Looking for Signs

[irish2u2]

I am looking for some signs of what the Knicks will do this year and I see a couple.

Nate will sign for the qualifying offer which says a lot because Donnie Walsh does not like signing players for one year tryouts. In Nate's case it's prudent.

Paul Millsap was offered a contract worth roughly 8 million a year by the Blazers and I think that is the figure David Lee gets from the Knicks. Millsap and Lee are often compared and I think they have similar abilities and talents.

Jordan Hill is being taught the center position which means to me that Lee and Gallinari are the Knick power forwards. It also means Eddy Curry is not in the team's long term plans which we all surmised already. Curry will be allowed to showcase his ability, if he is able, so he can be traded and then the Knicks center position will be manned by Darko Milicic, Jordan Hill and Saer Sene.

It's early and he is still getting in shape but Jordan Hill is envisioned as an Amare Stoudamire type center. Dare we hope?

Coming off the news that Rocket basketball people were in Las Vegas to catch a glimpse of Curry's conditioning I like the chances of a Curry to Houston trade. I am hoping Harrington is not part of the deal though. I think the chances are good the Rockets take the money (Mobley's 80% paid by insurance contract) and run. They already have Shane Battier and Trevor Ariza at SF and Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry and Luis Scola at PF.

I think TMac is all but done as an impact player in the NBA but if he still has game that adds a lot to the excitement level at MSG this year. If he is done it's not a major problem. We are looking for cap releif first and foremost and trading Curry allows us to afford Lee.

One thing that is positive for the coming season is no more Marbury Melodrama! Can you imagine?

[jbnewyork162]

Speaking of Marbury I thought it was funny he was so called telling players not to sign here and yet his own team doesnt want to sign him in Boston. Many say this is going to a bad year for us and yet since 50% of our team is expiring and I think the everyone is going to playing to entice Walsh to resign one of them or at least audition for someone else whenever we have a televised game.

If Lee is retained and Gallo is 100% healthy, then what are the starting lineups for the 3, 4 , and 5 spots I wonder? With Mlicic and Curry coming back how do you justify Lee doing the 5 spot thing? Does Harrington start or do we give chandler a go at this position? or Gallo.
Do we let Hill, this year's lotto come off the bench or is he too valuable not to start.

Jeffries doesnt really have a market outside of a hint out of Washington that was never confirmed and a Sac town deal that has us giving up Nate and not getting back young in return. And i dont mean Sergio either. Give us Tyreke for taking a useless Kenny Thomas off ya hands. Thomas wont even see garbage time. He wont even see Jerome James time.

Here's obstacles that no one talks about about trading Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries. They both have trade kickers which would mean the players would have to highly coveted by their respective suitors in order for someone to trade for them. The apparent like of Jeffries by d'antoni and the re emergence temporaily of Eddy confuses me as to how David Lee and Jordan Hill will get minutes.

If Nate goes in a Sac deal and we don't get a SG back then what happens if Chandler gets hurt. Essentially you will be thin with Duhon and Douglas at the 2 and Hughes alone at the 2. Thats why if we take the useless Kenny Thomas in this deal and give them a great offensive scorer and a decent/average 6'11" defender who is young, we better be getting someone aside from Sergio back in the deal which is why maybe it hasnt happened.

-Jason

[irish2u2]

Jason

This year we will have center options in Curry, Milicic, Hill and maybe Sene which should put David Lee back at PF which is his natural position. I do see a conflict somewhere down the road with Lee and Gallinari playing the same position much like Utah had with Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap. Eventually we may have to make a choice.

I see Curry and Milicic getting the center minutes at least till the February trading deadline. That is when Jordan Hill gets his shot at more PT. Ultimately the skill set of Milicic is a perfect fit for the Knicks, much more so than Curry even if he recaptures his game, because Darko can pass and hit shots in the high post. He's also a better defender and rebounder than Eddy too. If the light turns on for Darko (Would we have to call him Lighto then? ; ) the Knicks would be set at two frontcourt positions. I think Hill is a very good player but I don't see the Amare Stoudamire comparisons mainly because Jordan is not the freaky athlete that Amare is though he is a good athlete.

As for the trade kicker (good catch there! ; ) we have one advantage with Curry. He's a center and as such a commodity in the NBA if he shows any ability at all. If Eddy still has game there will be a team willing to pay the price tag go get him.

Back to the starting lineup I imagine on Opening Day it might be Curry at center unless Darko blows his doors off in training camp which could happen, Lee at PF, Harrington at SF, Hughes at SG and Duhon at PG. Eventually I see Wilson Chandler integrated as a SG this season supplanting Hughes.

Initially the Knicks second unit is Darko, Gallo and Jefferies up front with Nate and Chandler in the backcourt. Except for Nate that's a tall team. I am not optimistic we trade Jefferies and realistically just being able to trade Curry would be more than enough for me. Somewhere in all this mix I see Toney Douglas especially if Nate struggles at PG.

This season is so important for the Knicks and the goals so diverse I just hope for once that all the pieces fall into place.

We have to develop young players, get at least one of those youngsters acclimated to a new position, showcase a player so we can trade him, show enough defensive improvement so we finally crack .500 and make the playoffs and hope that at the end of the season we have a core of players that would interest a superstar player. It's a tall order. Maybe too ambitious but then what are the other choices?

Down the road my hope is for a core unit of Darko, Hill, Lee, Gallo, Chandler and Douglas. I hope we might be able to keep Duhon and Harrington for off the bench. I also think Morris Almond could be a player in this league and he would be a good backup SG behind Chandler. Ultimately I think Gallo makes Lee expendable. The only thing Gallo can't do that Lee can is rebound and my personal belief is that Gallo can be an 8 board a game player. I also think Danilo might be a better defender. Add in his tremendous shooting and overall offensive ability, his passing, his size and toughness and my bet is Gallo is a star in this league.

Today, with all the goals and obstacles of next season in front of us, I just don't see us signing LeBron James. If we had the projected 60 million cap for 2010 before the economy went South I could see us getting LeBron and Wade. I really believe LeBron wants to play with Wade or Bosh (the rumors seem to change daily on which guy is LeBron's BFF ; ) and with a 50 million cap that just won't happen. Here are the scenarios where we have a realistic chance of getting an impact player to add to our core group.

Joe Johnson. He's no LeBron or Wade but D'Antoni loves him and he has size, shooting ability and he's a very good passer. Obtaining Joe allows the Knicks to keep Wilson Chandler at SF while adding offense and size plus a deadly 3 point shooter who can also drive. It is likely we might overpay some for Johnson but we would have room to retain Darko, Duhon and Harrington. Referring back to my "What If" thread if the stars align as far as Darko, Gallo, Wilson, Hill and Douglas are concerned then Johnson is enough to make us a playoff contender. We also would have trade pieces to improve the team too and a lot of our players would still be under their rookie contracts making them even more attractive. Signing Lee at a bargain basement price, which seems likely, makes him a nice potential trade component too.

[jbnewyork162]

So in other words, you think that even Lebron wont even come here and that might include DWade and Bosh. Would Knicks fans settle for Amare and Joe Johnson? Or rip Hamilton and Dirk. Playoff caliber team that would make us but championship caliber it would not.

Wade is/has been a winner and is a supporting cast away from being in that Orlando and Cleveland discussion. Lebron is a winner but, ironically even with this supporting cast he might not be able to do it with Shaq and Anthony Parker added. Bosh and Toronto need o forget about going to the finals ever in the next 5-7 years unless they somehow get to have a Wade or Melo or D. Howard come up there which isnt going to happen.

An ex-factor that isnt really talked about and that can solve a true SG need while making us younger and championship caliber is if Lebron isnt there for us to add to our core we could go after HARD to Brandon Roy of the Blazers who is restricted IF he doesnt sign an extension this summer that is. He and Chandler might be a great consolation prize to not getting King James and would be both interchangable and would be the best 2-3 wing players since Pearl and Debusschure(sp?) I think.

Go after Bosh definitely but then give an offer to Lebron and if he spurns us dont concentrate on Dwade but instead on Roy and watch as mess up the core of the Trailblazers with delight as we bring the next big thing to the Garden that despite his talent is still underrated but almost as good as Kobe IMO.

Yes I said it, lol.

-Jason

[irish2u2]

Jason

I do have some doubts about LeBron now and certainly Brandon Roy would be a helluva a consolation prize. I don't think he is Kobe Good but he isn't far behind either.

Chris Bosh depends on Lee. I'd still like to have him (Bosh) but his comments lately about "loving" Toronto don't feel like a smokescreen to me. Not with Bryan Coleangelo as the Raptor GM. He's very, very good and he is constructing a team that Bosh may not want to leave.

[kgooglog]

Interesting thinking about going all out for Brandon Roy, who is definitely a "player" who I would not cry over if LeBron is not coming here. My feeling is that James is a Knick, and Walsh will bring him his "Pippen", although I am starting to believe, as Bill said, that Bosh may remain in Toronto. The Raptors may have overpaid for Hedo Turkuglo, but he is an extremely solid player, one who will be able to work very well with CB4. In addition, Toronto seems to have solidified their center position for the next several years.

However, New York has several chips, and the most valuable one may be the 80% insured Mobley contract. I would bet the house on this contract being part of a deal which either involves moving Eddy Curry's huge contract, being part of a David Lee sign and trade for one of our coveted free agent targets in 2010, a crucial component involving the Knicks getting Carlos Boozer, or perhaps as an additional piece to a Nate Robinson/Jared Jeffries deal. In the last scenario, I can see a future first rounder coming back to NY, for Donnie Walsh isn't going to simply give this "gift" away for nothing, even if a team takes Jeffries off our hands. For me, the Mobley contract is essentially a "Get out of Jail" card to many teams looking to reduce payroll.

I am admittedly intrigued in the Eddy Curry/Mobley contract being the best deal that the Houston Rockets can make involving a player who, if memory serves, has the highest annual salary in the NBA and may never play NBA basketball ever again. The Rockets also have lost Yao Ming for this year and possibly forever. For the life of me, even if Eddy Curry forgot his damned sneakers and is still overweight, I cannot fathom how Houston would not take the financial savings that Cuttino's contract would mean to a team who has lost their center and swingman superstar. It is simply a staggering amount of money.

From my biased Knick point of view, I see us acquiring T-Mac for the aforementioned package. This type of deal is one of those which benefits two teams. The Knicks gain the cap space which virtually assures the signing of a second elite FA in 2010 and the Rockets get a center who is still only 26 years old and has an offensive skill set. The Mobley contract knocks off $8,000,000 of cash, which basically translates into the Rockets getting Curry for $3.5 million dollars this year and ridding themselves of a busted-up player who cannot contribute to their team except in terms of increasing their luxury tax and payroll for this year.

With all this fantsizing going on, I want to make it clear that I do like Bill's notion of keeping our "core" group of players, meaning Wilson Chandler, Danilo Galinari, Jordan Hill, Toney Douglas, and Darko Milicic together for 2009-10. Darko's expiration limit is after this season, and we also have Saer Sene, who did show me a lot in the 4:21 seconds of PT he received in the Knicks blow-out of the Nets last season.

Where I depart from my respected colleague is in who comes in to NY as the star or stars in the summer. LeBron James, IMHO, will be signed by NY, and that may cost NY the chance to get D-Wade, CB4, or whoever else has been mentioned in this illustrious class. However, James, in 2010, would be coming to a team, which is better than the one he left, for I think Galinari is going to be an unbelievably good player and I cannot wax more positively about Wilson Chandler's potential than I already have. If David Lee does resign with New York and stays, the Knicks of 2010-11 will be better than the broken-down Cleveland team that dissapointed LeBron James. In fact, this Knicks team may already have a couple of "Pippens" in WC and Gallo, which will make LeBron very happy.

[jbnewyork162]

Well Irish in regards to Brandon roy that is why I said almost. And even almost also means not even close. But in talent and heart and real life game changing play he is what is going to be the next tier of Kobe/Lebron comparisons and to me maybe reaching for Lebron when he might drag this thing out for the whole summer while all the good free agents get gobbled up by everyone aroundd us might not be a good idea after all.

Lebron is not going to sign with either NY or cleveland the first day free agents could be signed and you know he could be torn and have to make a tough decision and might wait the entire summer and waste our time spurning us anyway. Dwade might have grown tired of Miami at that point. Roy is getting tired of Kevin Pritchard right now even as we speak.

Nash everywhere he goes he keeps blurting out NY is where he wants to go. So he may choose not to extend and go on a smaller yet more promising contract with NY next summer to earn a chip' in his own current backyard(NY).


-Jason

[irish2u2]

Good points about LeBron waiting to sign next summer. Of course he, Wade, Bosh and Company are eligible to sign extensions now which may simplify our Wish List next year greatly.

I fear Nash follows the money and that right now ironically is in Phoenix with one of the tightest owners in the NBA.