My thoughts.
1. Coach - I think Woody stays. He has just proven he can win, maybe not in the playoffs, but can win. And he can motivate. And he can handle the knicks lights. Jackson won't make melo any better. He won't get any better.

2. Draft - Get a big man - a 3/4/maybe 5 guy. One who is nimble and can defend well, and has a smoother touch around the basket than Chandler/Amare/Jeffries. The smoothest touch around the post in our bigs is Harrelson, that is if he doesn't get stripped like it's schoolyard ball.

3. Roster: There will be a lot of changes on the horizon I think.
Not going anywhere:
Carmelo Anthony
Tyson Chandler
Iman Shumpert
Josh Harrelson - they'll pick up the option.
Toney Douglas - no one is going to want his 2 million contract. No one. Not even the knicks. :( But if we can trade him for a 2nd round draft pick I'd do it in a heartbeat.

*** Amare Stoudemire - I would say he's not going anywhere, but crazier **** has happened. D'Antoni ould get another gig, and look for stat. Nash/Stoudemire reunion could convince an owner to look into him. Knicks management might blame him for games 3/4 of series and want him gone considering how much they gave him. There lots of variables here. 95% of my gut says he stays.

Probably resigned:
Jeremy Lin - he could get some offers, but the Knicks will match them. It won't be more than 3 because of the injury. And with Smith hightailing it out (my prediction), we have the room to give him the money.
Landry Fields - unless another team sees something I don't in fields, I can't imagine him getting a better contract elsewhere. Plus he played so much better with Lin on the floor. They have chemistry together.
Steve Novak - its just too much fun to see him rain threes. Wish he had another year so we could trade him while his stock is high. Learn to play some D Novak!
Jared Jeffries - well liked, great glue guy.

Not resigned (hopefully):
Baron Davis: Old
Mike Bibby: Old
JR Smith: I know this controversial, but he is going to attract more than his 2.5 option, and a multi-year deal at that. I don't think the knicks should sign him for multiyear or for more than 2.5. Bye JR. Thanks for the highlights and attempt at strong-arm D.
Dan Gadzuric: Why I even included this, I don't know.

Team Needs in FA/Trade:

PG! PG! PG! - I don't think we draft another guard, we need a young big man. But we sign veteran who can help guide Lin. Kidd will be a free agent. If its low cost it could be worth it. Andre Miller doesn't get injured and I think could teach Lin a lot.

Another F - I made a joke that we should get Matt Barnes. It's not a joke anymore. I think he should be a Knick. Or someone like him. Someone who shines in bright lights and plays tough.

Grunwald should check the availability of Howard, D Williams, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

AnubisADL wrote:Trade Amare while he still has some value.

Grunwald should check the availability of Howard, D Williams, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

How much value do you think he has with the year he just had and the $$$ left on his contract?

I wish Stat could be like he was last year but I think reality is he doesn't fit in now and is declining rapidly. Only he knows if he can turn it around. I would love it if he could because I like Amare but this year was pretty bad.

JohnStarksFan wrote:
PG! PG! PG! - I don't think we draft another guard, we need a young big man. But we sign veteran who can help guide Lin. Kidd will be a free agent. If its low cost it could be worth it. Andre Miller doesn't get injured and I think could teach Lin a lot.

We don't need to draft another PG. I hate to rain on your party, but I would have to disagree. Our 5 to 3 spot on our roster is can hang with the best. We had so many Forwards on the roster this past season. We had to let a few of them go. Other the Shump and Lin, we need help at the two guard and PG. Shump was drafted, and look at the impact this guy made. Our scouts did a good job evaluating the guy, and I hope they did the same with a young point guard. This team has a history of letting go or passing up on really good PG's in the past. I just hope this off season doesn't bring the same pain.

Andre Miller and Steve Nash are done, and I can't see these guys here for more than a year. After that, what do we do? Keep picking up other teams garbage. I hope this team needs to carry a few guards next season that can play at the one or two (pgs preferred), and could break down a defense. If we do that, I think this team could go far in the playoffs.

Keep a look out of Felton and Nash. I hope Felton opts out of his contract and resigns with the Knicks. If he does, I know the Lakers will try to swoop him up.

ATrain wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:None is this matters because melo is a bum who only got to the eastern conference finals ONCE. And we only won one playoff game because he is fat. Knicks suck they will never ever make it out of the first round. Melo didnt do enough against the champion Heat. He shoule burn in hell because of it.

And Amar'e is??? This is ridiculous how you guys continue to blame ONE player for everything that is wrong with this team.

Exactly man like I said Melo should burn in hell. He is evil. Has no place on society

gunsnewing wrote:None is this matters because melo is a bum who only got to the eastern conference finals ONCE. And we only won one playoff game because he is fat. Knicks suck they will never ever make it out of the first round. Melo didnt do enough against the champion Heat. He shoule burn in hell because of it.

DAMN, IMHO I think you need to step away from basketball for a while.

JohnStarksFan wrote:

callmened wrote:my (realistic) summer xmas wish list

1. odom (LLE)
2. felton (MLE)
3. Camby vet mini
4. everyone else including JR returns

lin/felton
fields/JR/ (shump)
melo/novak
stat/odom
tyson/camby

This is pretty realistic, but I still don't like it much. Felton can probably command more than the MLE, and he was given a raw deal by NY. Best scenario: Kidd even though he's up there in age. Second best realistic back up from field that's available is Delonte West. He's chippy, has swagger to fit the club, also has a connection with T. Chandler, and plays great defense on opposing PG's.
I'm starting to feel like it's inevitable that odom will be here for vet minimum. And Camby? No. Don't like it.

With this in place, we would still have the MLE, and I would give the $$ to Danny Green/Brandon Rush

Adding West/Green or West/Rush boosts our defense in the backcourt and adds perimeter shooting, especially from the 2 guard spot.
11-12 Season 3PT%
Green: .436
Rush: .456

Now we would still have $$ to spend. I would let JR roam free... keep Fields to use as combo 2/3 - mostly 3 backup for Melo in small lineup. (If you didn't know, lots of coaches are using a small lineup)
Then sign a big man with the money. Hickson if available. Then feel out K-Mart. Then if those don't happen, throw less $$ at Earl Clark or Ryan Hollins. Clark is a realistic pickup since he's already said he's roaming the market.

Lin/WEST
D. GREEN/Fields (Shump's spot)
Melo/Novak
Stat/ODOM
Chandler/CLARK

DRAFT: Order of players I would draft
1. Kim English
2. Tony Mitchell (Alabama)
3. Darius Johnson-Odom
4. Quincy Acy
5. Evan Fournier (Future)

LIke everything except keep JR and Trade Fields for a future pick. This way you could still use the full MLE

[Rush] has been given a qualifying offer for about $4.1 million that allows the Warriors to match any offer sheet he signs with an opposing team.
The Warriors had been vocal about liking Rush and wanting to find a way to keep him, but Myers took it further, saying, "We're going to keep him."

But, Knick dreams of finding another pick in this draft could be clouds over the Golden Gate:

[Myers] reiterated that the Warriors don't want four rookies, so they'd like to trade some of their picks (Nos. 7, 30, 35 and 52), but he hasn't found an acceptable deal.

Could give them the draft rights to Georgios Printezis since they could use front court help.

Arbitrator Kenneth Dam’s recent decision to side with the NBAPA against the NBA in declining to reset the bird rights clock for players claimed off waivers was a coup for the Knicks. If it stands on appeal, the Knicks will be able to match any offer for Jeremy Lin, and likely Steve Novak too, while potentially still retaining the ability to use their full midlevel exception of $5,000,000 per season.

If the Knicks do use their full midlevel exception, the strictures of the new collective bargaining agreement will impose a hard cap at $74,000,000, which the team could not exceed this season under any circumstance. Alternatively, the Knicks can offer the “mini-midlevel” of $3,000,000, and exceed the salary cap to sign veteran minimum players, if necessary. Keep in mind that teams are required to have 12 players on their active roster, and 1 on their inactive roster.

With some help today from @JADubin5, @JonKnicksFan, and, previously, @bnr1986 and @sbs0311, I’ve fleshed out a couple of scenarios for your consideration:

Both of these scenarios contain a few assumptions, and here they are:

* Under scenario 2 there is no way the Knicks can keep Landry Fields because the minimum contract amount for 2 year veterans will not fit under the hard-cap. Instead the Knicks would have to fill their roster with undrafted rookies.

**This scenario assumes that J.R. Smith opts out and the Knicks do not bring him back. It also assumes that the Knicks find a team willing to take Toney Douglas (and probably cash) in return for a trade exception. Both of these assumptions are dicey but without them, it’s pretty much impossible for the Knicks to be able to utilize the full MLE.

***The salary figures for Carmelo Anthony (and the rest of the roster) come from Sham Sports. But it’s worth noting that HoopsHype lists Carmelo’s contract at about a $1,000,000 less than Sham Sports does.