Great post Crush. I happen to agree with what you're saying 100% -- when you're a vet team that's floundering to the extent we are and are contemplating either a full-blown rebuild OR a massive retool around the 1 star we plan on keeping, in a lost year (which this certainly qualifies by now) where the current and future state of the team looks fairly bleak -- flat out dumping small-contract vets like Beno, K-Mart, etc. AFTER THE DEADLINE HAS COME & GONE where we can't trade them now (these guys WILL NOT be on this team next year btw---I definitely don't want either guy back) and filling those spots with some young promising DL talent can only help the future cause and be looked at as a positive. The Knicks obviously don't look at it this way -- I wish they did. They want that 8th seed and the extra revenue that comes with the playoffs and they think that leaning on some of the subpar vets we already have in place will get us there. That's it -- that's the only thing that drives these guys. I wish they sat back once in awhile and looked at the big picture & assessed what it would take to make that big picture a lot brighter. That would be my sole motivation if I were a Knick exec --
the big picture. Nothing else would matter.
We just got spurned on 2 potential deals at the deadline yesterday, deals that could've been good for present and future (gotta actually give this dude Mills a little credit for trying yesterday btw -- I was behind both of those deals before they fell through). Oh well, all is not lost however. On to the next avenue we could use to import talent...We still have cards to play here...I'd turn my attention to the DL and calling up some of the best players that league has to offer. Who gives a rat's ass about the 8th seed at this point? Hey I care, don't get me wrong but come on, this is not the '99 team here. This team has no chance of winning anything. ZERO...I mean Ben Gordon? Really? We already have JR Smith and Timmy at that spot and both are playing pretty well now. If we bring in Ben Gordon, whose playing time does he chew into? Not JR who's finally playing well, a guy we're paying handsomely in exchange for expected productivity; not Timmy who's playing great and developing ahead of schedule (our one main bright spot this year) and not even Shumpert when he gets back -- this guy desperately needs to be built back up either to resume a spot on this team or to build up his future value. We failed to move him yesterday but what if the plan now is to move him this summer? He'd have better value if he returned and finished strong the last 30 games or so, right? If we are gonna sit Shumpert, I'd rather it be because we found a young wing with promise and wanted see what he had -- someone like Devin Ebanks for example. And who's to say we couldn't still make a run at the 8th seed with a player like Ebanks on the team? I personally feel a move like that enhances our chances..
I'd love it if they just flat out cut a few of these older guys and replaced them with a few young DL standouts (how many DNPs will Beno and Martin log the rest of the year? I betcha each won't play in more than half the remaining games, more like 3/4). Picture this -- cut Beno and K-Mart and replace those guys with Seth Curry or Kalin Lucas AND Devin Ebanks. And/or 7' Justin Hamilton--find a way to add this guy too if feasible. We're talking 2 promising young PGs, a SF who's definitely on par with any SF we were talking about acquiring yesterday (Reggie Bullock, Jordan Hamilton) and/or a legit 7' skilled center that can shoot, score inside and rebound (what if we're looking at the next Nikola Vucevic here? We couldn't use that?). I mean if it were up to me -- these moves would've been made weeks ago. And if any of them didn't work out, no problem, they would've been cut after 10 or 20 days and we would've been no worse for the ware. Onto the next prospect...BUT WHAT IF one or more of these guys did pan out?? Then all of a sudden we talking about a future rotation piece(s) at an incredible price. One more thing: Melo would get a chance to play with them for the remainder and establish chemistry -- who's to say Melo wouldn't see the value in some of these young players we decide to bring in? Why not -- because they're from the DL? Come on...I'm telling you all right now -- Melo had a courtside seat at the NBDL all-star game last weekend and I'd be willing to bet anything that he came away impressed with what he saw. I know I was...At this point in time -- I prefer an approach like this over bringing in someone like Ben Gordon..
