Markji wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:This is a really interesting article. http://www.knicksfan.net/?p=3950&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+knicksfan%2Ffeed+%28The+Knicks+FanBlog%29

The following was written by loyal Twitter follower @araia24 who asked for a forum for his idea.

Knicks fans watched nervously as Chicago and Miami made draft day moves to clear more cap space in an effort to land LeBron James. However what nobody has yet to point out is that the Knicks’ “Decade of Despair” could give them an unlikely advantage in the chase for LeBron: the unlikely bonus.

As explained by Larry Coon via Twitter when it comes to any bonus, the bonus plus the salary must fit under the cap (in this case an estimated $56.1 million). However when it comes to unlikely bonuses once said player signs the unlikely bonus no longer counts toward the cap. Now if Donnie Walsh plays it smart here is the potential advantage for the Knicks:

The maximum contract for LeBron if he was to leave Cleveland outright would be $16.83 million. Signing LeBron first would leave the Knicks with approximately $17 million dollars in cap space. Since the Knicks did not make the playoffs last season they could add an unlikely bonus of making the playoffs (like they did with Lee and Nate last year) that would be worth up to $4 million dollars. They could add more bonuses to that such as: win the conference, make the finals, win a championship. That totals to $16 million in added bonus to the contract. Once LeBron signs, the Knicks would get back that $16 million in cap space to go after Chris Bosh or whoever else they desire. So essentially LeBron’s first year salary in New York could come out $32.83 million, something Miami or Chicago cannot offer because both made the playoffs last season.

It’s a possible situation that I would hope Donnie Walsh would look into as the opportunity to double his first year salary would probably easily sway LeBron.

If this is true, that would be incredible for us and a real plus to get 2 max players.

Also, my post from the other thread....I think we should close down one thread.....

Don't get anxiety attcks over the various stories coming out. The media 's job is to sell stories. They have to be interesting enough, make it sound like they know something or have some inside info, so you will read/listen to what they write/say. It is all BS right now. They don't know.

IMO, you can eliminate 2 teams off the top -

1. the Clippers, one of the worst teams, wost management, worst luck, and they play second fiddle to the Lakers in LA.

2. The Nets - they will play the next 2 years in Newark, then Brooklyn, had the worst record last year, and just had one of the best GM's(Rod Thorn) quit. They play 2nd fiddle to the Knicks in NY. They have to get a GM before LeBron even considers them. Interesting International owner/billionaire though, who will pour millions into the team. But so did the Knicks, and look where that got us.

The Knicks are right in it. The Big question , IMO,is what LeBron thinks of Dolan, whose reputation is very poor. Dolan needs to assure LBJ's people that he will stay out of the BBall operations. Also, there needs to be a successor in waiting for Donnie. He signed a 4 year contract - Donnie will probably retire then, if not before. LeBron will want to see what the next 5 years offers him.

The NY Knicks also offers LBJ the ability to partially own the team as MSG is traded publically. That might also be enticing and a smart business move. With LeBron playing for the Knicks, the Knicks and MSG will sell out every game, and have many more viewers around the world. He and his people can buy MSG stock and prosper.

Chicago - I don't see LeBron signing in Chicago. He will always be in the shadow of MJ, and in reality, LeBron isn't as good as MJ. I think they are a longshot.

Miami - it's possible. To play with Wade, no income tax. Nice weather....but more hurricanes and oil spills.

Cleveland - I think LeBron needs to step out and see the world. He tried Cleveland and it hasn't worked. More salary for LeBron, but not necessarily more total income. He will move on.

Another thing about the Nets. A lot has been said about the new owner being very wealthy and having the qualities that would interest a celebrity player like LeBron. But Rod Thorn not only just left the organization, he left after receiving a low ball offer from the new owner. That has to give LeBron concern.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/17258/nets-only-sure-whos-leaving-thorn

Yet there were also persistent rumblings among Thorn’s peers late Friday that a pay cut Prokhorov wanted him to take only encouraged him to step down. Although Thorn has pledged to stay on for the next two weeks to help the Nets follow up the hiring of Avery Johnson as coach with their free-agent pursuit of LeBron James, news of Thorn's imminent departure just before the most anticipated summer in league history -- amid whispers of a contract dispute – is a potential blow to the spare-no-expense image free agents have of Prokhorov.

EwingsGlass wrote:The NBA has already said that Lebron cannot own stock in MSG. That came out after the Forbes article.

Why could he not own up to 4.9%?

He could register as an insider and be subject to oversight on sales.

He could place his position in a blind trust while under contract. Meaning a third party is in control.

He could buy some Briggy stocks when Briggy is in his right mind.

crzymdups wrote:

Nalod wrote:I thought he could not get stock as compensation.

Why could he not own up to 4.9%?

He could register as an insider and be subject to oversight on sales.

He could place his position in a blind trust while under contract. Meaning a third party is in control.

He could buy some Briggy stocks when Briggy is in his right mind.

this isn't about stocks. the NBA made the stock rule the second that forbes article came out.

this is about the unlikely bonus aka the playoff bonus we gave to nate and dlee last year. it doesn't count against the cap the second the deal is signed.

I'm having trouble understanding this --- so when does it actually count agains the cap??? And would we have the opportunity to offer the same kicker to a second FA like a Bosh?

Sorry, nevermind. I just re-read the rule up top....So we wouldn't have the room to offer the same incentive to Bosh I guess. I wonder how Bosh would feel about that? The only way they could make the situation appealing for both guys is to sign Lebron outright for 5 years complete with the enormous bonus package, then S&T for Bosh, giving Bosh that extra salary year-to-year including that extra 6th year...Both players might find that acceptable..

Only problem is that some of those bonuses the blogger spoke about may not even be possible in year one..That's why the 2 initial steps this off-season (the draft and compiling a stacked SL team) should've been taken a little more serious by us. If we got some really favorable support players in here, that might have made some of those bonuses look a little more realistic than they do right now..

Markji wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Nalod wrote:I thought he could not get stock as compensation.

Why could he not own up to 4.9%?

He could register as an insider and be subject to oversight on sales.

He could place his position in a blind trust while under contract. Meaning a third party is in control.

He could buy some Briggy stocks when Briggy is in his right mind.

this isn't about stocks. the NBA made the stock rule the second that forbes article came out.

this is about the unlikely bonus aka the playoff bonus we gave to nate and dlee last year. it doesn't count against the cap the second the deal is signed.

I'm having trouble understanding this --- so when does it actually count agains the cap??? And would we have the opportunity to offer the same kicker to a second FA like a Bosh?

We offered the bonus to both Lee and Nate so we could do the same for LeBron + whomever (Bosh?).

I wonder if the league would put a cap on these bonuses?? If not we could offer 3 max/near max players a contract for less and add the bonuses. Just for an example:

Lebron $13 mil + $13 mil bonus
Bosh $11 mil + $11 mil bonus
Lee (or Joe Johnson) $10 mil + $10 mil bonus

That would use up the $34 mil in cap space. The bonus is only good for the first year. Then each additional year, add the max additional salary to the players 1st year salary. Just an idea. Is this possible?

I don't think we can do that bro --- with regard to what you spoke about, Lebron at $13 + $13M in bonuses = $26M total right away but goes back down to $13 once he signs. Then for Bosh we won't have enough room to offer him 11 + 11 because that counts as $22M in cap room up front (remember we're only working with a $56.1M cap)...I think that's the idea...Unless I misunderstood it, it appears there would only really be enough room to offer a crazy bonus package to no more than 1 FA. And remember, nothing gauranteed about those incentives -- they're bonuses, so i think they're appealing only up to a certain point. I'd argue that those bonuses would look even sweeter and more attainable if we starting showing that we were serious about putting together a decent roster complete with the best support players we can get our hands on, rather than adding end-of-the-roster filler. You don't want LeBron and Bosh to ever look at this situation and feel like it's all on their shoulders as soon as they walk in the door. That's how I feel and I don't think we've done a good job of showing them that so far..

FrenchKnicks wrote:Close this thread, what was said is not true at all.

Based on what? Fact (give us a link)? Your opinion? What exactly?

fishmike wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

Nalod wrote:I thought he could not get stock as compensation.

Why could he not own up to 4.9%?

He could register as an insider and be subject to oversight on sales.

He could place his position in a blind trust while under contract. Meaning a third party is in control.

He could buy some Briggy stocks when Briggy is in his right mind.

this isn't about stocks. the NBA made the stock rule the second that forbes article came out.

this is about the unlikely bonus aka the playoff bonus we gave to nate and dlee last year. it doesn't count against the cap the second the deal is signed.

ESPN wrote about some time ago. We can give both Lebron and Bosh bonuses because of this.

I think it would make signing a guy like Bosh first key. Get him in here first

I think we can only do one though. It counts against the cap space in the first year when you make the offer - it no longer counts as cap space once the offer is signed.

So, for instance, if we offered Bosh a max deal with a $4M playoff bonus it would take up $21M of cap space until he signed the deal - once he signed the bonus would be categorized unlikely and not count against the cap space. Then, after Bosh signed, we would only have $17-18M left and could no longer offer a second player a playoff bonus, only the max. I suppose there might be room for a $1M second playoff bonus, but not a $4M one.

This cap stuff gives me headaches.

I agree we should chase Bosh HARD on July 1. I think that is the key. Give him the playoff bonuses to get here and that will be the incentive for Bron to come aboard.