eViL wrote:what if the Knicks amnesty Amare next off-season for a chance to add Howard and Paul/Deron? that would be dirty as hell, but they'd have to consider it. if he looks at all like he's having lingering back issues, my vote would be to amnesty the guy. no hard feelings. he gets 100% of his contract and he can go back to Phoenix to rejoin Nash.

That would only be if Amar'e isn't healthy. I'd be pissed if they just jumped the gun and used it on Balkman. They don't need to use it right now. Lets see how Amar'e does. If Amar'e is healthy, then him AND Dwight would be sick as hell, plus they'd have Melo on the perimeter AND shooters.

Another please for the love of god.... don't use it on Balkman before next offseason. Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? Pleeeease?

Allanfan20 wrote:and if we go after a free agent, it be Dwight Howard. We do NOT need a star PG to get Amar'e and Melo shots and touches. We DO need a force who can make up for Amar'es lack of rebounding and defensive assertiveness... let alone someone who can take a lot of pressure off Amar'e.

To top it off... Douglas is not that bad. This would be the worst decision ever to go after Paul, especially with his f'ed up knees.

Not that bad as long as HE IS NOT playing point guard. The dude does not have a point guards mindset or IQ. TD is best used off the ball with a true point besides him.

holfresh wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:and if we go after a free agent, it be Dwight Howard. We do NOT need a star PG to get Amar'e and Melo shots and touches. We DO need a force who can make up for Amar'es lack of rebounding and defensive assertiveness... let alone someone who can take a lot of pressure off Amar'e.

To top it off... Douglas is not that bad. This would be the worst decision ever to go after Paul, especially with his f'ed up knees.

If MDA is going to be your coach, then you need a point who can efficiently run the pick and roll...Or you just have five dudes on a court playing no defense...MDA's offense is based on someone who can run the pick and roll...Doesn't have to be Paul, and that point guard isn't on this roster...

Allanfan20 wrote:and if we go after a free agent, it be Dwight Howard. We do NOT need a star PG to get Amar'e and Melo shots and touches. We DO need a force who can make up for Amar'es lack of rebounding and defensive assertiveness... let alone someone who can take a lot of pressure off Amar'e.

To top it off... Douglas is not that bad. This would be the worst decision ever to go after Paul, especially with his f'ed up knees.

totally agree. Dwight, without a doubt should be our #1 priority and is a no brainer.
But what if he isn't available. We all know we need a center to anchor our defense to take us to the next level.

Matt Gasol
Tim Duncan
DeAndre Jordan
McGee
Hibbert

in order to probably get some of these players, we would have to throw very close to max money for them. Would these be a priority over Cp3? If we do get Cp3, we still need a center or 2, would a low end center be enough to take us to the next level?

or we can go for lower end center like

Chris Kaman

and have money left over to spend on another FA.

I would love Dwight, I believe we can attract the aging stars to sign veteran minimum deals for a shot to win it all.

KG, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, and you just never know, maybe even Duncan. Many of these guys made plenty of money already. Throw Phil Jackson in there and I think it attract many veterans over.

As for Amnesty Stat, that would be very dirty, but it would give us about 35m to play with?

AnubisADL wrote:

I didn't say he wasn't a star.... I said Dwight is a better choice. Our weakness is defense and rebounding. We don't need an all star PG. Heck, even if we found a guy on the Charlie Ward, Chris Childs level, we'd be better off, if we ended up with Dwight. With Paul and no Dwight, our deficiencies are severely exposed.

Knixkik wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:and if we go after a free agent, it be Dwight Howard. We do NOT need a star PG to get Amar'e and Melo shots and touches. We DO need a force who can make up for Amar'es lack of rebounding and defensive assertiveness... let alone someone who can take a lot of pressure off Amar'e.

To top it off... Douglas is not that bad. This would be the worst decision ever to go after Paul, especially with his f'ed up knees.

I prefer Howard because he is the better player and far above the rest at his position, however I would rather have a dominant PG and serviceable center as opposed to the opposite. I believe we need an elite passing PG to maximize the offensive talent we have in Melo and Stat.

We don't NEED an elite talent to do so. Raymond Felton isn't elite and I believe Stat was #2 behind Melo in scoring, before he came... and Melo had an old Billups. Without help in the frontcourt defense and rebounding aspects of our team, we are screwed, because Amar'e was healthy last season, and not a great rebounder. We can't be relying on Landry Fields or Melo to be our 2nd leading rebounder! We would get striped down on defense without major help. Dwight is that. We can explore improving our PG position in other ways.

Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard
Chris Paul's first choice is to play for the Knicks, sources say. He's willing to wait & sign w/NYK as free agent next summer.
8 minutes ago

SupremeCommander wrote:I know Howard would be the sensible pursuit but I am in the Chris Paul camp.

(1) These three guys want to play together
(2) Chris Paul having the option of Melo/Amar'e in the high/low posts and vice versa?
(3) Chris Paul is no slouch on defense either
(4) That team would be the single most fun team to watch in the league
(5) The Knicks would have the worst backcourt in the league with Dwight
(6) Veteran bigmen would play for the veteran's minimum to play with Paul, Melo, Amar'e
(7) PGs and SGs would come for the vet's minimum in the other scenario, but who wants a G whose lost a step?

Chris Paul would be the go-for-broke move. Dwight Howard would be the safe bet. End of the day, three dudes want to play together and they'll drag their other firends to play with the Knicks.

Fun basketball to watch... I want to watch fun basketball.

yeah, i agree with this. only thing that would make me nervous is that amar'e and CP3 are kind of fragile.

and they'd need a center worse than ever. and they'd need the right coach. i think d'antoni could coach the offense, but not sure about the rest.