Either one of these guys I'd be willing to give up the MLE on. The possibility of Rasheed signing here is a thousand to one, and I'd rather have a polished guy like Okur over a talented but bonehaded guy like Stro Swift.

Okur is a versatile big man who shot over 45% from the field and shoots well for a big man from beyond three point range. Average rebounder and not much of a shotblocker, but in the halfcourt offense I'd love to have this guy with Marbury. He hits his open shots, something guys like Mohammed and Sweetney can't do yet and KT was iffy on all year. For his career he averages 20 minutes per game, 8 points, and 5 boards. Obviously numbers that aren't that impressive, but give him 30-35 minutes per game and a dozen open shots from Marbury either from him breaking down the D or off the pick and roll and he could easily average 15 points, 8 rebounds. Not to mention he's 6'11". Should be available if Detroit maxes out on Rasheed.

Walker was an undrafted rookie, but I'd take a gamble on him. Watching this kid tonight vs Sacramento and I was amazed. He plays well under pressure, nothing seems to faze him, and he scores when it counts. Shoots a poor percentage but for a 6th man and ultimate replacement for Houston I think he'd be nice. I'm not sure if I'd throw the whole MLE at him, maybe a 3 year, $11 million contract and see how he plays. Tonight his line was 9 points (4-13), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. I also think Andre Emmet, as Briggs pointed out in another thread, could be a similar player. So if they draft Emmet, I say go hard after Okur and be on his doorstep at midnight on the first day of free agency.

After watching the Knicks in the halfcourt offense versus the Nets I just think they need to add a competent offensive big man. Swift has zero offensive moves, he's good with put backs and what not. Okur can take it from the perimeter, hit the 3, back guys down. He's a very nice offensive player. In the halfcourt, he can create his own shot and knock down open shots after Marbury penetrates. I'd follow the Nets model on Jason Kidd and surround Marbury with players who he'll play well with. Kidd flourishes in the fast break, so they got athletes and decided to run teams out of the buildilng. Marbury flourishes in the halfcourt, either taking his man off the dribble, coming off screens as a 2guard, or running the pick and roll. IMO they already have the PG to run point to let Marbury play SG in Williams or Penny. Tim Thomas is a nice 3rd option at SF who can play inside and out, and Houston can shoot. Now they need big men. I don't think there are any other options in this years FA market.

Are you talking about marquis daniel ?

Yeah this guy's good, could be grab him ? yes if we use our mid lev. Should we ? I dunno, our paint needs more help than our perimeter right now, doesn't it ?

Okur is great and have tremendous room for improvement. Pistons will have a hard tme resigning both wallace and him, money is not the only issue, playing time is also. Behind the 2 wallaces, he does't see a lot of daylight, and brown put him in his cellar. (btw, brown is a very good coach, but his personnal moves are sometimes a bit weird.)

We should make a run at him from day 1. Full mid lev. Let the piston sweat a bit. Show him the city, what we're building. Lot of PT, good PG for pick and rolls, NY media power that would help make him an allstar...

But we have to be agressive right from the beginning.

Posted by BigSm00th:

Either one of these guys I'd be willing to give up the MLE on. The possibility of Rasheed signing here is a thousand to one, and I'd rather have a polished guy like Okur over a talented but bonehaded guy like Stro Swift.

Okur is a versatile big man who shot over 45% from the field and shoots well for a big man from beyond three point range. Average rebounder and not much of a shotblocker, but in the halfcourt offense I'd love to have this guy with Marbury. He hits his open shots, something guys like Mohammed and Sweetney can't do yet and KT was iffy on all year. For his career he averages 20 minutes per game, 8 points, and 5 boards. Obviously numbers that aren't that impressive, but give him 30-35 minutes per game and a dozen open shots from Marbury either from him breaking down the D or off the pick and roll and he could easily average 15 points, 8 rebounds. Not to mention he's 6'11". Should be available if Detroit maxes out on Rasheed.

Walker was an undrafted rookie, but I'd take a gamble on him. Watching this kid tonight vs Sacramento and I was amazed. He plays well under pressure, nothing seems to faze him, and he scores when it counts. Shoots a poor percentage but for a 6th man and ultimate replacement for Houston I think he'd be nice. I'm not sure if I'd throw the whole MLE at him, maybe a 3 year, $11 million contract and see how he plays. Tonight his line was 9 points (4-13), 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. I also think Andre Emmet, as Briggs pointed out in another thread, could be a similar player. So if they draft Emmet, I say go hard after Okur and be on his doorstep at midnight on the first day of free agency.

After watching the Knicks in the halfcourt offense versus the Nets I just think they need to add a competent offensive big man. Swift has zero offensive moves, he's good with put backs and what not. Okur can take it from the perimeter, hit the 3, back guys down. He's a very nice offensive player. In the halfcourt, he can create his own shot and knock down open shots after Marbury penetrates. I'd follow the Nets model on Jason Kidd and surround Marbury with players who he'll play well with. Kidd flourishes in the fast break, so they got athletes and decided to run teams out of the buildilng. Marbury flourishes in the halfcourt, either taking his man off the dribble, coming off screens as a 2guard, or running the pick and roll. IMO they already have the PG to run point to let Marbury play SG in Williams or Penny. Tim Thomas is a nice 3rd option at SF who can play inside and out, and Houston can shoot. Now they need big men. I don't think there are any other options in this years FA market.

two things that are wrong. first, okur will be one of the best available big man out there. in a league with teams thirsting for big men, i am sure someone will offer him more money than us. the other thing is thomas' feelings about foreign born players. he had a history of bias torward them including when he came to the knicks and got rid of our only three ( trybanski was a throw in who will be released before next year anyway). he may have wavered since around the all-star break there were rumors about him trying to acquire big z from cleveland. but the liklihood of us attaining okur is very slim. dampier would probably be a better bet.

Haha my bad, Marquise Walker was a WR for UMichigan a few years ago, I was just playing Madden so I had his name in my head.

I'd much rather have Okur over Dampier because he can shoot. I bet teams could offer more to Okur too, but the fact is players can MAKE more money in NY through endorsements and marketing, since its the most popular city in the NY and garners the most attention of possibly any city in the world.

Secondly, Okur is absolutely deadly on the pick and roll. I'm sure all Knicks' front office people would have to do is show Okur a highlight tape of Marbury to Doleac/KThomas and let him imagine how well he could do. He averaged 8 points in 22 minutes, KT averaged 11 in 31 minutes. With Marbury off the screen and roll I'd pencil Okur in for at least 15 a night (same height as Doleac with a better outside touch than both Doleac and Thomas). He really wouldn't have to work for his shot, just screen, roll, shoot, 2 points.

He's pretty good on the offensive glass too, was in the top 15 in rebounding per 48 minutes.

Maybe teams will offer him more, but show up on his doorstep at 12:01 AM on Day 1 of FA signing and give him the full thing. I bet he'd sign. He'd be a huge boost to the stagnant offense. I just don't see the Knicks getting Rasheed, don't see the point in Stro Swift (after watching him he's so unpolished and with his lack of motivation, offering a lot of money would be a big gamble), and don't really see anybody else of value in the FA Market who would sign for the MLE.

Dampier is a rebounder and a pretty efficient shotblocker, but I'd say he asks for more $$ and don't see the point of adding a rebounder. Knicks need more offense. Who knows, I'd be happy with either.

I just think its essential to get guys who fit around Marbury, like the Nets did with Kidd and the 76ers did with Iverson in their Finals run. Kidd excelled in full court, so they got athletes to finish off his alleyoops. Iverson was a great defender who was unstoppable in the halfcourt one-on-one, so they surrounded him with guys who played tough defense and gave Iverson a chance to win the game in the 4th (why Larry Brown dismantled that team boggles my mind to this day). Marbury's favorite play is the pick and roll, and he's much better in a slow down, halfcourt offense as opposed to a fast break or transition game. Plus, he had those guys in Phoenix (Stoudemire and Marion) and he never really pushed it, so I assume thats how he likes to play. So get him guys who will hit open shots off the pick and roll (he's done it with Thomas and Doleac very effectively), can work well in a halfcourt, and go from there.

I think KThomas will be traded in the offseason, so get a guy who does his job as well or better (Okur), trade KThomas, and that's how you get better. If the Knicks trade Thomas and wind up without anybody who can run the pick and roll, then that hurts a lot and will impede on progress. Trade KT and the expiring contracts to Chicago for Curry/Crawford and one of their big contracts (I think Chicago would do Curry and Eddie Robinson for Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington) and go from there, something along those lines.
(The hypothetical starting 5 after that type of deal would be Marbury, Houston, TThomas, Okur, and Curry, with FWilliams, Penny, Mohammed rounding out an 8 man rotation. Not bad.)

That's how you improve your team, by strengthening in while not subsequently weakening it.

[Edited by - bigsm00th on 04/27/2004 17:03:17]