NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Donovan Mitchell may turn out to be the hindsight pick.

I would only have had interest in Mitchell WITH Ntilikina, not instead of Ntilikina. The two together could've been a terror defensively and cover for some of one another'a flaws offensively.

I do wonder if the pairing could've been possible if we were willing to get the no.10 pick for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe's bad money. The Blazers were close to having the most expensive luxury tax bill in the league for an 8th seed, so I think there would have been some chance to a deal structured like that in exchange for a Kyle O'Quinn and cap space.

Was hoping for the same type of thing. Wouldn't have been the #10 though. That was Dallas.

Dallas had the 9th pick. Portland got the 10th pick from the Kings by trading the 15th and 20th picks. The only way we could've gotten Mitchell though would've only been if we could have leapfrogged the Jazz at 13th.

I like Mitchell but even in retrospect, that $36 million per longterm might still have given me pause. But as a rebuilding team, I trend towards feeling like it should've been something we did since we shouldn't have been signing anyone, anyway.

Here's a question though, if we did it, would you have taken Mitchell or Malik Monk at 10? Why?

You right my bad. I forgot to correct myself.

I was a Mitchell guy all the way. Created a thread about it asking if Mitchell was *really* lesser prospect then these other guards or something to that nature. Even wondering if we should trade down with Portland land their 3 picks. Then use 2 of them to move up and target Mitchell and still come away with another pick. Or take Turner for Portlands 3 picks at the time. Draft Frank, then use the other picks to target Mitchell. Wanted to draft Josh Hart as well and secure our back court for the future. Though Dotson is a great replacement for Hart.

As I said earlier in my reply to Crush. He jumped out on film. His pure looking jumper, his nba ready body, his athleticism, his 7ft wing span. He played for one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. None of his teammates were NBA players. Carried his teams offensively and defensively to winning records. High character kid. The main question was could he develop into a PG. But felt that since we were going to be a Tri team that he would be a great fit as a big combo 2-way guard who can shoot.

Never was sold on Monk felt he was one dimensional, wasn't sold on Fox either but he has been better then my expectations.

GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:Its very important for Frank to come back next season more aggressive. If Frank is essentially the same player next season, too passive. Its more than likely this is the player Frank will always be in this league.

I really hope Frank can elevate his game. Now that teams know he wont drive, its going to get even tougher, until he does.

Don't believe we can pass on drafting another PG, in the first or second round. Believe it would be foolish to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak. You can be the biggest Frank fan, and should still be able to see, that Ntilikina might not have the temperament to have an impact on offense, like a DSJ or Mitchell. Not just scoring.

His aggressiveness would come from confidence. His confidence would come from feeling he can physically match up imo. There will be a time when Frank is developed physically. That is the make or break moment for him imo.

I agree about not putting eggs in one basket though, that is just good business practice in general. Travon Duval is the player to keep an eye on. But of course there could be that Donovan Mitchell that raises his stock as like a Sophomore or something.

Thats what we're hoping, that as Frank puts on some weight, he will be less hesitant to go to the rim. What we should find out in the next couple of seasons, is if Frank has the ability to be an Alpha PG when the time calls for it. Thats part of being a starting PG in this league. That question has yet to be settled.

Still would like to see Frank play in the Drew League or Rucker. He really needs a place to try out new things, bounce ideas off of other NBA players, some elite.

It will be interesting to see what Perry does with his first Knick draft. Mentioned drafting another PG, because Frank is a lottery pick. Some may feel the starting PG job is already his. Clearly not you. I hope Frank takes stock of his game this summer, and puts in the work to come back a more complete player.

I strongly believe that him facing grown men dating back to his time in France has molded his hesitation especially since his game isn't based off of pure athletic ability. When he is no longer behind that curb of other players in terms of strength which has been the case. I expect to see a more confident and aggressive player. It may not translate into him scoring a ton but attacking and creating.

When looking at Frank the unique hope is for him to be a beast defensive player who is efficient offensively. This is why he gets the Kwahi comparisons. The level he is able to bring that to is going to be the difference between him being a starter in this league or not. But that's more so his game.

The Pacer game 4th quarter is the good flash of possibilities. Shut down penetration. Knocked down shots, kept the ball moving and found teammates. I agree that the threat of penetration will open that up for him more and make him the complete guard we want to see.

There is a skills gap when it comes to Frank's handle vs. other lottery picks. Don't believe he has the tools yet to create separation. Frank showed a nice stutter step in Europe. Im guessing better NBA defenders made him more hesitant to use it. Hope he goes back to it, as he gets in better shape. It can help him get to the rim, find a open spot on the floor to shoot.

My hope when Frank was drafted that he would mold his game into something like Rondo's. Another cerebral player, long wingspan. Neither with lightning speed. I would sign Rondo to the minimum (now that the team isnt a mess) just to mentor him.

Frank is a confident young man, but you're right, he might have taken a hard lick or two early on in France which made skiddish about going to the rim since then. Would make sense.

Better conditioning, a better handle, and Frank could be an impact player in this league. Hope so.

Interesting that Franks numbers his rookie yr are very similar to Rondo's rookie year. Rondo was a year older though with 2 yrs of college ball. Frank won't be 20 until July. Only saying it out because just seems wild to me. Dude is so young. Its on him to use this to his advantage and get that NBA work in earlier.

But I wanted Donovan. Regardless of how Frank ends up, I thought and think we may have missed out on someone special in Donovan

SupremeCommander wrote:Hopefully Frank pans out. He measures well... seems to have some cerebral aspects.

But I wanted Donovan. Regardless of how Frank ends up, I thought and think we may have missed out on someone special in Donovan

Best case scenario, what do you see Donovan Mitchell becoming?

teamsport72 wrote:

nixluva wrote:Not really worried about Frank's development going forward. I see just enough that he's held back mostly by his own hesitance and needs to work on his scoring at the rim. To me that's stuff he should be able to figure out with work. Frank has the needed Court Vision and Passing accuracy already. It's just more work on his handles and ability to get to the rim and finish or dish to his open teammates. The more he works on it the better he should get.

Knicks lover, you get it right more often that you don't. Do we need another "finisher" at the point? How far will Russ ever carry his team? Frank is going to be a blessing in disguise, his game stems from his head, not the wheels or the ego. Frank is too good to be true here.

SupremeCommander wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Hopefully Frank pans out. He measures well... seems to have some cerebral aspects.

But I wanted Donovan. Regardless of how Frank ends up, I thought and think we may have missed out on someone special in Donovan

Best case scenario, what do you see Donovan Mitchell becoming?

Absolute best-case? Dwyane Wade. Certainly not my expectation but if he fully develops I could see that, especially when you consider he is more of a scorer than playmaker... but certainly Donovan has playmaking ability (as did Wade)

Damian Lillard is another name that comes to mind

CrushAlot wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

SupremeCommander wrote:Hopefully Frank pans out. He measures well... seems to have some cerebral aspects.

But I wanted Donovan. Regardless of how Frank ends up, I thought and think we may have missed out on someone special in Donovan

Best case scenario, what do you see Donovan Mitchell becoming?

Absolute best-case? Dwyane Wade. Certainly not my expectation but if he fully develops I could see that, especially when you consider he is more of a scorer than playmaker... but certainly Donovan has playmaking ability (as did Wade)

Damian Lillard is another name that comes to mind

i like the Lillard comparison. Mitchell already seems to have a better three point shot than Wade.

I named Lillard and then removed him... I think Mitchell's offensive game is like Lillard's... But Mitchell is ahead of where Lillard was defensively as a rookie

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Donovan Mitchell may turn out to be the hindsight pick.

I would only have had interest in Mitchell WITH Ntilikina, not instead of Ntilikina. The two together could've been a terror defensively and cover for some of one another'a flaws offensively.

I do wonder if the pairing could've been possible if we were willing to get the no.10 pick for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe's bad money. The Blazers were close to having the most expensive luxury tax bill in the league for an 8th seed, so I think there would have been some chance to a deal structured like that in exchange for a Kyle O'Quinn and cap space.

Was hoping for the same type of thing. Wouldn't have been the #10 though. That was Dallas.

Dallas had the 9th pick. Portland got the 10th pick from the Kings by trading the 15th and 20th picks. The only way we could've gotten Mitchell though would've only been if we could have leapfrogged the Jazz at 13th.

I like Mitchell but even in retrospect, that $36 million per longterm might still have given me pause. But as a rebuilding team, I trend towards feeling like it should've been something we did since we shouldn't have been signing anyone, anyway.

Here's a question though, if we did it, would you have taken Mitchell or Malik Monk at 10? Why?

You right my bad. I forgot to correct myself.

I was a Mitchell guy all the way. Created a thread about it asking if Mitchell was *really* lesser prospect then these other guards or something to that nature. Even wondering if we should trade down with Portland land their 3 picks. Then use 2 of them to move up and target Mitchell and still come away with another pick. Or take Turner for Portlands 3 picks at the time. Draft Frank, then use the other picks to target Mitchell. Wanted to draft Josh Hart as well and secure our back court for the future. Though Dotson is a great replacement for Hart.

As I said earlier in my reply to Crush. He jumped out on film. His pure looking jumper, his nba ready body, his athleticism, his 7ft wing span. He played for one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. None of his teammates were NBA players. Carried his teams offensively and defensively to winning records. High character kid. The main question was could he develop into a PG. But felt that since we were going to be a Tri team that he would be a great fit as a big combo 2-way guard who can shoot.

Never was sold on Monk felt he was one dimensional, wasn't sold on Fox either but he has been better then my expectations.

I remember those conversations you were having and I was definitely intrigued by them. With how stacked the draft was, I felt we needed to invest in multiple picks either to add an additional prospect with Frank or move up to secure a better one (would've targeted Jonathan Isaac and Josh Jackson, preferably the latter). I would not have considered including future draft considerations but everything else was on the table. Though, when it became apparent that moving up wasn't a possibility, under any circumstances, I felt the other contingency should've been pursued using our impending cap space as leverage.

In particular, I was a proponent of orchestrating a trade for Corey Joseph, DeMaree Carroll and a pick for Courtney Lee (Mindaugaus Kuzminskas if possible), $5 million cash and a $7 million trade exception to help the Raptors alleviate their cap tax burden while remaining competitive. As it turns out, the Raptors ended up moving all three parties to the Nets and Pacers, respectively, for the cap flexibility to sign CJ Miles to a comparable contract to Lee's- who is the superior player.

If the Blazers could be pulled into the picture, I would have re-routed DeMarre Carroll, Kyle O'Quinn and an $18 million trade exception to Portland for Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and that 10th pick to select Mitchell with. Like you, Mitchell was the only guy I had interest in at that range and I also had similar optimism of his growth within the triangle at the other guard spot.

I was also a big Josh Hart fan and would've traded cash considerations for their 27th pick as an alternative to assuming the financial hit that would come from getting Donovan Mitchell. I think it's pretty clear that the Blazers burned that pick considering the depth they already had at the 5 spots and the assets they invested in moving up to select yet another big. But again, I agree that Damyean Dotson was a solid pick and might have been more value effective in the overall scheme of things.

BigDaddyG wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Donovan Mitchell may turn out to be the hindsight pick.

Had my doubts about THJ at first, but I dont believe Hardaway rates a anymore. IMO.

Frank is going to find out that his peers wont take him seriously until he starts being more aggressive. Just have to wait and see how Frank responds.

I would only have had interest in Mitchell WITH Ntilikina, not instead of Ntilikina. The two together could've been a terror defensively and cover for some of one another'a flaws offensively.

I do wonder if the pairing could've been possible if we were willing to get the no.10 pick for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe's bad money. The Blazers were close to having the most expensive luxury tax bill in the league for an 8th seed, so I think there would have been some chance to a deal structured like that in exchange for a Kyle O'Quinn and cap space.

Was hoping for the same type of thing. Wouldn't have been the #10 though. That was Dallas.

Dallas had the 9th pick. Portland got the 10th pick from the Kings by trading the 15th and 20th picks. The only way we could've gotten Mitchell though would've only been if we could have leapfrogged the Jazz at 13th.

I like Mitchell but even in retrospect, that $36 million per longterm might still have given me pause. But as a rebuilding team, I trend towards feeling like it should've been something we did since we shouldn't have been signing anyone, anyway.

Here's a question though, if we did it, would you have taken Mitchell or Malik Monk at 10? Why?

You right my bad. I forgot to correct myself.

I was a Mitchell guy all the way. Created a thread about it asking if Mitchell was *really* lesser prospect then these other guards or something to that nature. Even wondering if we should trade down with Portland land their 3 picks. Then use 2 of them to move up and target Mitchell and still come away with another pick. Or take Turner for Portlands 3 picks at the time. Draft Frank, then use the other picks to target Mitchell. Wanted to draft Josh Hart as well and secure our back court for the future. Though Dotson is a great replacement for Hart.

As I said earlier in my reply to Crush. He jumped out on film. His pure looking jumper, his nba ready body, his athleticism, his 7ft wing span. He played for one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. None of his teammates were NBA players. Carried his teams offensively and defensively to winning records. High character kid. The main question was could he develop into a PG. But felt that since we were going to be a Tri team that he would be a great fit as a big combo 2-way guard who can shoot.

Never was sold on Monk felt he was one dimensional, wasn't sold on Fox either but he has been better then my expectations.

I remember those conversations you were having and I was definitely intrigued by them. With how stacked the draft was, I felt we needed to invest in multiple picks either to add an additional prospect with Frank or move up to secure a better one (would've targeted Jonathan Isaac and Josh Jackson, preferably the latter). I would not have considered including future draft considerations but everything else was on the table. Though, when it became apparent that moving up wasn't a possibility, under any circumstances, I felt the other contingency should've been pursued using our impending cap space as leverage.

In particular, I was a proponent of orchestrating a trade for Corey Joseph, DeMaree Carroll and a pick for Courtney Lee (Mindaugaus Kuzminskas if possible), $5 million cash and a $7 million trade exception to help the Raptors alleviate their cap tax burden while remaining competitive. As it turns out, the Raptors ended up moving all three parties to the Nets and Pacers, respectively, for the cap flexibility to sign CJ Miles to a comparable contract to Lee's- who is the superior player.

If the Blazers could be pulled into the picture, I would have re-routed DeMarre Carroll, Kyle O'Quinn and an $18 million trade exception to Portland for Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and that 10th pick to select Mitchell with. Like you, Mitchell was the only guy I had interest in at that range and I also had similar optimism of his growth within the triangle at the other guard spot.

I was also a big Josh Hart fan and would've traded cash considerations for their 27th pick as an alternative to assuming the financial hit that would come from getting Donovan Mitchell. I think it's pretty clear that the Blazers burned that pick considering the depth they already had at the 5 spots and the assets they invested in moving up to select yet another big. But again, I agree that Damyean Dotson was a solid pick and might have been more value effective in the overall scheme of things.

I thought these were the moves we should be looking at. But the THJ signing happened

I had my doubts about THJ, but I dont believe Hardaway rates a anymore.

Frank is going to learn that he wont be taken seriously by his peers until he is more aggressive. Have to wait and see how Frank responds.

BigDaddyG wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

BigDaddyG wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Donovan Mitchell may turn out to be the hindsight pick.

Had my doubts about THJ at first, but I dont believe Hardaway rates a anymore. IMO.

Frank is going to find out that his peers wont take him seriously until he starts being more aggressive. Just have to wait and see how Frank responds.

I would only have had interest in Mitchell WITH Ntilikina, not instead of Ntilikina. The two together could've been a terror defensively and cover for some of one another'a flaws offensively.

I do wonder if the pairing could've been possible if we were willing to get the no.10 pick for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe's bad money. The Blazers were close to having the most expensive luxury tax bill in the league for an 8th seed, so I think there would have been some chance to a deal structured like that in exchange for a Kyle O'Quinn and cap space.

Was hoping for the same type of thing. Wouldn't have been the #10 though. That was Dallas.

Dallas had the 9th pick. Portland got the 10th pick from the Kings by trading the 15th and 20th picks. The only way we could've gotten Mitchell though would've only been if we could have leapfrogged the Jazz at 13th.

I like Mitchell but even in retrospect, that $36 million per longterm might still have given me pause. But as a rebuilding team, I trend towards feeling like it should've been something we did since we shouldn't have been signing anyone, anyway.

Here's a question though, if we did it, would you have taken Mitchell or Malik Monk at 10? Why?

You right my bad. I forgot to correct myself.

I was a Mitchell guy all the way. Created a thread about it asking if Mitchell was *really* lesser prospect then these other guards or something to that nature. Even wondering if we should trade down with Portland land their 3 picks. Then use 2 of them to move up and target Mitchell and still come away with another pick. Or take Turner for Portlands 3 picks at the time. Draft Frank, then use the other picks to target Mitchell. Wanted to draft Josh Hart as well and secure our back court for the future. Though Dotson is a great replacement for Hart.

As I said earlier in my reply to Crush. He jumped out on film. His pure looking jumper, his nba ready body, his athleticism, his 7ft wing span. He played for one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. None of his teammates were NBA players. Carried his teams offensively and defensively to winning records. High character kid. The main question was could he develop into a PG. But felt that since we were going to be a Tri team that he would be a great fit as a big combo 2-way guard who can shoot.

Never was sold on Monk felt he was one dimensional, wasn't sold on Fox either but he has been better then my expectations.

I remember those conversations you were having and I was definitely intrigued by them. With how stacked the draft was, I felt we needed to invest in multiple picks either to add an additional prospect with Frank or move up to secure a better one (would've targeted Jonathan Isaac and Josh Jackson, preferably the latter). I would not have considered including future draft considerations but everything else was on the table. Though, when it became apparent that moving up wasn't a possibility, under any circumstances, I felt the other contingency should've been pursued using our impending cap space as leverage.

In particular, I was a proponent of orchestrating a trade for Corey Joseph, DeMaree Carroll and a pick for Courtney Lee (Mindaugaus Kuzminskas if possible), $5 million cash and a $7 million trade exception to help the Raptors alleviate their cap tax burden while remaining competitive. As it turns out, the Raptors ended up moving all three parties to the Nets and Pacers, respectively, for the cap flexibility to sign CJ Miles to a comparable contract to Lee's- who is the superior player.

If the Blazers could be pulled into the picture, I would have re-routed DeMarre Carroll, Kyle O'Quinn and an $18 million trade exception to Portland for Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and that 10th pick to select Mitchell with. Like you, Mitchell was the only guy I had interest in at that range and I also had similar optimism of his growth within the triangle at the other guard spot.

I was also a big Josh Hart fan and would've traded cash considerations for their 27th pick as an alternative to assuming the financial hit that would come from getting Donovan Mitchell. I think it's pretty clear that the Blazers burned that pick considering the depth they already had at the 5 spots and the assets they invested in moving up to select yet another big. But again, I agree that Damyean Dotson was a solid pick and might have been more value effective in the overall scheme of things.

I thought these were the moves we should be looking at. But the THJ signing happened

I had my doubts about THJ, but I dont believe Hardaway rates a anymore.

Frank is going to learn that he wont be taken seriously by his peers until he is more aggressive. Have to wait and see how Frank responds.

The 🤢 isn't for THJ's game. It's for the contract. The timing of the signing was and the impact on future cap space is a negative. We already had shooting guards on the roster and we had no idea how the Melo trade was going to effect us at the time. I thought THJ was a sold SG at the time and I still think he is.

Got it. I thought Holiday could fill the same role as well, but Hardaway is proving me wrong. If we can have some stability at PG, this team will go places.

BigDaddyG wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:Donovan Mitchell may turn out to be the hindsight pick.

I would only have had interest in Mitchell WITH Ntilikina, not instead of Ntilikina. The two together could've been a terror defensively and cover for some of one another'a flaws offensively.

I do wonder if the pairing could've been possible if we were willing to get the no.10 pick for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe's bad money. The Blazers were close to having the most expensive luxury tax bill in the league for an 8th seed, so I think there would have been some chance to a deal structured like that in exchange for a Kyle O'Quinn and cap space.

Was hoping for the same type of thing. Wouldn't have been the #10 though. That was Dallas.

Dallas had the 9th pick. Portland got the 10th pick from the Kings by trading the 15th and 20th picks. The only way we could've gotten Mitchell though would've only been if we could have leapfrogged the Jazz at 13th.

I like Mitchell but even in retrospect, that $36 million per longterm might still have given me pause. But as a rebuilding team, I trend towards feeling like it should've been something we did since we shouldn't have been signing anyone, anyway.

Here's a question though, if we did it, would you have taken Mitchell or Malik Monk at 10? Why?

You right my bad. I forgot to correct myself.

I was a Mitchell guy all the way. Created a thread about it asking if Mitchell was *really* lesser prospect then these other guards or something to that nature. Even wondering if we should trade down with Portland land their 3 picks. Then use 2 of them to move up and target Mitchell and still come away with another pick. Or take Turner for Portlands 3 picks at the time. Draft Frank, then use the other picks to target Mitchell. Wanted to draft Josh Hart as well and secure our back court for the future. Though Dotson is a great replacement for Hart.

As I said earlier in my reply to Crush. He jumped out on film. His pure looking jumper, his nba ready body, his athleticism, his 7ft wing span. He played for one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA. None of his teammates were NBA players. Carried his teams offensively and defensively to winning records. High character kid. The main question was could he develop into a PG. But felt that since we were going to be a Tri team that he would be a great fit as a big combo 2-way guard who can shoot.

Never was sold on Monk felt he was one dimensional, wasn't sold on Fox either but he has been better then my expectations.

I remember those conversations you were having and I was definitely intrigued by them. With how stacked the draft was, I felt we needed to invest in multiple picks either to add an additional prospect with Frank or move up to secure a better one (would've targeted Jonathan Isaac and Josh Jackson, preferably the latter). I would not have considered including future draft considerations but everything else was on the table. Though, when it became apparent that moving up wasn't a possibility, under any circumstances, I felt the other contingency should've been pursued using our impending cap space as leverage.

In particular, I was a proponent of orchestrating a trade for Corey Joseph, DeMaree Carroll and a pick for Courtney Lee (Mindaugaus Kuzminskas if possible), $5 million cash and a $7 million trade exception to help the Raptors alleviate their cap tax burden while remaining competitive. As it turns out, the Raptors ended up moving all three parties to the Nets and Pacers, respectively, for the cap flexibility to sign CJ Miles to a comparable contract to Lee's- who is the superior player.

If the Blazers could be pulled into the picture, I would have re-routed DeMarre Carroll, Kyle O'Quinn and an $18 million trade exception to Portland for Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and that 10th pick to select Mitchell with. Like you, Mitchell was the only guy I had interest in at that range and I also had similar optimism of his growth within the triangle at the other guard spot.

I was also a big Josh Hart fan and would've traded cash considerations for their 27th pick as an alternative to assuming the financial hit that would come from getting Donovan Mitchell. I think it's pretty clear that the Blazers burned that pick considering the depth they already had at the 5 spots and the assets they invested in moving up to select yet another big. But again, I agree that Damyean Dotson was a solid pick and might have been more value effective in the overall scheme of things.

I thought these were the moves we should be looking at. But the THJ signing happened

I remember. We both seemed to share the same sentiments on the signing.

Like you, I've never had a problem with THJr's game or even necessarily the contract itself. My concerns centered around the timing of the signing and its opportunity cost. As a rebuilding team, I thought it was poor form to commit any substantial amount of money long-term to a player that couldn't be core to a title run in the future. And despite his recent play, THJr has not changed my opinion of him being a superfluous ball player. I also think that down the road, Damyean Dotson will play himself into an asset, which would further compound that issue with Timmy.

I can't help but feel that the contract also creates a ripple effect for us that will be felt down the road. It has become very apparent that through this contract and a host of other pricer ones, cap space will not be a feasible tool for this team in the foreseeable future. That kind of a reality would be a death knell to any rebuilding team, which require cap flexibility to get additional draft picks paired with a contract dump. Those picks are critical because they help accelerate the rebuild. Without them, the margin for error lessens that much more and also creates a situation where any trade we make would require giving up the youth that should be core to our development in the first place.

Because of these factors, and how valuable cap space will be the next few seasons, I thought the Hardaway deal was the wrong move at the wrong time. Hopefully he keeps upping his game to prove us wrong but this feels a lot like the ssme short-sighted moves that have typified the Dolan-era Knicks.