His off court "problems" or "needs" make him a tough read on how to put a price on him.

While $2.5 million is low and I would expect him to opt out, I just wonder how much he is truly worth?

What are his work habits? The kid obviously has a ton of athletic ability and could be a star in this league.

He is fun to watch but I can't peg his role or the type of money he is worth.

It all depends on what he wants out of his career. I get the impression he really enjoys the NY City spotlight, that's something he won't get unless he goes to another big market team. But there is nothing like NY when the city embraces you.

Is that enough to convince a guy to take a discount? The money first players culture tells me the odds are stacked against us but I still hope some players will want to stay here because we are trying to build a contender.

What I would like to see us do is get an Avery Bradly style player, plays great defense and just solid, not spectacular. Sort of another Shump, hey wait, forgot, nevermind, we have Shump back. Deep team and Smith isn't so bad, but right now, when he is off, yes he is bad.

And he doesn't seem to have had any ill affects on the yoots.

Shooting inconsistency aside, I am heartened by his effort and timeliness on D. Maybe China made him grow up.

Maybe he isn't all about the money now.

He's really the only asset on the bench that can scare other teams at BOTH ends of the floor.

Give him what he wants. Not like Dolan's not into possibly wasting money. Anucha cost us $11 mil. JR's worth at least that.

Jmpasq wrote:JR is having his worst shooting season of his career. He is do for a breakout game where he shoots 10-14, hopefully its game 5. No way the Knicks can keep him though its unfortunate. He would be great to have because Shump isnt going to be ready. Maybe the Knicks can guarantee him he starts maybe the playing time can keep him here.
The only guy I think that comes back is Jeffries. The rest of these guys will get more money. I really believe this was the best roster the Knicks will Field with these core players, Scary isnt it. The Knicks future is dependent on Iman Shumpert and Lin developing. The Iman Shumpert injury is a hard one to swallow. I feel liked we got robbed of an All Star potential SG.His D was the key to beating the Heat or Bulls and the chances of him ever being the same are less then 50% Id say

Familiarize yourself with modern ACL reconstruction surgery and rehabilitation before jumping to such a silly conclusion. I can't say Shump WILL be as good as before, but he certainly COULD be. And his game will improve as he develops as a player, learning to be more efficient, and less dependent on pure athleticism might turn out to be a good thing for him. He certainly has his work cut out for him this off season.

Killa4luv wrote:He is constant on defense. I can take offensive inconsistency. He would be my #1 priority. We are a greatly diminshed team on both ends without him. And if he ends up on the bulls. we're ****ed.

This!! This goes unnoticed too much. I can deal with the offensive inconsistency because he plays hard ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COURT. We don't have many players on this team who recognize the DEFENSIVE side of the game.

Plus, I like that him and Shump have a nice relationship on and off the court.