LivingLegend wrote:

nixluva wrote:It's been a painful road but things are starting to look much different. This summer has brought a lot of clarity to the cap and some sanity to the way the cap is spread out. It's not a perfect situation but coming from where this team was it's SOOOOO much better.

The Player Options for Afflalo and DWill aren't even the problem that some seem to think they are. The only real negative is if they both fail but you'd only have to endure for one more season if they both took their options. We have to remember that it would be difficult to negotiate a 2 year contract with a Team Option. They were trying to entice players to sign after all. If you have holes in your roster in a tough Free Agent market you have to put some cheese on the table to get them to bite. It wasn't the toughest pill to have to swallow IMO.

PLAYER (16)             POS.    SIGNED USING    BASE SALARY      CAP FIGURE     CAP %
Carmelo Anthony	        SF	Bird	        $22,875,000	($101,606,280)	32.68
Robin Lopez	        C	Cap Space	$12,650,000	($54,015,500)	18.07
Arron Afflalo	        SG	Cap Space	$8,000,000	($16,000,000)	11.43
Jose Calderon	        PG	Cap Space	$7,402,812	($15,111,239)	10.58
Derrick Williams	PF	Cap Space	$4,400,000	($8,800,000)	6.29
Kristaps Porzingis	PF	Rookie	        $4,131,720	($8,449,440)	5.90
Kyle O'Quinn	        PF	Bird	        $3,750,000	($16,012,500)	5.36
Kevin Seraphin	        PF	Room	        $2,814,000	($2,814,000)	4.02
Jerian Grant	        PG	Rookie	        $2,021,520	($4,134,000)	2.89
Lance Thomas	        SF	Cap Space	$1,636,842	($1,636,842)	2.34
Louis Amundson	        PF	Non-Bird	$1,635,476	($1,635,476)	2.34
Sasha Vujacic	        SG	Minimum	        $1,356,146	($947,276)	1.35
Cleanthony Early	SF	Minimum	        $845,059	($845,059)	1.21
Langston Galloway	PG	Minimum	        $845,059	($220,000)	1.21
Thanasis Antetokounmpo	SF	Minimum	        $525,093	$525,093	0.75

Problem is -- that is pretty much an expansion team type roster.

How so? There are actually some decent NBA level players on the roster. You're gonna have to do a better job of proving this point IMO. I have a thread where I compared our roster with many of the other rosters in the East and it didn't really look like this roster was that out of the norm.

RicanHavok wrote:Knicks fans can't recognize a good roster, we've been out of the loop too long . If it's not a list of starphucks it's automatic d-league status.

The days of looking at our team on paper and making predictions are gone. For example, on paper this team should've made the playoffs last year. You know this is true because Phil is on record saying we will make the playoffs. Phil is an honest dude, when it comes to his teams assessment. He's not afraid to speak his mind on team or player assessment.

So when you change the culture from having a team that looks good on paper, due to all the high scoring names.....to a team full of role players that understands their role and willing to play their role. We will always look like a D league team on paper. Because we are officially building a solid team base. The star players will come soon. If not to play with Melo, they will come and play after Melo. This is a sleeper type squad. And 90% of the team will not carry over the losing culture from the past.

blkexec wrote:

RicanHavok wrote:Knicks fans can't recognize a good roster, we've been out of the loop too long . If it's not a list of starphucks it's automatic d-league status.

The days of looking at our team on paper and making predictions are gone. For example, on paper this team should've made the playoffs last year. You know this is true because Phil is on record saying we will make the playoffs. Phil is an honest dude, when it comes to his teams assessment. He's not afraid to speak his mind on team or player assessment.

So when you change the culture from having a team that looks good on paper, due to all the high scoring names.....to a team full of role players that understands their role and willing to play their role. We will always look like a D league team on paper. Because we are officially building a solid team base. The star players will come soon. If not to play with Melo, they will come and play after Melo. This is a sleeper type squad. And 90% of the team will not carry over the losing culture from the past.

wargames wrote:

blkexec wrote:

RicanHavok wrote:Knicks fans can't recognize a good roster, we've been out of the loop too long . If it's not a list of starphucks it's automatic d-league status.

The days of looking at our team on paper and making predictions are gone. For example, on paper this team should've made the playoffs last year. You know this is true because Phil is on record saying we will make the playoffs. Phil is an honest dude, when it comes to his teams assessment. He's not afraid to speak his mind on team or player assessment.

So when you change the culture from having a team that looks good on paper, due to all the high scoring names.....to a team full of role players that understands their role and willing to play their role. We will always look like a D league team on paper. Because we are officially building a solid team base. The star players will come soon. If not to play with Melo, they will come and play after Melo. This is a sleeper type squad. And 90% of the team will not carry over the losing culture from the past.

People always forget that playoff prediction was before he made trade and Melo go injured. That same core had been a 37 win team the year before and it just took 38 for the Nyets to sneak in that year. This team the real issue is chemistry. So many new people have been added you can't tell what the team is going to develop into or even if they will ever develop. Its still a crap shoot but I like the knicks odds.

The players we have at the other positions are more team oriented too. Also having actual skills that fit the roles will make a big difference too. The bigs we have now are very crafty in the paint and big enough to hold their post position too. Defensively this group has more muscle and rim protection as well. I'm actually seeing a much more competitive NBA team this year. There was talent on the roster last year but the BB IQ and skills weren't the same as this year. A guy like O'Quinn can pass at a very good level in addition to being a solid big man on the boards and offensively.

This team could actually come together much faster than people think. Roles are clear and players actually fit what the team is trying to do. Better floor leadership to start the year all adds up to a better chance of starting strong as opposed to out of sync. There have been some teams that have come together rather quickly because they had guys that knew what they were doing. I believe that could be the case this year with this Knicks team.

franco12 wrote:I don't think there is one player/salary that we wouldn't be able to move in the next year or two in a positive net talent direction - meaning, we don't have to include a player or take a worse player back. Calderon might be the only one.

This is worlds different than what this team has looked like in the past.