BRIGGS wrote:My 4 names in this draft for the KNICKS#1 Gary Trent SG
#2 Jalen Brunson PG
#3 Chandler Hutchinson SF
#4 Tyus Battle Athetic wing
I like that draft plan A LOT. What to do in the meantime? Approx. 30 games to go. Do we sit on our hands or try to do some minor things within reason that could build toward a better future?
Not sure if we can swing it but I'd love to see them clear 3, possibly 4 roster spots right away, maybe by buying out Noah, buying out or simply cutting Lance Thomas and trading both O'Quinn and Lee (tough because we'd have to bring back players in those two deals to equal salaries -- I'd be hoping for a lot of garbage we can just waive immediately, but I understand if that's not plausible). The 3 players I'd bring in: Cat Barber, Christian Wood and Brandon Ashley. I also wouldn't be against bringing in Khem Birch and Janis Timma from Orlando in some package (I see good value there), and I'd attempt to pry Antonio Blakeney from Chicago somehow. But say we only managed to import Barber, Wood and Ashley --
For the remainder of the year evaluate the following:
5 - Kanter
4 - KP
3 - THJ
2 - Dotson
1 - Burke
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5 - Hernangomez
4 - Wood
3/4 - Beasley
3/4 - Ashley (a player that could make Beasley expendable)
3 - McDermott
2/1 - Barber
2/1 - Ntilikina
Jack and Ron Baker OUT (Baker's injured anyway). That's a big rotation (12 guys) but in the interest of finding out who's a keeper and who's not, I'd be willing to run all 12 guys. I might even trim Beasley (maybe explain to him that he's already a keeper for next year --OR-- maybe he winds up going in a trade himself at the deadline here if we can get back enough value. Playing Beasley the rest of this season really does nothing for us--he's performed well and we already know what he can do. So do other teams out there). Things would work themselves out--start with the 12 then let the cream rise to the top--maybe Barber outplays Frank (and Dotson?), what if Barber turns out to be an even better pro than Burke?, maybe Ashley outplays McDermott (and makes us rethink bringing back Beasley next season), re-establish Hernangomez and build him back up to the player we saw last year, etc.. I honestly think this wouldn't be a bad plan right now--should've been executed weeks ago in fact. If we could somehow find a few keepers here with Barber, Wood and Ashley THEN ADD a Gary Trent and Jalen Brunson this summer, a nice fresh foundation would be laid.
Real quick on Trent Jr. -- just curious if he's more Dell Curry than Klay Thompson. Also, I'd really want to find out what I had with Dotson. How similar is he to Trent? Is Trent that much better? Same type of effective shooter in college + Dotson's looked real good in the G-League. Suppose we already have this type of player on board with Dotson? Maybe we could then take the best rugged big man at that spot in the draft instead, whether that's Carter, Robert Williams, McCoy, etc.. Or a legit SF in the lottery like Mikal or Miles Bridges. I'd also like to bring Dotson's value up to the point where we could consider trading him, maybe to the Bulls to bring back what might very well be an even better young 2G like an Antonio Blakeney. A lot of possibilities here.