Melo is going to be the one who dictates whether he's traded or not. It's a futile exercise worrying about his value in a trade. Phil bringing in the players that he did in FA makes it less likely that the team will play poorly enough for Melo to demand a trade. At this very moment Melo doesn't have trade value until he proves he can still play at a high level after his surgery.

It seems to me that the under 30 players are going to be the focus over the next 3 years. Aside from Vujacic, who isn't written in stone, I suspect that phil is still looking for younger players to fill out the rest of the roster. It could be young guys like Saunders, Atkins or Thanasis.

   	NAME	                POS	AGE	HT	WT	COLLEGE	        2015-2016 SALARY
1. 	Kristaps Porzingis	PF	20	7-3	230	 	        $4,131,720
2. 	Jerian Grant	        PG	22	6-5	205	Notre Dame	$1,572,360
3.	Langston Galloway	PG	23	6-2	200	Saint Joseph's	$845,059
4. 	Cleanthony Early	SF	24	6-8	220	Wichita State	$845,059
5. 	Derrick Williams	PF	24	6-8	240	Arizona	        $4,000,000
6.	Kyle O'Quinn	        PF	25	6-10	250	Norfolk State	$3,750,000
7. 	Robin Lopez	        C	27	7-0	255	Stanford	$12,650,000
8. 	Lance Thomas	        SF	27	6-8	225	Duke	        $1,636,842
9.	Arron Afflalo	        SG	29	6-5	215	UCLA	        $8,000,000
10	Carmelo Anthony	        SF	31	6-8	240	Syracuse	$22,875,000
11.     Sasha Vujacic           SG      31      6-7     195
12.	Lou Amundson	        PF	32	6-9	225	UNLV	        $1,650,000
13.	Jose Calderon	        PG	33	6-3	200	 	        $7,402,812

nixluva wrote:IMO I think you still want some vets to bridge the gap so that you have a properly functioning team. Losing environments are really the best for developing young players. If the Knicks have a team that can function at a respectable level that will help KP, Jerian etc to properly develop over the next couple of years."

"Losing environments are really the best for developing young players." thats the only part i dont agree with. i think players (like melo did in denver) learn bad habits because they just keep forcing up bad shots or something else. but overall i agree with your sentiment. melo is simply a bridge to the future. hes here to make sure we win 35 games and of course sell out the garden. the other vets are here to make the team somewhat competitive and take pressure off the youngins.

callmened wrote:

nixluva wrote:IMO I think you still want some vets to bridge the gap so that you have a properly functioning team. Losing environments are really the best for developing young players. If the Knicks have a team that can function at a respectable level that will help KP, Jerian etc to properly develop over the next couple of years."

"Losing environments are really the best for developing young players." thats the only part i dont agree with. i think players (like melo did_ learn bad habits because they just keep forcing up bad shots or something else. but overall i agree with your sentiment. melo is simply a bridge to the future. hes here to make sure we win 35 games and of course sell out the garden. the other vets are here to make the team somewhat competitive and take pressure off the youngins.

I'm sure that was a typo and he meant aren't best.

nixluva wrote:That was supposed to be "Losing Environments AREN'T really the best for developing young players." Damn spell check got me.

my bad. gotcha

callmened wrote:by the way folks, im not too sure grant is part of the future core. i think he will be a nice guard who adds defense and intelligence. but overall, i cant imagine him here past 4 yrs.

Still not sure where Thanasis and Early stand, too. Probably not starters, but can they be rotation players at some point?

Have to see this group play for a couple of years before making this kind of evaluation or prediction.

We will see.

WaltLongmire wrote:Don't see why Grant is not part of the future at this point, and I don't know enough about OQuinn to make a real comment about his.

Still not sure where Thanasis and Early stand, too. Probably not starters, but can they be rotation players at some point?

Have to see this group play for a couple of years before making this kind of evaluation or prediction.

We will see.

I'm not down playing anyone as a solid role player . I just think the key to anything is kp

callmened wrote:

WaltLongmire wrote:Don't see why Grant is not part of the future at this point, and I don't know enough about OQuinn to make a real comment about his.

Still not sure where Thanasis and Early stand, too. Probably not starters, but can they be rotation players at some point?

Have to see this group play for a couple of years before making this kind of evaluation or prediction.

We will see.

im not concluding anything about grant. i just think its too early to assume to group him for the core future (that sounds crazy doesnt all that?? lol.) to be honest i dont think were seeing any core group now. only player im invested in for the future is KP