As we can all see, Houston is quickly fading with his knee problems. His body is detiorating. I'm beginning to think the Knicks should make it priority #2 this offseason (other then using the MLE on a big man or men like CAnderson or Wallace) to find a younger player who can begin to replace Houston as the Knicks 2guard. Ultimately I see him playing 25-30 minutes a night as a guy who just shoots jumpers, which won't really be that bad since he's really good at that and his salary is out of the question since the Knicks will never be under the cap.

I was thinking about Isiah and figure if he will find a backcourt mate for Marbury, he's going to want one of those classic combo guards like he had in Detroit with he and Dumars. Isiah has also shown he liks versatily players who can play different positions, etc. That's why I think he'll pursue Crawford and did pursue him naer the trade deadline. Crawford is a scorer, he can handle the ball (he's played PG the last 2 years) and the Bulls don't like him, which is why i like the Trybanski/Harrington/Mutumbo for Crawford/Jerome Wililams deal (expiring contracts to the Bulls and the Knicks get Crawford and the worst contract on the Bulls' roster.)

I was also thinking about other guys who fit the bill as a combo guard and I came up with Murray, though I doubt they could get him becuase his salary is so small. I like him though, he's a solid player.

Jason Terry also comes to mind, but I doubt the Knicks use the MLE on him.

Who else do you think would fit the bill as a combo guard to ultimately replace Houston, and how do the Knicks get him?

Also, Delonte West comes to mind if he left St. Joe's early, but I think he's there one more year. Tim Pickett from FSU also is a combo-guard type.

[Edited by - bigsm00th on 03/16/2004 01:05:20]

Well... there are plenty of potentially good wings available in the NBDL and CBA... and in Europe.

I think Houston's finally getting a grip on his knee condition. It takes a long time to recover from surgery. He's had a couple of good shooting games lately, so at least that's a good sign. Esp. w/ Marbury around, we probably won't see Houston averaging 20ppg anymore.

DerMarr Johnson is currently the long term projected replacement for Houston. He's still very young, despite all that has happened to him. He hasn't had much PT as of late, which makes you think that he's not quite as good as Houston/Penny/Shandon... Maybe a year of being with these guys will rub off on him.