TripleThreat wrote:BRIGGS wrote:If we were able to get a Reggie Jackson and a Lamarcus Aldridge--for example along with a top 5 pick--we could legitimately go from cellar dweller to a championship type team in one year.That would give us a legit big 3 from the post wing and PG and we could draft a C.
For example
Jackson 4 years 50mm 12.5mm per
Aldridge 4 year max starting at 18mm I think.
If you give Jackson max money, he's going to want to go somewhere where he can get the ball in his hands.
Melo is a PF, not a SF. Eventually the Knicks will have to concede that. Even if your entire scenario was possible, it would be the same problem of putting in massive dollars at the PF position ( LMA cannot play center)
If the Knicks got a high pick somehow, and managed to get a young hot center prospect, even those guys take some time to develop.
A maxed out taxpaying team of Melo, Calderon, LMA, Jackson and a highly touted rookie and roster churn still looks like to me a team that has a questionable big man rotation, no rim protection, and little help on the wings for perimeter defense.
No matter the roster permutation that folks want to push, it all falls back the same way, you cannot have a max player who cannot play defense. Not if you want to contend. The only exception would be Melo on the Bulls on a salary discount.
Melo is a PF. Bar none. Maybe not this year because the Knicks have so much money tied up in their current PF rotation, but once that clears, it's a different story. Chasing more PFs at big ticket prices won't help the Knicks.
Also you are factoring out the Spurs. If Duncan retires and Ginobili hangs it up, SA will be the hottest FA spot in the entire league and all the players will wait to see what the Spurs do, because playing with Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard and still having Splitter and Diaw plus a stable franchise with a history of winning, that's just far more attractive than the Knicks situation.
Unless you are getting LBJ or Anthony Davis, there is no one year turnaround in the modern NBA.