5 - Enes Kanter (max contract -- 4-yrs/$58.68mm)
4 - JaMychal Green (4-yrs/$5mm but willing to eclipse any offer SA gives him)
3 - Carmelo Anthony
2 - Orlando Johnson
1 - Emmanuel Mudiay (assuming pick 2-3 in the draft -- I can't assume pick 1 even with the most ping-pong balls)
-------------------------
5 - Jeff Withey (3-yrs/$10.5mm)
4 - Lavoy Allen (4-yrs/$16mm)
3 - Cleanthony Early (really important that he starts playing bigger mins, esp. once Melo shuts it down)
2 - Kevin Murphy
1 - Bryce Cotton
-------------------------
5 - Earl Barron (resurfaced in the DL and is playing great. Taking and making 3s now. Still rebounds well. Quality 3rd string C depth)
4 - Khem Birch
3 - Thanasis Antetokounmpo
2 - Tim Hardaway Jr.
1 - Jose Calderon

Some reasoning and assumptions:

I know it's not the popular configuration around here but I really like the Kanter/Mudiay combo. the more I think about it. I think it could be the best out of any of the draft/FA combos out there. On the first day of FA, surprise everyone and offer Kanter a max deal. Within the first day or two of FA, visit with Kanter, have him sign the max offer sheet and either fax or have a courier deliver it forthwith (I'd wanna quickly turn the page and move on to my 2nd choices if Utah matched). Why even fool around at $13mm per or so? Go right to the max and make it hard on Utah. I'd say it'd be a little less than 50/50 whether they match or not -- say 55/45 or 60/40 they don't match. Meanwhile on our end--what's the difference between $13mm or $14.7mm per from our perspective? Not much esp. for a talent like this. Remember--Melo's health may be in decline -- I think it's imperative we reload as swiftly as possible here. $13mm makes it easier for Utah to match, simple as that. Go right to the top. Nikola Vucevic got a 4-yr/$53mm extension from Orlando. This offer for Kanter is more but still in that same neighborhood. Say we wanted Kanter, we'll need to offer a little more than Vucevic got from the Magic (more so to scare off Utah than to entice Kanter -- I think he'd probably sign a Vucevic-equivalent offer sheet but then there would be a greater chance Utah matches it. The idea is to have Utah surrender and walk away from this. Was reading Kanter and the Jazz were negotiating at one point before both parties agreed to shut it down for the season and revisit it after the season concludes, with Kanter's agent supposedly unwilling to come down from $13mm a season. So right there shows me Utah probably doesn't want any part of a max deal which is only a couple of million more. I think Kanter's worth it -- Vucevic is currently averaging 18.9 ppg on 15.5 FGA, 11.1 rebounds in just under 35 mins a night. Kanter by comparison: 13.8 ppg on only 11.6 FGA, 7.3 rpg in only 26.8 mins a game. Bottom line for me here -- you give Kanter another 8-9 mins a game and another 4-5 shots at the basket/night, he'll put up similar numbers. Take it to the bank. I'd picture maybe a hair better in the scoring department (close but I think he's a little better offensive player than Vucevic) and a hair below in the rebounding. That puts expected production right around 20/10. I think you can almost guarantee those numbers. Kanter's actually 2 years younger than Vucevic too btw... Also, a big reason I prefer Kanter over an Okafor/Towns in the draft -- we really wouldn't have to develop him at all like we would with these young bigs (esp. Towns). Look at how long it took Hassan Whiteside, right? Utah spent the past couple of years developing Kanter--now I think he's ready for the next step. When you think about Melo's age and overall health, gimmie a big that's ready to go over a project, even a semi-project.

I'm assuming we can move Prigioni in the off-season for something small -- a future 2, a minor trade exception, etc.. If not, I'd waive him to open up the roster spot. Withey's a RFA but shouldn't be hard to steal away from New Orleans (he's barely playing this season, averaging only 6 mins a night). Might be able to get him for even less than $3.5mm a pop. Upgrade over Cole Aldrich who's regressed a good deal this season. Khem Birch would give us another able shot-blocker to go along with Withey. Birch would only cost the minimum....Orlando Johnson/Kevin Murphy is a damn good young 2G duo we could put together on the cheap. Thanasis makes the team and fills a defensive stopper role...I was talking on another thread about signing JaMychal Green to a 4-yr deal right now but I don't think we can--I got ahead of myself & forgot we're currently over the cap. Go for the next best thing -- offer him a minimum deal guaranteed for the rest of the year and a starting role along with 15-20 shots a game the rest of this season. Handshake on a deal for next year as soon as the off-season hits, even if he gets hurt (provided it's nothing serious). If we can put it in writing now, do it. That's how much I want him -- don't make it an easy decision to pick SA over us. I think this guy's a better version of Taj Gibson in the NBA. I might even get word to Green's agent that come next year, I'd be willing to top any offer that SA gives him. I want this guy -- be bold and proactive...Mudiay and Cotton would be a young PG duo but go with it and let those 2 young fellas learn on the fly and take their lumps. The pluses far outweight the minuses. Bottom line -- it would be the most talented PG duo we've had since Mark Jackson/Rod Strickland (better imo) and we'd have Calderon (maybe Prigioni too) along with Derek Fisher around to help nurse them through any growing pains.

The only thing I don't like about this scenario is that there's no guarantee we get Kanter. There's some gamble and risk there. Other than that, I like this roster a lot for next year.

Not sure you can sign Kantor, who is a limited defender and passer, if you have Anthony playing the 4- your interior D will be soft.

Acy will be back, I think.

Galloway will be on the team before Calderon will, IMO.

Hardaway is playing for his future on this team the second half of the year.

Hard to imagine a lineup for next year without knowing how certain players are going to perform the rest of the year.

Hardaway, Acy, Galloway, Larkin, Wear, Early, etc. all need an opportunity to show that they are worthy of being in a rotation. It would also be nice if the Greek had a chance to play 20+ games with the Knicks to see what he might offer as a player. At his point I actually think the Knicks would keep Wear over the Greek, and maybe even Early, if it came down to push and shove and we had to chose one of the three.

As much as some of you guys don't want to hear this- you also need to consider the offensive philosophy that Phil and Fisher still seem to be proponents of, and whether certain players can prosper in it.

You may disagree with what they hope to do on the offensive end, or think modifications MUST be made, but for better or worse, Jackson has certain ideas about the kind of players he wants, or if a particular player has the ability to adapt.

Just hope we have the option to pick #1, and can somehow find another late #1 or pick up some 2's, through trade or by purchasing them.

I'd like the concept of getting okafor(please) or towns one of portis or kaminsky then a plan to grab 2 or 3 guards (or a fallen c) in rd 2. Guards I like Harvey Livingston woodley haws late 1 into 2 nd

I can't figure out free agency until after the draft

CrushAlot wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:If posters would take a chance on Reggie Jackson why not take a chance on Cory Joseph? They both are restricted but you can probably get him out of S.A. for less than it would take Jackson. Joseph is also younger and is the better offensive player.

The only problem is the spurs cap space. Also, as much as I have been on Matthews I think the better choice financially could be Danny Green. This goes back to the spurs cap space though but if the Knicks could get Green and Joseph for an avg salaries of $8m and $10m they would be in good shape.

I would love for the knicks to get Joseph(pg), Green(sg), Harris(sf), Kufos(C), and Anjica(C). The knicks would need to get rid of Calderon to make this work though.

That would be quite a transformation. Who would you draft?

It depends on where they fall. 1) Okafor, 2) Towns, and 3) Russel. If they are 4 or back I would seriously call or take calls about trading back, picking up: a top 10 lottery, player/late 1st, and high 2nd rd pick. Mudiay is a mystery and Stein is the kind of big that is common latter in the drafts.

bench
g- hardaway - we will need a scorer off the bench
c - mozgov - bring him back home! not a bad big to bring off the bench for post defense
pf - Arinze Onuaku - performed well in d league- boards and decent inside scorer.. he can contribute somewhere in the nba
pf - thomas robinson - can be a solid big man off the bench
pg - pablo prigioni - hopefully he gets traded to a contender but i think he's a solid backup pg..

that's only 10 but the other 5 slots can goto any filler like thanasis...