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Post by kgooglog on Aug 8, 2009 0:43:08 GMT -5
According to Alan Hahn of Newsday, the Knicks may not be be pursuing Ramon Sessions due to the projected salary cap dropping to $50,000,00 next season. While this is not earth shattering news, it certainly reinforces the idea that Donnie Walsh will not let anything or any one player dictate what seems to be the plan, which is the acquisition of LeBron James plus another elite FA, if NY can jettison Jared Jefferies' or Eddy Curry's cap crippling contracts.
LeBron James has went public with his desire to maintain his FA status and will not sign a contract extension, as Marc Stein has previously reported. James wants to explore his FA options, and I would bet house money that LeBron will be ready to join a young Knicks team that will have the cap-room either in 2010 or the following year to sign another elite free agent.
It may be frustrating for many fans to see the Knicks biggest move this season being the acquisition of Jason Williams or Jerry Stackhouse for one year, but I think that Walsh has been leery of making any type of long-term deal that will interfere with 2010's summer and beyond. I also am starting to believe that David Lee will be offered only a one year pact, and that Nate Robinson's tenure with NY is over, unless NY can get rid of Jeffries or Curry with Nate as the trade chip.
My hope is that NY can remain competitive this year, for Utah has our first round pick and it would absolutely horrible if this unprotected pick ended up being a lottery pick in a very strong draft in 2010. I see Jared Jeffries as the one Knick who may have chance of being traded prior to the season beginning while Eddy Curry will be a wait and see situation. If Curry can prove to all of us that he can indeed remain healthy and be a contributing pivot for the Knicks this year, I can see him remaining with the team. Maybe it's not the time to throw the baby out with bathwater on Eddy, for real centers are a commodity in the NBA, and Curry is still only 26 years old.
If Curry can run the court in the D'Antoni system, he may very well be retained for the duration of his contract. He will be more valuable if his conditioning and nutritional programs actually help him become a vital part of the team.
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Post by irish2u2 on Aug 8, 2009 9:23:22 GMT -5
I believe Walsh and the Knicks are pursuing Sessions but on their terms with very little wiggle room. It's a take it or leave it situation for Sessions and his agent. Gone are the days of a GM saying 'it's only a million more!" when dealing with player contracts. Now every million counts.
I know that is the way I feel. ; )
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Post by will1682 on Aug 8, 2009 16:23:12 GMT -5
If Donnie must stand pat for his 2010 plans everyone knows thats just what he will do. Thats been his goal since being named Team President and he wasted no time at the beginning of last season to make strides towards it.
I share with others a little frustration over the lack of any sort of of progress so far this summer, but as mentioned before being a Knicks fan you always expect something to be happening rather its the right or wrong move. However, I do find some solace in reminding myself that most "progress" in the last decade has only contributed to our ever lasting downfall trend, not to mention that the rest of the league is basically treading still waters as well.
I agree with Ken's "on paper" analysis of Jeffries and Curry. Of course teams would take Jeffries before Curry at this point. Much like Crawford and Randolph last season, Curry must put on an impressive display from the start. And you also have to keep in mind if teams would be wary of his health. I know its been four years since Zeke acquired him but his heart condition was front and center at the time.
As for the FA class of 2010, not to be a blacksheep, but the thought of signing James or Wade has never really enticed me simply because I dont believe it will happen. I know all the reasons as to why their careers could be so much more grand in the big city, but I also know the reasons why they will likely stay put. James is Ohio-made, born and raised. Cleveland may be "the mistake by the lake" but its his home. And although he has yet to win an NBA title, nobody can dispute how he has resurrected a club that was for years a basement team. James is living his boyhood dream, though that dream is still in progress. As for Wade, his legacy with Miami was cemented with the NBA title in 2006. Yes a couple bad seasons followed afterwards and he went through injuries, but nobody can deny that Miami was the surprise team of the east last season. With a young new head coach, Wade's health in question, and a promising but first year rookie in Beasley, I never would have picked them to make the playoffs, let alone be the 5th seed. In my opinion, things are only going to get better for this club and I firmly believe Wade will want to be a part of it. The only name I felt we would have a chance at is Bosh, but with the moves Toronto has made this summer they are indeed making their case for him to sign an extension. And then again, perhaps I will be asking for A1 steak sauce next summer while I am visiting the "crow" buffet.
So what are my hopes for the Knicks? I hope Wilson Chandler and Danillo Gallinari can build on the promise they have shown to become elite players in the league. I hope Jordan Hill can be the next Amare Stoudemire, minus the injuries of course. I hope David Lee signs a one year deal with the Knicks and shows up on opening night with drastically improved defensive skills. And given my beliefs stated above concerning the FA's of 2010, I hope that Donnie Walsh would see it as wise to go ahead and sign Ramon Sessions to a deal, then of course pray afterwards that he lives up to his "up and coming" hype. Overall, I hope that when it comes to what we already have, a competitive NBA force is brewing and ready to breakout.
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Post by kgooglog on Aug 9, 2009 1:11:08 GMT -5
Will...
An enjoyable, insightful post, my friend.
I do believe that LeBron James will be a Knick in 2010 as his public statement regarding not signing a contract extension with his home team is extremely telling regarding his desire to go into the FA market. There isn't a team in the NBA that can offer King James a throne like the one awaiting him at the Mecca. His "options" therefore are to explore one team, IMHO. The NY Knicks.
I believe Donnie Walsh's delay in signing Ramon Sessions is directly tied into the avaliable dollars and cents which teams will have in 2010, which is directly related, IMHO, to offering James the largest contract a non-home team can offer. New York's actions since Walsh took over have been extremely consistent with his stated plans. He is cutting payroll and I believe that he will shed one more contract before this season starts. While I can agree with the idea that D-Wade is not coming to NY (now) and that Chris Bosh not coming here (who cares), I just feel that the biggest and the best will be donning his #23 for Knick fans.
Cleveland also made a major faux pas in estimating their salary cap monies for 2010 and have humbly admitted that they WON'T be able to sign another "elite" FA to keep LeBron company, which is basically an admission that "we can not build around you". NY, on the other hand, can and will build a team around James and already has a promising foundation of players, all of whom are 26 years old and under. But NY will have close to $19,000,000 the following year in 2011, which is enough monies to pursue and capture another superstar.
Look at Cleveland's and New York's roster and avaliable cap space over the next 2 seasons. Even if James is the sole FA Walsh acquires in the 2010 summer, Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry fall off the Knicks salary cap the following season, allowing Walsh another run at the best free agents avaliable in the summer of 2011.
Within 2 summers, NY can expect 2 NBA superstars in addition to a homegrown crop of up and coming players in Wilson Chandler, Danillo Galinari, possibly Darko Milicic, Jordan Hill, and Toney Douglas. Add in Ramon Sessions, and I wholeheartedly agree with Bill, that Donnie Walsh will ink him to a contract, but one which will not adversely effect the 2010 plan, and we are talking about a team that may have three stars on it already.
All Cleveland will have is memories of Bingo Smith.
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Post by whensly on Aug 9, 2009 20:08:59 GMT -5
I saw some of those articles today and thought...They have nothing to write about (no moves no rumors),
so "they are writing articles about nothing".
I do not believe Stern will hack the salary cap as much as he claims. First of all as much as Stern dislikes Dolan, he knows the league would do well with a good NY team. Second, I believe Stern warned teams about lowering the cap
more than he will to compel them to act NOW and not for a year from now, too many teams are cutting and running for 2010.
This Walsh will do nothing is hokum too,
unless he puts together a team that can turn the corner and ascend from the NBA depths
nobody's comin cept maybe Pat Ewing Jr.
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Post by whensly on Aug 9, 2009 20:11:26 GMT -5
I think Walsh thought he could get Sessions as kind of a steal, but might
have to wait or pass on the potential opportunity.
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Post by jbnewyork162 on Aug 9, 2009 23:52:00 GMT -5
This inactivity and the idea that all contracts except for Curry. Jeffries, Chandler, Gallo and Hill and Douglas is killing me. I mean who are Lebron and Wade going to play WITH the idea of competing immediately. Most players thought to be free agents are re-signing with their owns teams. And yet we don't have a true starting point guard and the future one who is way better than Duhon is comes around and we would rather let the Clippers get him.
We need to plan as if we expect Curry or Jeffries to get traded soon not plan as if they never will. Who thought we'd trade Q and Malik and Jerome James or Z-bo and J.Craw either but we did.
Tender a one year to Nate and play him behind Hughes to make him a small two guard and sign Sessions to be our PG of the future until Paul or Deron get here in two years and lets at least let some of these players know where they stand so either Lee or Nate or Stackhouse or Jason Williams or Sessions can start practicing with their new teammates and learn a playbook.
I am getting more impatient that group of business men in our front office is taking so long to adapt to a financial market they should have had a backup plan for. You dont wants Lee's(10-12) price but Warrick(3mil) was there for a 4th of it. Whats the big economic decision on that?
Why pay Duhon the summer before to be our starter when everyone knew he was second string the same money, you dont want to give whom we all as fans and whom experts would say is deserving of the midlevel salary and is perfect for this system and coaching.
Then you read in the paper last week that Denver trades a protected lottery pick plus cash tothe Grizzlies for a future second? I've never seen someone intentionally trade a better pick for an even worse one but where was Walsh when this deal went down. Stuck in the bathroom?
I was away for a week or so and at the same time fuming our Knicks have done nothing to lead us to believe as of yet we are going to be a better team next season standings and personnel wise nor give me an indication we wont be doing this contract song and dance with Lebron, Wade and Bosh next summer too.
Dissapointed is being nice as to how I feeel about whats going on with our team at this point. Lets hope things change REAL soon.
-Jason
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Post by kgooglog on Aug 10, 2009 7:54:59 GMT -5
LeBron James NOT signing a contract extension is a good enough reason for any GM in the running, not to sign any other player who MAY compromise his team's salary cap. Interestingly, LeBron's statement came at a time when Ramon Sessions was heavily being considered by the Knicks as being added to their team. IMO, James is sending out heavy smoke signals that he is opting out of a contract extension, because he is no longer making a commitment to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I interpret his entire statement as being one directed to Donnie Walsh, for no other team can offer James what the Knicks can.
In my opinion, it is worth not having a 23 year old PG if you can get a 26 year old who is the greatest basketball player on the planet. It is certainly not a foregone conclusion that LeBron James will sign with the Knicks on July 1, 2010, but James' statement expressed that the chance is now here, and if you were Donnie Walsh, what would you do? Spend your cap money now on a young promising player or roll the dice that an NBA Hall of Fame player will sign with your team?
That's the quandary Walsh finds himself in. Had LeBron James signed his contract extension and not said what he said, Ramon Sessions and, possibly David Lee and Nate Robinson, would have been signed already. Just my two cents.
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Post by irish2u2 on Aug 10, 2009 13:29:58 GMT -5
Some excellent points being made here. I am as impatient as the next guy but no news in this current NBA environment is not necessarily a bad thing. I'd rather we be cautious than too quick which has been an issue with us in the past. I think we do have a shot at LeBron but it's less than 50-50. That could move up or down depending on what we do this year and what Cleveland can do. It's not like the Cavs have made any huge off season moves either.  Seriously the Shaq deal could just as easily be a mistake as the final piece of the championship puzzle. Shaq is also another guy getting long in the tooth and he and James could either be best of friends or enemies. LeBron (who is from Akron and not Cleveland and that 40 miles distance between the two cities is apparently huge to Ohioians ; ) has lived and played his whole career in Ohio. He may be looking to get out. ; ) Pinning our whole strategy on James is a huge, huge gamble. It's also a gamble we have to take. If that strategy means we are extra careful now so be it but the payoff could be huge and as pointed out we can add another elite FA in 2011. Maybe. For now I think we play the waiting game with Lee, Nate and Sessions. The best things we can do now are get players in shape and have them working on improving their skills to fit the system. I think patience is a virtue we all need to work on and until proven otherwise I trust Walsh knows what they are doing. I do have to wonder why we did not jump all over Hakim Warrick for just 3 mil. I have to agree with Jason that is a puzzler especially when you think how much Warrick mimics Shawn Marion. |
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Post by dk7th on Aug 10, 2009 15:11:48 GMT -5
i think walsh is doing all the right things. he isn't overcompensating for isiah thomas's rash moves-- he is being patient and allowing the market to dictate what kind of money to spend rather than assuming he knows the value of the players in question. was there any doubt that lee was worth more than 7 million or robinson more than 4 or 5? we will be able to retain their services for a year and on the cheap while the focus this season will surely be on the development of chandler, gallinari, douglas, and hill, though i have the feeling that chandler will be part of any trade involving jeffires or god help us all curry.
i think chandler is tradable because the small forward of the future is going to be gallinari. chandler is best-suited to playing small forward but his skill level is much lower than gallinari's. he'd be a great fit on a contender as a 4th option or perhaps a 6th man. i don't see gallinari being a 4 in this league and i don't see chandler as a 2. both are 3s. who knows maybe in d'antoni's more wide open offense they can co-exist fruitfully.
duhon may not be a championship-calibre point guard but he was solid until he ran out of gas. he ran out of gas because we gave up collins in the randolph trade and because robinson is most definitely NOT a point guard. the knicks would have won closer to 38-40 games last season were it not for duhon hitting the wall. the knicks will at the very least limp along with duhon/douglas sharing minutes with the latter getting 15 minutes per game, keeping duhon fresher and more effective. incidentally the duhon lee pick and roll ceased to be effective when defenders could afford to slack off on duhon, knowing that without his legs he would not be so willing to shoot.
i think a whole lot is riding on gallinari making a reputation as a clutch-shooting facilitator, making others around him better. as he and duhon go, so go the knicks.
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Post by greatgates on Aug 10, 2009 15:51:45 GMT -5
i think walsh is doing all the right things. he isn't overcompensating for isiah thomas's rash moves-- he is being patient and allowing the market to dictate what kind of money to spend rather than assuming he knows the value of the players in question. was there any doubt that lee was worth more than 7 million or robinson more than 4 or 5? we will be able to retain their services for a year and on the cheap while the focus this season will surely be on the development of chandler, gallinari, douglas, and hill, though i have the feeling that chandler will be part of any trade involving jeffires or god help us all curry. i think chandler is tradable because the small forward of the future is going to be gallinari. chandler is best-suited to playing small forward but his skill level is much lower than gallinari's. he'd be a great fit on a contender as a 4th option or perhaps a 6th man. i don't see gallinari being a 4 in this league and i don't see chandler as a 2. both are 3s. who knows maybe in d'antoni's more wide open offense they can co-exist fruitfully. duhon may not be a championship-calibre point guard but he was solid until he ran out of gas. he ran out of gas because we gave up collins in the randolph trade and because robinson is most definitely NOT a point guard. the knicks would have won closer to 38-40 games last season were it not for duhon hitting the wall. the knicks will at the very least limp along with duhon/douglas sharing minutes with the latter getting 15 minutes per game, keeping duhon fresher and more effective. incidentally the duhon lee pick and roll ceased to be effective when defenders could afford to slack off on duhon, knowing that without his legs he would not be so willing to shoot. i think a whole lot is riding on gallinari making a reputation as a clutch-shooting facilitator, making others around him better. as he and duhon go, so go the knicks. |
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Post by irish2u2 on Aug 10, 2009 16:46:36 GMT -5
Gallo can play 3 and possibly even 4 positions. Chandler can play 3. That versatility and flexibility is why each is such an important player to us. Plus neither is an overly expensive player especially Chandler. It would be very tough to get value back for such a good player making comparitively so little in salary. I also think if Chandler is your 4th or 5th option you have a pretty good team. ; )
I agree with DK that maybe small forward is the ideal position for either guy but if you believe in miracles the Knicks SF position is going to go to some guy from Ohio next year. ; ) I also agree that Duhon is more than just a good backup PG and in fact if we get LBJ a guy like Duhon is a very good fit.
Boston did a good job with Davis. If he loses some weight and shows he can be better than a part-time player he will get paid.
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Post by dk7th on Aug 11, 2009 14:04:19 GMT -5
even if lebron james does not become a knick there is still the challenge of optimizing both gallinari's and chandler's potential while on the court together. both like to shoot, and though chandler is willing to take it to the paint he doesn't have the arsenal as yet to score or create for others. gallinari showed flashes of this ability but he was no doubt limited by a back problem. so my "issue" if you can call it that is that (1) chandler may be able to get to the hole but he does not have the court vision and ability to make a pass to a perimeter shooter like gallinari, nor does he have the ability to stop and pop within the lane with adequate touch. maybe he has worked on these elements on his own but he'll need lots of scrimmaging to get these skills developed.
in other words i think "versatility" is sometimes confused with having a complete set of basketball skills. chandler may be versatile but he is far from being a complete basketball player.
by contrast i see gallinari as a complete basketball player, even from the little we have seen of him. so when gallinari does drive to the lane i already expect him to be able to both pass well and finish, but even in passing the ball out of the lane to chandler i don't see chandler as that good of a shooter, especially from midrange where he would most likely need to get a pass-- it's tough to make a pass to a three point shooter from the lane in traffic, especially to the corners where chandler prefers to set up.
as an afterthought i would like to say that usa basketball is really a kind of disaster for the sport of basketball. i mean, there are so many young guys who are rushed through their developmental stages only to find themselves under-equipped skill-wise to make an impact in the nba. it takes years of developing skills-- skills that should have been developed earlier before entering the nba-- and a considerable number of players never pan out because often it is too late for them to develop basketball skills. what worked for them through sheer athleticism and physical dominance does not necessarily translate to the nba. shooting is a finely developed skill just as dribbling with either hand and with your head up. dunking is not a skill.
lee never worked on his shot prior to the nba because he never had to. 6'10" can only take you so far. nate robinson never worked on his left hand or on keeping his head up and passing off of a drive because he never had to. jeffries the same thing.
i hope chandler is working harder on his game but frankly it may be too late and we will have another solid role player on our hands and nothing more. not a bad thing but maybe not great if you are trying to find a core player that is the nucleus of a title contender. i think it is clear that lee, robinson, and jeffries don't cut it.
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Post by irish2u2 on Aug 11, 2009 14:31:06 GMT -5
DK
I think Chandler has a much better shot than most at being a complete player. He has size and athleticism which helps. He has skills though they still need work and refining. I think we forget the kid is still just 22 years old and already he is a good defender and rebounder and an improving shooter. The other things will come in time especially since Wilson has two qualities that are essential for NBA growth.
Work Ethic.
Humility.
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Post by dk7th on Aug 11, 2009 15:03:43 GMT -5
you're right, bill. you can't ever leave out work ethic and humility-- in other words chandler possesses character and the knicks sorely need that. i just don't feel that the sky is the limit for him. i'd love to see him become a sturdier version of the kid on detroit, tayshaun prince.
with gallinari i see a mismatch nightmare along the lines of turkoglu but with more leadership and will. i also see a far smarter player and better passer than odom. i think he can be better than nowitzki for his passing skills and ability to drive. but i repeat-- what makes him special is his potential to lead which is something that none of the other three possess, and it is why knick fans have something to hope for.
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Seriously the Shaq deal could just as easily be a mistake as the final piece of the championship puzzle. Shaq is also another guy getting long in the tooth and he and James could either be best of friends or enemies.