I only put players who i think are likely to return. I really believe Shumpert ends up becoming the starting SG because of his defense and ability to run the P&R while Billups plays off the ball. It seems to make a lot of sense on offense. Fields becomes a great 6th man, and that automatically improves our bench. Shumpert fills multiple needs that we had prior to getting him: perimeter defender, SG and PG depth. Now i believe we have two more needs, a starting center and one more shooter off the bench.

We will remain flexible because it is looking like there will be a great chance of adding CP3 next summer. Of the available FA centers who could come over for one-year contacts, Nazr Mohammed, Kwame Brown, and Jeff Foster appear to be solid options. Any of them would start on this team, and the 3 other centers can fight it out for backup minutes. For shooters who will be cheap, i see Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, Michael Redd, and Steve Novak all as viable options. Hopefully this player becomes an instant offensive spark off the bench for 15-20 minutes a game, maybe fighting Walker for those minutes.

I think without making any trades this plan makes us a 50+ win team while keeping flexible for next summer. We end up starting one of the centers listed above alongside Stat, Melo, Billups, and Shumpert. Fields becomes 6th man, still playing 25-30 mpg. Douglas is 7th man, also average 25 or so mpg. 8th man becomes either Walker or the shooter we sign, playing 15-20 mpg. Lastly, Turiaf, Jordan, and Harrellson can fight for 12-15 backup center mpg.

Any other moves we can make to fill out the roster that don't affect 2012 plans?

As for adding another vet big, it would make sense to see about Nazr, Kwame, Foster etc. Adding a vet SG shouldn't be hard either. IMO if they can make those moves this team will be pretty good. Definitely a 50+ win team.

Panos wrote:Where is our rebounding coming from?

I think this is why the O Poster mentioned bringing in a vet C like Nazr, Kwame or Foster. We have to hope we can get something done. I don't believe the Knicks feel all their work is done after the draft.

Panos wrote:Where is our rebounding coming from?

I always thought a lot of the poor rebound from the Knicks was a consequence of both Amare being a poor rebounder and the composition of the Knicks players and starting units.

Both Turiaf and Amare are poor rebounders, and they started a majority of games at C/PF. That's too much.

And then Chandler played a lot of PF minutes, and for that position he is not good a good rebounder; at SF he is not bad.

And Gallo was decent at his position.

Move Amare to PF and switch Melo in at SF and you have better rebounding (slightly). Knicks still do need to find a legit rebounding, defending, intimidating C. But one step at a time I guess.

Andrew wrote:

Vmart wrote:I can't see Shumpert starting over Fields just don't see it. One thing that MDA likes is a player to be able to shoot and Shumpert just doesn't have that in him. You look at his stats and he is aweful shooter. I'm not saying he can't improve but that takes a lot of time. Even with all his athletic ability he only managed to shoot 40%. I know he is suppose to be some defensive specialist, but I can't see MDA taking defense over scoring and Fields defended the sg position OK for a rookie last year. I personally feel Fields is the better of the two going forward. Iman has to show a lot more before he even get off the bench for MDA.

I'd really like to see a breakdown of Iman's shooting percentages based on catch and shoot and shooting off the dribble. From what I read his poor %s are due to his shot selection and not his shooting skill. If he were put in a spot up position and less of a creative off the dribble shooting situation he could bring similar offensive production.

We will know pretty quickly if he is a spot up shooter because that is mostly what the Knicks do on offense.

As for the other guy? Josh Harrellson is by no means the next great big man, but there's reason to believe he'll stick with the Knicks. He might even get minutes. Jorts instantly becomes the biggest guy on the Knick roster, and the word on him is that he hustles his jorts off and fights for defensive position and rebounds. Again, take a short walk down memory land and recall Shawne Williams and Jared Jeffries defending the likes of Dwight Howard, and the fit becomes obvious. He's not the most polished, and he definitely ain't springy, but the Knicks probably would have settled for a six-foot-ten, 275-pound slab of whale meat. A functional human with that size who works hard and improved tremendously in his senior year? We'll take it!

So, there it is. You may not have heard of these guys before the draft, but I think you'll grow to like them both. Shumpert and Harrellson, particularly with a bit of sharpening, could fit quite nicely into the holey Knick depth chart. That's cool!"

- NYMagazine

Vmart wrote:I can't see Shumpert starting over Fields just don't see it. One thing that MDA likes is a player to be able to shoot and Shumpert just doesn't have that in him. You look at his stats and he is aweful shooter. I'm not saying he can't improve but that takes a lot of time. Even with all his athletic ability he only managed to shoot 40%. I know he is suppose to be some defensive specialist, but I can't see MDA taking defense over scoring and Fields defended the sg position OK for a rookie last year. I personally feel Fields is the better of the two going forward. Iman has to show a lot more before he even get off the bench for MDA.

I can see. Fields shooting is not great(unless of course he comes back with more confidence and consistency). Billups, who can shoot, has shown(in my opinion) to not be that great in the pick and roll. Iman does well in pick in roll situations. As Alan Hahn said, you move billups to the two and let Iman play the one in pick in roll situations. Fields would make a great six man. His energy would be great of the bench.

Childs2Dudley wrote:Time to go: Turiaf, Douglas, Rautins, Walker

You can stay: Shelden, Carter, Shawne

GTFO right now: Jeffries

Chances are most of the guys I just listed will be gone.

I was with you until I saw Shelden in the "you can stay" row.

SupremeCommander wrote:I really hope Grant Hill plays here for a season or two. I'd also like to see Shane Battier and Aaron gray signed to short term deals. But Grant Hill would be a great edition because he can fit a couple roles