After that we have our three main frontcourt players on the last year of their contracts---thats fine--but were relying on FA for the most part to fill that void---as with Houston this year--free agency isnt the end all.

I don't know if any other position is really secure. Im not sure if this is the right PG--if JR Smith will be consistent and normal--if Tim Hardaway will do anything other than shoot 3's

We are outsiders looking in and beyond Monday am QB--I have to wonder why we didnt take a PF who will play for us now with 1 of our three picks. The talent at the PF position was probably better than the wing position of which we just paid a man 120mm to secure.

Right now we have Early Greek Shumpert Melo Smith Hardaway Ellington as wing players

Our PGs are all over the place to slow too short too old.

We do have talent--if Melo Bargs Amare JR and Calderon play at their top levels--we can play with teams But what is the goal this year--to hope it comes together--we have some luck and get a 6 seed so we lose out on maybe finding a big franchise player type that we could use high up in the draft?

I think in our best interests that maybe we should see what we have and if we are not good after 20-25 games---lets try to dump and tank--its a strategy that weve never used yet. Many of these up and coming teams have used it. We *could* get a lottery big man and then with cap space revamp the whole structure of the team. But I think with the way the Knicks draft--we need a no brainer--the guy is just there type of pick. that means top 3-5

But we could try to move up in the draft for once packaging our pick with Shump,Hardaway or Larkin type deal.

franco12 wrote:This is what kinda did us in last year with Melo wanting to test free agency. I think we should almost tell Bargs & maybe Amare to stay home.

CrushAlot wrote:

franco12 wrote:This is what kinda did us in last year with Melo wanting to test free agency. I think we should almost tell Bargs & maybe Amare to stay home.

I agree. Pick one and open up a roster spot

No

Jerryd Bayless is the extra ball-handling guard I want. I think we could get him at a good price right now. I see a ton of untapped potential here. Shoot for the moon with a pickup like this -- if we don't wind up getting a future star like I think we could with Bayless, at least we'd get a younger/bigger/stronger/faster/flat out much more talented 3rd ball-handler over Prigioni (who I'd look to either deal or simply buy out at this point)...After that, Seth Curry or Kalin Lucas would be good choices on minimum contracts. I think Curry just had 25 in a SL game--he can play. Decent enough ball-handler, he can initiate an offense and he can really shoot the ball. He could work here. And Lucas is really flying under the radar -- he's quick and composed, a real PG. Does everything fairly well. Like him too...Want to move on from Prigioni -- just can't see going with 2 older PGs, 2 out of our 3 guys. I'd like to see a younger, much higher upside/impact PG instead of Prigioni to go along with a 2nd young guy (Larkin or someone else if Larkin gets moved). We have enough experience with Calderon (and Fisher as head coach) -- no need to go with 2 older PGs like that.

Would love to add Jordan Hill as an additional PF. Not sure if we could get that done. To me, he's a $5mm a year player, so I'm not sure we could fit him in but I'd like to see us try. Maybe we could work out some kind of a S&T with the Lakers. After that, I kinda like Mike Scott in our price range. Not sure if Atlanta re-signed him yet. I know he's restricted and we can't offer much -- whatever we could offer, ATL could easily match. He's come a long way. Decent college player at Virginia but he's become an even better pro. He never showed any kind of legit 3-pt range until recently. Dude's really become a quality mid-range/outside shooter, plus he can bang inside and post up a little...Speaking of ATL, I'd love to see if we could get this kid Mike Muscala somehow. Maybe for Larkin and/or some of our excess wing talent? I dunno.. I like Larkin a lot but we could replace him if we had to (Bayless and/or Seth Curry, Kalin Lucas, etc.) -- for a guy like Muscala, maybe we look to do something like that. Bigs with size/skills like that don't grow on trees. After that, I do like Jason Smith if we could get him, and if not, PFs like Richard Howell and Trevor Mbakwe make some sense too on the cheap. No need to overspend on a guy like DeJuan Blair when we could get the same thing more or less out of the younger Rich Howell for cheaper. Don't want any part of K-Mart coming back and I want a better option over deer-in-headlights Jeremy Tyler. Daniel Orton is a 6'10" 260 lb. PF/C that reminds me of a young Kendrick Perkins. He'd come cheap and I think he's a better project big to move forward with than Tyler.

If we ever decided to move Early for something that made sense (Jordan Hill, Mike Muscala?), I'd move quickly on SFs Devin Ebanks or DeQuan Jones. Both would be fine fits to replace Early. I actually prefer each guy over Early as of right now anyway to be honest. Ebanks is more of a legit SF/stretch 4 with a lot of length that can really score the ball & rebound; Jones is more of a 2/3, 6'8" 220+, athletic as hell and surprisingly skilled.

I continue to really like Jeff Withey, Alexis Ajinca, Luke Babbitt and Russ Smith -- New Orleans has a lot of good young pieces that we could fill in our roster gaps with. If I'm Phil, I'd be on the phone with Demps to see who in this group might be available.

I think we lacked a system, a big part of our inconsistency with a poor philosophy on OFF and DEF, with inconsistent combinations of talents together

In the triangle, we hopefully do not need to watch JR Smith or even CA, feel the need to take control of the ball and create when nothing is there with much time remaining on the shot clock

newyorknewyork wrote:Nobody is going to give assets for Amare or Bargs and if they are stinking up the joint then dumping them wouldn't be tanking. Jr Smith if he played really well would be the only vet we could maybe possibly move for an asset.

But we could try to move up in the draft for once packaging our pick with Shump,Hardaway or Larkin type deal.

sorry dude, but this is one of the dumbest ideas Ive read in a while. You wanna trade JR if he's playing well and consistent, and you wanna trade draft day steals that have proven themselves, for an unknown high pick, that may or may not work out..

Explain to me how this makes an ounce of sense

Finestrg wrote:Phil mentioned before on the game 3 telecast that they need roster balance, they have too many 2Gs and are in the market for a vet big man. Why does it have to be a vet big man? We're not winning anything this year most likely. With Amar'e, Bargs and Sammy, don't we have enough vet experience up front? If I'm Phil, I don't close any doors. Why not try to uncover another young player with some upside?

franco12 wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

franco12 wrote:This is what kinda did us in last year with Melo wanting to test free agency. I think we should almost tell Bargs & maybe Amare to stay home.

I agree. Pick one and open up a roster spot

No

Do you seriously think Bargs can stay healthy?

I'd like to think he is due for a break out return to form dose of Phil Jackson season.

But I think with guys who might not be part of the long term equation, we should eliminate distractions. Cut Bargs, save a few bucks and let some other franchise struggle to try to get something out of him.

Stat is one player I could see being kept at very different money long term.

Return to form? What form is that?