Does this team retool between summer 2013 and the following trade deadline and trade players on expiring contracts (Stoudemire, Kidd, Camby, etc), or do they let all of them expire and make a run at a major FA in 2014? Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Rajon Rondo, and Rudy Gay are among potential FAs at that point. The team will only have a resigned Anthony (assuming they resign him right away, he will only be 31), Felton (if he doesn't opt out), Novak, Shumpert, and a couple of players on rookie deals. Should be a manageable situation where the team can clear enough room for a big time FA. A team built around Melo, Love, Chandler (on a smaller deal) and Shumpert could be a nice way to retool. What do you think?

ChuckBuck wrote:Kyrie! Kyrie and Shumpert would be a sick backcourt.

Yes it would be unreal. Both Irving and Love would fit in here great with Melo and Shumpert in 3 years.

Now, if we want to resign any of our big three that automatically reduces our cap space since their Bird rights will create a cap hold; the only way to regain that space is to sign them to contracts less than their cap hold (I find this extremely unlikely) or to waive their Bird rights which would mean we can't go over the cap to resign them. Assuming that Melo and Tyson continue their same standard of play their holds should be around $24M and $15M. As for Amare, if he's able to return to the player he was in Phoenix and his first half season here his hold should be around $24M also; if he plays more like he did last season I'm not sure what the NBA would set his hold at. If we want to bring back all three we'd have no space; if we'd want to bring back Tyson and Melo or Amare we'd have around $2M in space; if we want to bring back Melo or Amare we'd have $17M; and if we want to bring back just Tyson we'd have around $26M. Again, these number are based on the current salary cap.

Based off of this list http://www.hoopsworld.com/2015-nba-free-agents/ I think our best option would be to go after Rondo and Aldridge and try to resign Tyson to a team-friendly deal. Or, we could resign either Melo or Amare whoever is better (probably Melo), go after Rondo, and hope there's enough left over to go after a big man like Amir Johnson. A few other things. Kyrie Irving will be a restricted free agent and I doubt there's any contract that Cleveland wouldn't match. Shumpert will also be a restricted free agent so we'll have to see what sort of contract offers he'll be getting. Kevin Love has a player option he could exercise that Summer but, I remember reading that the new CBA made it so players make more money if they don't opt out of their contract.

Knixkik wrote:

VCoug wrote:I don't think either of those options will be taken. There's no way Dolan will agree to blow everything up after this season so at best (worst?) we're looking at starting over in the Summer of 2015. Right now we have $12M in salary for Felton, Shumpert, and Novak assuming that all their options are picked up and I see no reason to believe that won't be the case. JR Smith signed a sweetheart deal with us this offseason with a player option for next season; he will likely opt out with the understanding that we'll use his Early Bird rights to resign him at around $5M/year, which will bring us to $17M in salary. Based on the current salary cap that leaves us with $41M in space.

Now, if we want to resign any of our big three that automatically reduces our cap space since their Bird rights will create a cap hold; the only way to regain that space is to sign them to contracts less than their cap hold (I find this extremely unlikely) or to waive their Bird rights which would mean we can't go over the cap to resign them. Assuming that Melo and Tyson continue their same standard of play their holds should be around $24M and $15M. As for Amare, if he's able to return to the player he was in Phoenix and his first half season here his hold should be around $24M also; if he plays more like he did last season I'm not sure what the NBA would set his hold at. If we want to bring back all three we'd have no space; if we'd want to bring back Tyson and Melo or Amare we'd have around $2M in space; if we want to bring back Melo or Amare we'd have $17M; and if we want to bring back just Tyson we'd have around $26M. Again, these number are based on the current salary cap.

Based off of this list http://www.hoopsworld.com/2015-nba-free-agents/ I think our best option would be to go after Rondo and Aldridge and try to resign Tyson to a team-friendly deal. Or, we could resign either Melo or Amare whoever is better (probably Melo), go after Rondo, and hope there's enough left over to go after a big man like Amir Johnson. A few other things. Kyrie Irving will be a restricted free agent and I doubt there's any contract that Cleveland wouldn't match. Shumpert will also be a restricted free agent so we'll have to see what sort of contract offers he'll be getting. Kevin Love has a player option he could exercise that Summer but, I remember reading that the new CBA made it so players make more money if they don't opt out of their contract.

I think Rondo is a great option at that point. Boston might want to start over at that point and may not want to pay rondo more than he is making now. Melo, Rondo, Shumpert, and a resigned Tyson (on a very friendly deal) makes us a nice looking team. Rondo's abilities on defense, his control of the game, and his championship experience should make him a nice mix with Melo at that point in their careers.

Agree we'll have to wait till after the 2014/2015 season when everyone comes off. The Lakers have Pau ($19M), Kobe ($30M) coming off after the 2013/14 season so if we want to blow things up after that season we'll have to compete with them for players. Which franchise would you rather play for?

Carmelo Anthony has a PLAYER option after the 2013/2014 season. He will also be 30 years old. He could

a) consider leaving for the Lakers to team up with Dwight Howard. This is assuming the Lakers resign Howard and Lebron stays in Miami/goes anywhere other than LA.

b) leverage that to get us to sign a monster extension leaving the Knicks paying max $ for a guy on the wrong side of 30.

I have a sinking feeling this is what will happen. I would MUCH rather we sign someone coming off a rookie contract like Irving who has his best years AHEAD of him.

Especially if we haven't won anything in this 2-3 year window when it looks like for haters and lovers alike, Melo has no more excuses.

Guys want to play for the Knicks but the Knicks never have cap space.

A young two way PG or Big could jump start this team. We still have a prime Melo.

I'd kill for Bynum, Aldridge, Jennings, Irving, Tyreke Evans.

AnubisADL wrote:Realistically as long as Melo is healthy we will make the playoffs. So rebuilding through the draft will be difficult. Best bet would be to get under the cap to sign a young UFA coming off their first big contract.

Guys want to play for the Knicks but the Knicks never have cap space.

A young two way PG or Big could jump start this team. We still have a prime Melo.

I'd kill for Bynum, Aldridge, Jennings, Irving, Tyreke Evans.

Don't worry, Dolan hears you!

Your right on the money! Make the playoffs and hope for a new star!