CrushAlot wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:^how can he forget Ellington. That bumps them up to 5th best!

I think Phil called him a salary that fit. He might fit well in the triangle.

I actually like this dude. He was solid in college and has had his moments in the NBA. Excellent shooter and fairly elusive off the dribble. Is he Michael Jordan? Of course not but the man can play. He's far from some scrub. JR Smith makes too much money to not play--they've committed to him. Unless we can find some taker (is the Milwaukee thing for Ilyasova really dead?), he'll play big mins., probably starting at 2G. The rest of the position is wide open -- I'm not ready to just hand the rest of the minutes over to Shump and THJ. Let Ellington compete for time with these guys---he might prove to be the best of those remaining 3. He's our best pure shooter at the position, maybe on the team (possibly even over Calderon). Gotta see how much defense he can provide, that'll be the key for him: can he play enough defense to stay on the floor. If he can, he could be a factor. He's actually a pretty good offensive player.

CrushAlot wrote:

10) NEW YORK KNICKS

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2013-14 RECORD: 37-45, did not make playoffs

ADDED: G Jose Calderon (acquired from Dallas); C Samuel Dalembert (acquired from Dallas); G Shane Larkin (acquired from Dallas); F Cleanthony Early (second round, 34th pick overall); F Thanasis Antetokounmpo (second round, 51st pick overall); C/F Jason Smith (one year, $915,000)

LOST: None

RETAINED: F Carmelo Anthony (five years, $124 million); C Cole Aldrich (one year, $915,000)

THE KEY MAN: Coach Derek Fisher. After the Knicks were left at the altar by Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson reached out to another triangle-friendly mind in Fisher, the latest former player to walk directly from the court to a head coaching job without any experience. Fisher has a lot of work to do with a roster that doesn't seem especially suited to run the triangle, though Calderon (career 41 percent 3-point shooter) would seem likely to fit in quickly. Fisher will have to be a disciplinarian as well as a teacher, and it's always difficult for guys who were peers a second ago to get used to the idea that their former teammate is now their boss. We'll see how Fisher does.

THE SKINNY: James was clearly the biggest prize in free agency, but Anthony was the guy that the teams with cap room came at hardest. In the end, Anthony eschewed a potential great fit in Chicago, playing with James Harden and Dwight Howard in Houston or re-shaping the Lakers franchise to stay home -- and get an extra $20 mil or so in the process. Without a first-round pick, Jackson did well to get two solid prospects in Early and Antetokounmpo, the younger brother of Milwaukee's Giannis. But New York kept its word to Anthony -- it should have significant cap room a year from now to go after a second blue-chip free agent. And it kept a great, talented player that should be effective in this or any other offense.

>> OFFSEASON GRADES: THE MIDDLE 10 | OFFSEASON GRADES: THE BOTTOM 10

http://www.nba.com/2014/news/features/david_aldridge/08/04/morning-tip-2014-offseason-grades-top-10/index.html?cid=nba_12_twitter_L

"effective in this or any other offense." uhhhh..... what? and i'd like to see a list of these available blue chip free agents.

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

10) NEW YORK KNICKS

<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>

2013-14 RECORD: 37-45, did not make playoffs

ADDED: G Jose Calderon (acquired from Dallas); C Samuel Dalembert (acquired from Dallas); G Shane Larkin (acquired from Dallas); F Cleanthony Early (second round, 34th pick overall); F Thanasis Antetokounmpo (second round, 51st pick overall); C/F Jason Smith (one year, $915,000)

LOST: None

RETAINED: F Carmelo Anthony (five years, $124 million); C Cole Aldrich (one year, $915,000)

THE KEY MAN: Coach Derek Fisher. After the Knicks were left at the altar by Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson reached out to another triangle-friendly mind in Fisher, the latest former player to walk directly from the court to a head coaching job without any experience. Fisher has a lot of work to do with a roster that doesn't seem especially suited to run the triangle, though Calderon (career 41 percent 3-point shooter) would seem likely to fit in quickly. Fisher will have to be a disciplinarian as well as a teacher, and it's always difficult for guys who were peers a second ago to get used to the idea that their former teammate is now their boss. We'll see how Fisher does.

THE SKINNY: James was clearly the biggest prize in free agency, but Anthony was the guy that the teams with cap room came at hardest. In the end, Anthony eschewed a potential great fit in Chicago, playing with James Harden and Dwight Howard in Houston or re-shaping the Lakers franchise to stay home -- and get an extra $20 mil or so in the process. Without a first-round pick, Jackson did well to get two solid prospects in Early and Antetokounmpo, the younger brother of Milwaukee's Giannis. But New York kept its word to Anthony -- it should have significant cap room a year from now to go after a second blue-chip free agent. And it kept a great, talented player that should be effective in this or any other offense.

>> OFFSEASON GRADES: THE MIDDLE 10 | OFFSEASON GRADES: THE BOTTOM 10

http://www.nba.com/2014/news/features/david_aldridge/08/04/morning-tip-2014-offseason-grades-top-10/index.html?cid=nba_12_twitter_L

"effective in this or any other offense." uhhhh..... what? and i'd like to see a list of these available blue chip free agents.

blkexec wrote:If Ellington and Calderon can replace Novak and the other shooter we lost to Indy, then we might be a major sleeper in the east. The key will be at the PF matchup...and SF backup.

The problem I struggle with is Melo....He's not a PF and he's not a SF. He's either too small or too slow, depending on the matchups. And when the defensive matchups are not in his favor, he puts up even more bad shots. Hopefully the Triangle will change that.

Here's my list of sleepers on this team.....Starting with Ellington, Smith at center, and Early....

Hey, I think Chandler is addition by subtraction by reason of his effort, but not skill. I mean, we did give up a former defensive stalwart.

I think if we can stay healthy, get guys, including & especially Melo, to buy in, then we're likely returning to the play offs.

Otherwise, injuries and if Melo simply can't adapt to a passing & IQ offense, then it will be a long and ugly season.

I thought woodson's biggest failure was maganging the rotation, and to me thats the grass roots of a special team.

knicks1248 wrote:My biggest concern is the rotation, we have 7 guards that need to play, priggs, calderon, larkin, JR, shump, THJ, ellington, no way you can have success playing even 5 of them.

I thought woodson's biggest failure was maganging the rotation, and to me thats the grass roots of a special team.

If it was me I would start Dalembert/Melo/Shump/JR/Calderon with Amare/Larkin/THjr off the bench and Cole is the extra big based on foul trouble, matchups, etc.

Those would be my 8 guys. I would like to pump and dump Shump and move him for a pick and hopefully Early plays his way into the rotation. But Im not assuming all these guys get playing time.