In an ideal Knicks world, these are the next steps I hope to see.

Step 2 Hope any team but the Heat wins the chip this year. I do not see Lebron staying if they lose the ring this year, so he can be had at some point and P-Jax is the ultimate draw for legends.

Step 3 Sign and trade Melo to Chicago for Boozer, Dunleavy, Mirotic’s rights, and both of Chicago’s picks in the 2014 draft.

Step 4 Move expiring contracts that don't fit the new team direction. Anyone but THJr. Keep Tyler, too.

Step 5 Hire a smart coach for both ends of the court, offense and defense.

Final Step, pick the right 1 or 2 players in the summer of 2015. (Aldridge/Love/Rondo/whoever else is a great fit after other steps)

Rebuild and championship caliber team finished.

Go NY go NY go!

rammagen wrote:I would go with this before any houston deal this is a better package

The Houston deals involve us taking on the poison pill year of either Omar or Lin's contracts, which seems like a bad idea to me. We probably could do a three team deal in which a team absorbs Omar's contract to give Houston cap room, we get Chandler Parsons and Terrence Jones and two first round picks from Houston. We would then still be able to go into 2015 with a boat load of cap room and THJ, Parsons, and Jones (and our first round picks) as our young foundation.

VCoug wrote:

TheGame wrote:

rammagen wrote:I would go with this before any houston deal this is a better package

The Houston deals involve us taking on the poison pill year of either Omar or Lin's contracts, which seems like a bad idea to me. We probably could do a three team deal in which a team absorbs Omar's contract to give Houston cap room, we get Chandler Parsons and Terrence Jones and two first round picks from Houston. We would then still be able to go into 2015 with a boat load of cap room and THJ, Parsons, and Jones (and our first round picks) as our young foundation.

I'm not a fan of the proposed Houston deal for my own reasons but why would you care about the poison pill which wouldn't even be a poison pill. The only thing it affects is how much Dolan has to pay in luxury tax.

It was my understanding that Lin's deal lasts longer than the summer of 2015, which means it would eat into our cap space that summer and neither Lin nor Omar are worth 15 million a year, especially not as starting pieces. The point of trading Melo is to give us flexibility. Getting Lin or Omar limits that. Omars deal might end in 2015, but I just don't like him as a starting building block at max-type money.

I lean toward a Chicago deal, but having Melo back in the west suits him and limits how many times we have to see him. Also, if Lin regrets his tactic that forced himself out of NY and truly wants to be here, he might fit in future plans at a discounted price.

I do doubt we get both Parsons and Jones, probably one or the other and most likely only one 1st round pick. I think the Chicago deal gives us more flexibility and overall value toward the total rebuild.