Had we gotten Dampier (at least on paper) we could be a 50 win plus team and at least competed for the ECF.

I dont see this as realistic right now. I'm still happy with the direction of the team. We got the all star PG and put some athletic scoring wing players around him in TT and Crawford. You have 3 guys that are young, can all handle the ball, are athletic and highly skilled.

The front court is improved. Nazr, KT, Sweetney, JYD and Baker is a considerable upgrade from the start of last year, but its clearly lacking.

I think at this point we should do everything we can to maximize out assets for next off season. We have a boat load of expiring deals, but what we need are draft picks and or young players to go with them.

Right now if I can deal KT or Nazr for any team with cap space that will give me a future #1 I'm doing it. Atl, Cha, LAC, Utah whoever.

I know the pickings are slim but I think this is critical for next year. We have our own #1 which could be a valuable piece. I would like to add a young player, but there will be major pressure to get this group a legit athletic center.

A couple to look for next year are Diop, Dalembert, Brandon Haywood and Ratliff.

Ratliff is an UFA and at 32 a 6 year MLE offer might actually do it. He's the perfect fit to me. Diop and Dalembert will be more tricky because they are RFAs. The option will be to overpay them, trade and expiring deal, include our #1 (we cant trade the pick, but we can trade the rights of the player we draft) and take back a bad deal. Basicly the same thing we just did w/ Crawford. Penny & Nazr are the two guys to use for this. Package them w/ the draft rights to your selection and take back a bad deal. Its a decent package.

Then your looking at something like this:
Marbury 28
Crawford 25, Houston 34
TT 28, Ariza 21
Sweetney 23, JYD 32
Ratliff 32, Dalembert 23

with a bad contract or two along for the ride. That looks a lot like the type of team Det just won the title with.

Since after predicting the Dampier to Dallas trade Briggs is now the Schwami of the UltimateKnicks forums. Briggs, your thoughts?

yeah, what he said

although i seriously doubt dalembert is anything close to available.

trade kurt ASAP, but most likely won't happen till the break so hopefully he comes out like gang busters. i think the most realistic destination, like you said before would be utah b/c they most likely will be playing well by the break and could use some quality depth for a playoff run.

oh, what about that guy from rutgers. we should maybe take a flyer on him.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 08/18/2004 10:30:21]

Fishmike,would you really want to sign Ratliff to a 6 year contract?He was healthy last season but he had a long spell on the IL and he is 32.Id rather wait until our larger contracts expire like Houston/Hardaway/Anderson/Norris and go after bigger fish.I think we can do better if we are patient and dont shoot our wad too soon

now, as BRIGGS pointed out before, is the time to take a flyer on a young center. he loves this douthit guy, possibly him or the rutgers center or maybe even trade kurt for gadzuric and filler. that's a deal that may be possible considering milwaukee wanted etan thomas so bad.

not to go on a tangent but would you trade tim thomas next year for dalembert and garbage?

I see your point about Ratliff and I think he would shore up the front line,Im not so sure he could give us 3-4 good years.Maybe Im still worried about another Dice situation.A 3 year contract would be the way to go IMO.BTW here are some of the FAs next season and after that.Lots of young,healthy big men to choose from...

Player Team Type
Jason Collier Atlanta Free Agent
Tony Delk Atlanta Free Agent
Al Harrington Atlanta Free Agent
Walter McCarty Boston Free Agent
Jiri Welsch Boston Restricted Free Agent
Primoz Brezec Charlotte Free Agent
Melvin Ely Charlotte Restricted Free Agent
Bernard Robinson Charlotte Free Agent
Gerald Wallace Charlotte Free Agent
Tyson Chandler Chicago Free Agent
Eddy Curry Chicago Free Agent
Antonio Davis Chicago Free Agent
Chris Jefferies Chicago Restricted Free Agent
Dikembe Mutombo Chicago Free Agent
Eddie Robinson Chicago Free Agent
Frank Williams Chicago Restricted Free Agent
DeSagana Diop Cleveland Restricted Free Agent
Drew Gooden Cleveland Restricted Free Agent
Robert Traylor Cleveland Free Agent
Dajuan Wagner Cleveland Restricted Free Agent
Didier Ilunga-Mbenga Dallas Free Agent
Jason Terry Dallas Free Agent
Francisco Elson Denver Free Agent
Nene Hilario Denver Restricted Free Agent
Voshon Lenard Denver Free Agent
Nikoloz Tskitishvili Denver Restricted Free Agent
Derrick Coleman Detroit Free Agent
Ronald Dupree Detroit Free Agent
Lindsey Hunter Detroit Free Agent
TayShaun Prince Detroit Restricted Free Agent
Ben Wallace Detroit Free Agent
Calbert Cheaney Golden State Free Agent
Speedy Claxton Golden State Free Agent
Dan Dickau Golden State Restricted Free Agent
Mike Dunleavy Golden State Restricted Free Agent
Popeye Jones Golden State Free Agent
Troy Murphy Golden State Free Agent
Jason Richardson Golden State Free Agent
Clifford Robinson Golden State Free Agent
Jimmy Jackson Houston Free Agent
Yao Ming Houston Restricted Free Agent
Eric Piatkowski Houston Free Agent
Clarence Weatherspoon Houston Free Agent
Eddie Gill Indiana Free Agent
Fred Jones Indiana Restricted Free Agent
Reggie Miller Indiana Free Agent
Scot Pollard Indiana Free Agent
Jamaal Tinsley Indiana Free Agent
Lionel Chalmers L.A. Clippers Free Agent
Mamadou N'Diaye L.A. Clippers Free Agent
Chris Wilcox L.A. Clippers Restricted Free Agent
Chucky Atkins L.A. Lakers Free Agent
Caron Butler L.A. Lakers Restricted Free Agent
Vlade Divac L.A. Lakers Free Agent
Devean George L.A. Lakers Free Agent
Jumaine Jones L.A. Lakers Free Agent
Stanislav Medvedenko L.A. Lakers Free Agent
Kareem Rush L.A. Lakers Restricted Free Agent
Antonio Burks Memphis Free Agent
Andre Emmett Memphis Free Agent
Pau Gasol Memphis Free Agent
Ryan Humphrey Memphis Restricted Free Agent
Bonzi Wells Memphis Free Agent
Lorenzen Wright Memphis Free Agent
Rasual Butler Miami Free Agent
Keyon Dooling Miami Free Agent
Damon Jones Miami Free Agent
Shaquille O'Neal Miami Free Agent
Wesley Person Miami Free Agent
Marcus Haislip Milwaukee Restricted Free Agent
Michael Redd Milwaukee Free Agent
Keith Van Horn Milwaukee Free Agent
Sam Cassell Minnesota Free Agent
Fred Hoiberg Minnesota Free Agent
Michael Olowokandi Minnesota Free Agent
Jason Collins New Jersey Free Agent
Kyle Davis New Jersey Free Agent
Ron Mercer New Jersey Free Agent
Aaron Williams New Jersey Free Agent
Chris Andersen New Orleans Free Agent
George Lynch New Orleans Free Agent
Jamal Mashburn New Orleans Free Agent
David Wesley New Orleans Free Agent
Trevor Azia New York Free Agent
Anfernee Hardaway New York Free Agent
Nazr Mohammed New York Free Agent
Tim Thomas New York Free Agent
Tony Battie Orlando Free Agent
Kelvin Cato Orlando Free Agent
Mario Kasun Orlando Free Agent
Cuttino Mobley Orlando Free Agent
Kedrick Brown Philadelphia Free Agent
Samuel Dalembert Philadelphia Free Agent
John Salmons Philadelphia Restricted Free Agent
Casey Jacobsen Phoenix Restricted Free Agent
Joe Johnson Phoenix Free Agent
Amare Stoudemire Phoenix Restricted Free Agent
Jake Voskuhl Phoenix Free Agent
Jackson Vroman Phoenix Free Agent
Zach Randolph Portland Free Agent
Nick Van Exel Portland Free Agent
Qyntel Woods Portland Restricted Free Agent
Doug Christie Sacramento Free Agent
Ricky Minard Sacramento Free Agent
Greg Ostertag Sacramento Free Agent
Darius Songaila Sacramento Free Agent
Robert Horry San Antonio Free Agent
Tony Parker San Antonio Free Agent
Romain Sato San Antonio Free Agent
Antonio Daniels Seattle Free Agent
Vladimir Radmanovic Seattle Free Agent
Lamond Murray Toronto Free Agent
Pape Sow Toronto Free Agent
Curtis Borchardt Utah Restricted Free Agent
Jarron Collins Utah Free Agent
Matt Harpring Utah Free Agent
Andrei Kirilenko Utah Free Agent
Raul Lopez Utah Restricted Free Agent
Kwame Brown Washington Free Agent
Juan Dixon Washington Restricted Free Agent
Brendan Haywood Washington Free Agent
Jared Jeffries Washington Restricted Free Agent

Posted by djsunyc:

not to go on a tangent but would you trade tim thomas next year for dalembert and garbage?

if i'm Philly, i sure wouldn't make that trade...Dalembert is a stud bigman on the rise imo...why would you give that up for talented but underachieving SF? it's going to take alot more than just Tim Thomas to get back Dalembert from the Sixers...i bet you would have to include Mike Sweetney in that deal to get them to even consider it.

the other option is to just draft one. He an example of a late pick thats clearly going to blossum.

Dont get hung up on getting Dalembert... rather that *type* of player.

I think we missed the boat on that deal when Seattle sent Booth to Dal for Forston.

Posted by fishmike:

I think we missed the boat on that deal when Seattle sent Booth to Dal for Forston.

yep, we sure did...although Booth's contract isn't an expiring contract, so it's a different scenario we're talking about there.

how about KT & Moochie to DAL for Alan Henderson & a 1st round pick?
- the pick won't be a great one, but at least we get rid of Moochie's contract in the process...the Mavs could use KT's rebounding, defense & midrange shooting, & Moochie would be a decent veteran insurance policy to backup Jason Terry in case their rookie Devin Harris gets injured next year...KT would probably love to go play in DAL & would perform well for them, & the Mavs are capped out for the next 4 years anyway, so 1 expiring deal of a scrub player won't mean that much to them...the Knicks could then try & use Henderson & that pick as a chip to make a deal at the trade deadline this season, or simply allow Henderson's contract to come off the books & use the pick in the offseason to draft someone or trade as well.

[Edited by - TMS on 08/18/2004 11:17:45]

the different is Ratliff is a piece to the puzzle. McDyess WAS the puzzle, the pieces, the table, the box. Before we were old, slow, unathletic, not talented and had 30 power forwards. Now we have a younger, skilled more versatile roster, we just lack a center that can defend and keep people out of the paint. Ratliff is far more valuable then his modest numbers

Posted by fishmike:

Had we gotten Dampier (at least on paper) we could be a 50 win plus team and at least competed for the ECF.

I dont see this as realistic right now. I'm still happy with the direction of the team. We got the all star PG and put some athletic scoring wing players around him in TT and Crawford. You have 3 guys that are young, can all handle the ball, are athletic and highly skilled.

The front court is improved. Nazr, KT, Sweetney, JYD and Baker is a considerable upgrade from the start of last year, but its clearly lacking.

I think at this point we should do everything we can to maximize out assets for next off season. We have a boat load of expiring deals, but what we need are draft picks and or young players to go with them.

Right now if I can deal KT or Nazr for any team with cap space that will give me a future #1 I'm doing it. Atl, Cha, LAC, Utah whoever.

I wouldn't be against doing that, but I don't know how necessary it is. If you want to get a star like Marbury next summer, then expiring contracts won't be enough. You'll need draft picks or prospects. If you want to get a good player at the level of Rasheed or Crawford, we've seen that expiring contracts are all you need.