There are a lot of different opinions on this board for moving forward with the Knicks. To me, it breaks down to 5 key questions that I think must be asked.

1. What is Marbury's window of opportunity? In other words, how many years before he can no longer be considered a major piece towards a championship contender?

2. What position should Crawford primarily play down the road?
(pg,sg,both)

3. What is our draft priority this year (center,combo guard, best player available)? Next year?

4. Would you rather trade expiring contracts or reduce salary post-2007 to increase free agency opportunity?

5. Would you resign, if avaliable and at a reasonable cost, any of our current vets (TT,Hardaway, Mo Taylor, Malik Rose, KT)?

My answers:
1. 3-4 years
2. Pg - Despite shot selection, he presents more matchup problems
3. Draft 2005 - center/pf, Draft 2006 - center
4. Shed contracts
5. We shouldn't resign any of these players - other vets will be available and with a smaller price tag.

Solution - I think Marbury must be traded while his value is high. It will be impossible to surround him with a dominant defensive big man before he becomes significantly worse. Crawford should replace him at Pg. The best option is to trade Marbury for a top draft pick in next year's draft for a shot at Greg Oden and Brandan Wright. These are huge, athletic kids that in a few years will scare most NBA players. Let Penny, TT and Mo Taylor expire. That gives us flexibility and a core for the next 10 years.

My answers:
1. 3-4 years
2. Pg - Despite shot selection, he presents more matchup problems
3. Draft 2005 - center/pf, Draft 2006 - center
4. Shed contracts
5. We shouldn't resign any of these players - other vets will be available and with a smaller price tag.

I think Marbury has more time. At 28 his game is about smarts, quickness and strength, less about put athleticism like Francis. Also the guys Marbury is compared to are all a few years old in Nash 31 and Kidd 32.

I dont want to shed contract for cap space, just flexibility. I want young MLE players and guys in rookie contracts to replace the bloat.

Posted by fishmike:

My answers:
1. 3-4 years
2. Pg - Despite shot selection, he presents more matchup problems
3. Draft 2005 - center/pf, Draft 2006 - center
4. Shed contracts
5. We shouldn't resign any of these players - other vets will be available and with a smaller price tag.

I think Marbury has more time. At 28 his game is about smarts, quickness and strength, less about put athleticism like Francis. Also the guys Marbury is compared to are all a few years old in Nash 31 and Kidd 32.

I dont want to shed contract for cap space, just flexibility. I want young MLE players and guys in rookie contracts to replace the bloat.

i agree on the money issue. we can't keep having black holes on our roster- guys who are undesireable to us and untradeable because of their contracts. i hope most of our overproced vets making significantly more than the MLE just come off the books and are replaced by draft picks, MLE or LLE pickups, or minimum contract players to round out the roster. it gives us much more trade flexibility; we have a lot of talent now, but if we're ever going to make the lateral moves that make a big difference we need to have a reasonably priced team. we can still be number 1 in payroll, but on the same level as other teams and without wasting money.

as for crawford, i see him as starting at the two and sliding over to the point for stretches. we need a defensive PG, a vet or young hungry kid making close to the minimum, and a spot up shooter (a limping houston or cheap filler), to back up marbury and crawford. i would spend a pick on an athletic swingman too to round out our backcourt. of course, if a knockout deal presents itself, that's great, but that's my sense of what we need backing up our main pieces to be effective.


[Edited by - Masterplan on 03/04/2005 16:57:23]

The window of opportunity comes when Allan houston is traded.

Unless he comes back fully recovered and playing allsatr basketball,that will be our primary reason we won't be able to sign any Bigman/Allstar.

We have enogh youth Now in sweetny ariza & JC. Championship teams are not sorrounded by youth and athletisim, You need a couple of well rounded super stars, solid role players then youth, and you need them in that order.

I don't really think IT is sweating the draft that much, I'm pretty confident in saying 2 of our top picks will be involve in a big trade, ethier in a penny TT deal, or a allan houston deal.

The younger we get the more you are going to be saying the same thing you say now about sweetny, ariz, and Crawford " Give them a few years and they will get better, stronger, fitter. It's like a cycle when you start trying to build through the draft, just like trading bad contracts for more bad contracts.

Posted by knicks1248:

The window of opportunity comes when Allan houston is traded.

Unless he comes back fully recovered and playing allsatr basketball,that will be our primary reason we won't be able to sign any Bigman/Allstar.

We have enogh youth Now in sweetny ariza & JC. Championship teams are not sorrounded by youth and athletisim, You need a couple of well rounded super stars, solid role players then youth, and you need them in that order.

I don't really think IT is sweating the draft that much, I'm pretty confident in saying 2 of our top picks will be involve in a big trade, ethier in a penny TT deal, or a allan houston deal.

The younger we get the more you are going to be saying the same thing you say now about sweetny, ariz, and Crawford " Give them a few years and they will get better, stronger, fitter. It's like a cycle when you start trying to build through the draft, just like trading bad contracts for more bad contracts.

I think you're missing the point Knicks1248. The only way to stock prime talent is free agency or the draft. Its not even necessarily about youth - its about getting some of the best players in the game to play for your team. Either you scout them before-hand and draft them or sign them via free agency. Kobe, Garnett, Lebron, D-Wade, Okafor, Dwight Howard, Amare - expiring contracts won't get them because they're worth the contracts.

Sweetney, Ariza and Crawford are good players - but none of them look like all-NBA to me. If you see an opportunity to secure your future, you do it - if that means getting Oden or Wright for the next 15 years, you nod and sign.

Trades are better for re-shaping your talent - i.e. Francis for Mcgrady. But, there's no question the Knicks need more talent, not just a better distribution. Now, occasionally, you'll find a tarde where one team gets robbed - but thats not a reliable way to build a team.

1. What is Marbury's window of opportunity? In other words, how many years before he can no longer be considered a major piece towards a championship contender?

No one knows, but he keeps his body in top shape and is very durable. I think he can be a star for another five years even if he's not at the same level he's at now. We definitely need a better backup PG so that Marbury's minutes can be reduced

2. What position should Crawford primarily play down the road?
(pg,sg,both)

He should play both positions. Buyt what really matters is that he needs to be benched when he makes poor decisions.

3. What is our draft priority this year (center,combo guard, best player available)? Next year?

Best player other than PG available (that includes either keeping or trading the draft picks)

4. Would you rather trade expiring contracts or reduce salary post-2007 to increase free agency opportunity?

You guys probably know my answer by now

5. Would you resign, if avaliable and at a reasonable cost, any of our current vets (TT,Hardaway, Mo Taylor, Malik Rose, KT)?

No, I'd try to get the best deal I could for their expiring contracts. JYD is the only vet I'd consider re-signing because I like his attitude a lot.

why is it that Zeke and others say we need a combo guard? does that mean another 6'2'' guy who can't play defense because he's undersized?

We need a big 6'6'' Shooting guard who can defend and start while Crawford becomes the 6th man.Crawford is our combo guard he'llget plenty of minutes at backup PG/SG. but the problem is we don't have a guard who can play defense. steph and craw are atrocious!

And our biggest need is still at Center