and those players are now salary controlled by the team for up to 4 years..Amassing draft picks is the way to go right now for us in my humble opinion...

crzymdups wrote:first round picks have a cap hold. see larry coon's salary cap FAQ

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q41

43. Do draft picks count against the team's salary cap? If so, how much?

Unsigned first round picks are included in team salary immediately upon their selection in the draft. They count as 100% of the scale salary for that pick, unless there is a verbal agreement for a higher salary. An incident occurred prior to the 1997-98 season when Vancouver's first round pick, Antonio Daniels, revealed in an interview that he and the team had verbally agreed to a contract starting at the maximum salary (120% of the scale amount). Since verbal agreements apply to the salary cap, the league then changed the team's cap figure from the scale amount to 120% of scale.

Once a first round pick signs a contract, his actual salary is included in the team salary, of course.

OK good catch. Well if that's how it works, I still believe amassing draft picks is the way to go. What would you rather have - 1 middle-of-the-road FA for 4-5 million or 3-4 players from this draft for the same amount of money? I'd choose the latter..

Finestrg wrote:

crzymdups wrote:first round picks have a cap hold. see larry coon's salary cap FAQ

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q41

43. Do draft picks count against the team's salary cap? If so, how much?

Unsigned first round picks are included in team salary immediately upon their selection in the draft. They count as 100% of the scale salary for that pick, unless there is a verbal agreement for a higher salary. An incident occurred prior to the 1997-98 season when Vancouver's first round pick, Antonio Daniels, revealed in an interview that he and the team had verbally agreed to a contract starting at the maximum salary (120% of the scale amount). Since verbal agreements apply to the salary cap, the league then changed the team's cap figure from the scale amount to 120% of scale.

Once a first round pick signs a contract, his actual salary is included in the team salary, of course.

OK good catch. Well if that's how it works, I still believe amassing draft picks is the way to go. What would you rather have - 1 middle-of-the-road FA for 4-5 million or 3-4 players from this draft for the same amount of money? I'd choose the latter..

i don't want middle of the road players. i want to use FA to acquire solid to great players who complement one another and make sense as a unit. right now i am leaning towards a plan that looks like this:

Felton ($7-8M) / Toney / Fredette (pick 37)
Wilson / Walker
Gallo / Wilson
Bosh ($16.8M) / Varnado
Cambry ($7-8M) / Barron ($1-2M)

awe1028 wrote:Briggs, Livinglegend and the rest thanks for responding to my inquiry. Briggs, I get that you believe the offensive skills are extraordinary and I get from your post that you believe that he can handle the point, especially if he has adequate post players, which makes Fredette very exciting. But what about the defensive liability I keep reading about? Where do you stand on this? This qestion is also directed to LivingLegend and anyone else who has information on Fredette. Thanks again for your response.

I don't view him anything much different from what you see with Steve Nash as a defender. He is no great 1-1 defender and will need to focus on that aspect of the game but he's also not a slouch. He runs the same offense we run at BYU--he's a guy who can go right now--and I think he would beat TD for the starting PG job.