1) we fully intend to use the 3m MLE the next 2-3 years, when 2015 hits, When Amare, Tyson Chandler, Kidd, Camby, and MELO *has an opt out before 2015* all expire, we will rebuild much like Celtics/Nets and Suns/Dallas this summer
resigning Tyson and Melo with more cap friendly contracts like Nets did this summer. Like Celtics with the contracts of mainly just Rhondo/Pierce but with role players that we will use with the 3m MLE we will continue to use each year in addition to the contracts of Novak's, Felton, Iman *2015, Shump will be a restricted FA with a QO* on our books. We will continue look to upgrade our roster, and no one is truly safe.
Like the Nets did this summer, resigning their own FA's with bird rights, while being creative with the rest of their cap room. Unlike Boston, we probably we don't have many picks like they had this summer.
But we will be using the 3m MLE and adding players through trade, that will bring us solid role players that are cost efficient. If Melo opts out in 2015, we cannot give him a long term deal because we need to use that cap space to sign FAs before signing him to a long term deal with his bird rights. Can we convince Melo and Tyson Chandler to take less would be the key...

2) We will continue to add salary every year via trade, even this year's trade deadline, using our future 1st round picks, and expiring contracts of Kurt Thomas, White, Copeland, etc, is our 2016 pick trade able because Denver owns the better of it? For example, Brandon Rush is a legit G/F if he stays on Golden State's roster this year. An athletic G/F, can hit the 3pointer at a good rate, can penetrate/finish strong, good rebounder, is a very good 1v1 and team defender, and can us to rest Melo as well as allowing Melo to play PF at times. Something like JR Smith, 2016 pick, and filler or Novak, 2016 pick.

3) There are many PG's that will be available the same year, 2015-16, with Dragic, Lin, JJ Barea, Rubio *qualifying offer making him a long shot*, maybe Bledsoe, if he no longer wants to play behind CP3 and just accepts a 1 year qualifying offer. I think Bledsoe has improved greatly and will be continue to learn watching Cp3. If Cp3 resigns with Clippers, Bledsoe can be one of the better 2 way PG's with speed/quickness/strength/athleticism. He has improved his ability to shoot 3pointers and facilitate much already. Dragic and Lin could both be available and other PG's could be so in the future.

our 2-3 roster spots left this year
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Pablo hasn't officially signed yet but if he is signed, Copeland doesn't can be cut at any time because his contract isn't guaranteed.

-Copeland, he can play some PF to spread the floor with our 2nd unit. I think he is very comparable to Adam Morrison. With Felton and the way NBA league now uses 4 shooters to spread the floor to open lanes for penetrating, cutting, room to operate with post ups and good 3pointers shots. It is just much easier to operate with 4 shooters on the floor, a reason why Amare/Tyson Chandler/Melo and whoever has poor spacing to operate. Amare/Camby should be used at our backup Center position but we need multiple 3 point shooters to space the floor and have athletic forwards that can rebound/defend/ and some must be able to penetrate.

-White, he doesn't appear to be in good shape and isn't the athletic G/F that we have seen in highlights that has earned him to nickname of Flight. There are many veteran min players that I think can contribute much more than he can. Our starting SG must be filled with a FA with only the veteran minimum to offer. Only advantage we can offer is the ability to START, I think Delfino is the best fit if we can target him.
Other players include Terrence Williams and Sonny Weems. Williams still has a lot of potential in him and could learn much from Kidd. Weems is an athletic G/F that isn't a very good 3point shooter but can do everything else with a TEAM player mentality. Delfino is very under rated, he can handle the ball, penetrate and finish strong, can spread the floor and can create his own shot as well as others, and is versatile with a much more complete game compared to Novak.

Dionte Christmas - has been tearing it up on Boston's Summer League, doing EVERYTHING at PG/G/F at 6'5. He score, facilitate, play defense, Scores/Rebounds/Assist and can hit the 3pointer.

Malcolm Thomas - on the Bulls Summer League, is a undersized PF at 6'8, has been a double double with Points and Rebounds EVERY GAME grabbing over 10 rebounds and over 10 points every game.

Keith Benson - PF/C that rebounds block shots that many of us wanted over Jorts during last year's draft

Summer League for Clippers - 2 Point guards in Talor Battle and Mickey McConnell both are undersized at under 6'0 but I was very impressed with both of them, watching them play.

------- Talor Battle - he is a very good shooter and has speed/quickness and ability to finish. A poor version of JJ Barea
------- Mickey McConnell - He is small and not very quick/fast/athletic but plays with smarts/using picks and great passer/facilitator. He is JJ Barea's size without speed but plays with the smarts of Nash.

Best Free Agents Left
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*We are weak at starting SG, with just the vet min to offer, but we have a starting spot that could be attractive to some players here*
I don't think White is very good and JR Smith isn't starting material.

Delfino - I think he is would fill our void at starting SG, is versatile, a great 3pointer shooter, and is very under rated. His ability to penetrate, handle the ball, and playing defense is very under rated.
He isn't very young, but he is a very high IQ player and he isn't just a shooter. His all round skills will make us a great 3point shooting team but not just limited to spreading the floor and living/dying on 3point shots.

Terrence Williams - Lots of potential with good size and could be mentored with Kidd.

Randy Foye - Twitter has a lot of tweets about him signing but have yet to seen anything legit

Delonte West

Nate Robinson - If Pablo isn't signed, I think he would be a great player to have off the bench. He has improved much watching him last year in Golden State, with facilitating at 3point shooting.
He has improved his mid range game, ability to read defenses and break them down, and penetrate much.

Ronnie Brewer

Sonny Weems

Willie Green

Ak47
Anthony Tolliver
Kenyon Martin
Ivan Johnson

Adam Morrison = Copeland with Morrison having more experience and a sense of what to expect in the NBA. Copeland does appear to have a bit more post moves and shot blocking ability but doesn't appear good enough to defend against vs starting/finishing units of good teams.

Darko

Current Roster
------------------
Our team is much improved in depth but our best 5 is still not very strong and doesn't match up well vs many of the good teams.
Our starting 5 or finishing 5 is still not very good. I still do not believe Amare/Melo/Tyson Chandler fit very well together.
We don't have any legit SG/SF like a Brandon Rush as well as a PF/C that can post up or defend/block shots that can play together with Tyson/Camby if Amare still does not produce on the defensive side.
Brandon Rush is currently on Golden States roster with the qualifying offer. With the addition Jarreat Jack/Barnes he becomes expendable.
While we can offer Novak/JR Smith as well as a 2016 or rights to 2013 pick on draft night.

We need to upgrade our best 5, with a trade like Brandon Rush at the deadline with our 2016 pick, and next year during the draft night, using 2013 pick packaged to upgrade our roster maybe a JJ Barea.
Continue to add players with the 3m MLE every year to upgrade our roster with role players that will fit together.

With Camby here, I would not be surprised if Tyson Chandler gets moved, with next year's draft being deep at Center if we do not look to trade the pick on draft night.

I think we need upgrades in our roster that can enhance our defense with versatile players to be a mix of a grind out defensive team and multiple shooters that can spread the floor/penetrate/defend at the same time. With the speed/athleticism, length, and size that can rebound hound defense to cause TO's like Memphis does for fast break points.

AnubisADL wrote:My top pick for the MLE is Kenyon Martin followed by Delfino.

I doubt we get Delfino since minutes in the backcourt will be tight one Shumpert returns. However, I think MArtin would get plenty of burn. Plus we keep Amare from breaking down before the playoffs.

we used our MLE this year on Kidd, many players would want at least 2m BAE.
But we can offer a starting spot to attract a player, and we saw how it can affect a player here in NY with Jeremy Lin's value increased last season.

With our need of a STARTING SG, I don't think there could be a better fit than Delfino. He is basically a younger version of Grant Hill with more range.
He has killed the Knicks for many years including frustrating Melo much last year. He is not known for his athleticism, defense, and all round game because of his *European* branding.
I think he would be the most balanced and proven SG that is available.
He can handle the ball, makes good cuts, and moves well off the ball....
Playing with Pablo in Argentina's national team and would be a great addition to what we are trying to achieve in terms of Woodson's philosophy

Would love to acquire him Delfino with Ak47 if possible because of their defense and high IQ/ Team game.
Signing them to 2 year player options for the vet minimum, would be our best options.
Ak47 would give us the body we need so Melo would not have to defend players like Lebron/Gereld Wallace/AI/Durant
They really fit in with the style/coaching philosophy I think we are trying to play.
With the age on some of our players, I would look to sit out Kidd, and use multiple different lineups depending on the matchups.

A player like JJ Barea, that can play PG and SG would be very helpful. His ability to penetrate/finish, break down defenses, stay in front of defenders.
Felton can defend many SG's with his strength and toughness, while Barea proved that he was a key ingredient with Dallas.
He is very clutch, is a efficient 3point shooter, and uses screens very well.
Like Lin, his ability to penetrate, would open many shots for the team for good % shots, and allow Amare to get easy looks.

With Kidd, Kurt Thomas, Iman rotating with other players like White/Copeland on our inactive list with their age and with injuries.

Novak, JR Smith, Kidd, White, Thomas becoming expendable at our deadline and on draft nights with these pickups that would improve our STARTING roster.
Even Tyson Chandler becomes expendable to upgrade our roster with Camby here with Amare/Camby playing the Center spot.
But we need to upgrade the SG/SF/PF when Amare is our Center where Felton and the pre Melo Knicks succeeded at with athletic/versatile 2 way players that can hit the 3point shot at a good %.

Players that we can target next season with MLE include

Stephen Jackson - He isn't young but he can play the PF off the bench, play tough defense, and spread the floor.
He played at a very high level with The Spurs in the playoffs and would be a great addition of our bench

MosGov

Paladin55 wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:My top pick for the MLE is Kenyon Martin followed by Delfino.

I doubt we get Delfino since minutes in the backcourt will be tight one Shumpert returns. However, I think MArtin would get plenty of burn. Plus we keep Amare from breaking down before the playoffs.

I would flip-flop them in terms of my prioritizing, but I would love to have them.

Our depth would be ridiculous.

+1 We need to cut one of our summer league additions and start the ...great to play with your Argentinan team mate Pirigino conversation. How does a player like this get left off this team?

BigDaddyG wrote:I would go with either Weems or Delfino. I don't think there's a noticeable difference between the two in terms of how good they are. Weems is more athletic and has more potential as a defneder. Delfino is a better three-point shooter and defender. Both are quality reserves.

Delfino's ability to spread the court, shoot off the dribble, and handle the ball vs athleticism/youth Sonny Weems.

I think Delfino would be great fit and is still looking for more money from teams like Lakers/Bulls/Dallas before even considering a vet minimum deal.
I hope Pablo can be an asset that can allow Delfino to consider signing with us.

AK47 and Delfino would be my #1 targets, that can fit in with our team, add to our defensive lineup to finish games, and are just high IQ TEAM players that could change the culture of our team.
I can see both players finishing, especially when Iman is out.
With our team, we have many different lineups we should use to finish ball games, depending on match up and who is feeling hot/playing better.

Felton/Kidd/Pablo whoever is playing well
Delfino/JR Smith
Melo/Novak
AK47/Novak
Tyson Chandler/Camby/Amare

Sonny Weems would be a good addition but he isn't in the same caliber as Delfino.
He should be taking White aka Flight's roster spot.

RonRon wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:I would go with either Weems or Delfino. I don't think there's a noticeable difference between the two in terms of how good they are. Weems is more athletic and has more potential as a defneder. Delfino is a better three-point shooter and defender. Both are quality reserves.

Delfino's ability to spread the court, shoot off the dribble, and handle the ball vs athleticism/youth Sonny Weems.

I think Delfino would be great fit and is still looking for more money from teams like Lakers/Bulls/Dallas before even considering a vet minimum deal.
I hope Pablo can be an asset that can allow Delfino to consider signing with us.

AK47 and Delfino would be my #1 targets, that can fit in with our team, add to our defensive lineup to finish games, and are just high IQ TEAM players that could change the culture of our team.
I can see both players finishing, especially when Iman is out.
With our team, we have many different lineups we should use to finish ball games, depending on match up and who is feeling hot/playing better.

Felton/Kidd/Pablo whoever is playing well
Delfino/JR Smith
Melo/Novak
AK47/Novak
Tyson Chandler/Camby/Amare

Sonny Weems would be a good addition but he isn't in the same caliber as Delfino.
He should be taking White aka Flight's roster spot.