Who do we keep?

[jbnewyork162]

I know this is more a mid-season/end of season question but i will pose it now and later as well just to see what the consensus would be.

Like 75% of our roster is expiring as we all know. We want one maybe TWO top free agents this summer. Either we get TWO players and resign nobody or TRY to resign one guy of BIG significance and resign long term one of our regulars.

Poll question is who do we keep, if any anybody from our pending free agents?

And as apart of your answer if you want to retain anybody right who and for what price and why you chose to keep them along with our big free agent signing.


-Jason

[jbnewyork162]

So I'll go first....................................................


Its hard to say so early. I was so mad with David Lee or more importaantly his agent this summer. But I really liked him always otherwise. If David doesnt ask for what he did this past summer for long term then having him and Lebron plus maybe going after and up and coming PG/SG with whatever's left might be a good idea IF we dont trade Jeffries or Curry by then.

IF we trade Jeffries or curry or with God's grace BOTH then I will have to amend this answer in February or next summer when i post it again for you fellas. But a Wade and Lebron show with Wade as PG, Chandler at 2, Gallinari at 3 Lebron at 4 and Mlicic at 5 then........ wow!

It's tough to say the least. We could also Sign Lebron and then sign DJ Augusstin who will be restricted with whatever's left if he proves himself as a starting PG and we dont get capped out.


-Jason

[axios]

After watching the Celts game, this is as low as I felt in a while. Just thinking about the young teams out there with their talent got me depressed. Some observations.

Where is the ball and player movement? NO one cuts!!
Harrington is our best player and the guy will not pass.
Gallo needs to get his head out of his ass, and shoot the ball and stop thinking.
Duhon, nice back-up.
Chandler, stop with the threes and drive.
Hughes, guy is a chucker get him out.
Jefferies, just a poor player.
Lee, played hard
Milicic- havent seen defense like that in ages. He needs get more touches on the elbow, Dant needs to put him in a comfort zone.
Nate, looked off- jury out.
Douglas- the kid is a competitor, Great D, nice handle, you can see he will improve w his decision making. not worried about his shot, watched him fill it up in college.
Hill- eat some pb&j sandwiches and work with someone on your footwork. Nice shooting touch. Defense will improve.

Man- unles Gallo shapes up, this will be one long season. Thnx Isiah, thnx for no 2010, thnx for Curry!!!

[irish2u2]

A lot of what I think now is pure conjecture not knowing how certain players on the team will work out or how much money we will have to spend depending on our ability to trade Curry and Jefferies.

But here it goes.

Curry has an option next season. My chances of dunking over LeBron and DWade are better than Eddy exercising that option. Therefore we must play him enough to showcase him to a team willing to pay 11 million and change for him. Intellectually, especially now after his latest injury, I think that is impossible but we traded Clarence Witherspoon didn't we? ; ) Bigs who have skills will always have value but the trick is to remind NBA GMs that Curry does have skills.

I am still of the opinion that Jefferies has more value than most think and can be moved.

I don't think Larry Hughes is anything more than an expiring contract this year. Shooting Guard belongs to Wilson Chandler and all I can say is we need to remember it's a process and we need to be patient.

If Duhon isn't a starter than we need to let him go after this year. Our PG backup should be Toney Douglas. That means we need to trade or sign a PG sometime before next year IF Duhon is not a starter. Of course what we do depends a lot on who we sign. If it's LeBron then we don't need a traditional PG type. We need a combo guard type. We need a guy with skills to score but also an enabler for other players. I'd like a guy who can cover quicker PGs but keep in mind size is an advantage too and we do have Toney Douglas and maybe Nate Robinson to help out in the rotation.

The guy I like is Mike Miller of Washington. He could be had for the MLE, he has size and athletic ability and he is a terrific, high basketball IQ, great shooting fit for the system. He's still only 29 and he's great friends with David Lee.

Assuming we keep Curry and/or Jefferies we could have some cap/free agency wiggle room or a 2011 draft choice to utilize on a more conventional PG. I like the idea of 2 6'8 guards in the backcourt and 6'8 LeBron at SF.

The thing is we really need to get rid of Eddy Curry if we want a chance at keeping David Lee and part of my plan is to keep David Lee. In fact my plan is to keep Darko, Harrington, Lee and Nate.

My math may be off but according to HoopsHype we have just under 22 million in salary committed to next season. Take off Curry and Jefferies and that's just 4 million.

In order we need to extend Gallinari (3.3 million) and Chandler (2.1 Million). That's 9.4 million and that includes Hill, Douglas, Chandler, Gallinari and at least 2 bench guys making a million apiece.

The max we can offer LeBron (as reported) is 20 million.

We are now up to 29 million.

David Lee - 7million starting on a 6 year contract.
Al Harrington - 5 million starting on a 5 year contract.
Nate Robinson - 5 million on a 5 year contract.
Darko Milicic - 5 million on maybe a 2 or 3 year deal so he can play himself into a bigger contract while still young.

That's 51 million right there and the team includes:

Center: Darko Milicic
Forwards: David Lee, Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Hill, Al Harrington and some guy named James. ; )
Guards: Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Toney Douglas.

Plus we have room for 2 bench guys. Or more. Guys like Marcus Landry, Joe Crawford or Chris Hunter.

Now add a MLE signing (keeping in mind we can go over the cap) for Mike Miller.

We also have a bi-annual exception we can use which is roughly 2 million dollars. You might use this exception to land Raja Bell who fits D'Antoni's system like a glove but at 33 is a little old to be banking big bucks for the future. Sebastian Telfair, Marcus Williams Earl Watson or Luther Head could be likely had for this salary. They are all 2010 free agents.

Personally I want the Knicks to keep Hunter, Crawford and Landry divided amongst the 2 million I have allocated for them. I'd like them to sign Raja Bell with the bi-annual exception.

Centers: Darko Milicic, Steven Hunter, Jordan Hill
Power Forward: David Lee, Al Harrington, Danillo Gallinari
Small Forward: LeBron James, Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Landry
Guards: Wilson Chandler, Mike Miller, Raja Bell, Nate Robinson, and Toney Douglas.

My thinking here is that with Lee, James, Gallinari, Miller, Milicic and Bell you have outstanding passers. Miller, James, Lee, Gallo, Bell, Nate, Chandler, Harrington, and Douglas are all good ballhandlers.

Milicic provides a post defensive presence who can rebound. He is perfect to protect Lee as is James. Together they are a formidable group in combination. Gallinari and Harrington are there for offensive purposes. Gallo conceivably can play all three frontcourt positions. I see Hill ultimately as Darko's backup. I see the centers all being able to hit midrange shots along with Lee giving us 3 or 4 shooters with almost every combo on the court.

Gallo, James (who is getting better), Harrington, Miller, Nate, Chandler and Bell can all nail treys. Miller, Gallo and Bell are exceptional 3 point shooters. With those kind of shooters on the perimeter the inside opens up for LeBron, Chandler, Lee, Darko, etc.

My starting lineup is Lee, Darko, James, Chandler and Miller. It's a tall lineup. We have at least one outstanding 3 point shooter in Miller and James is decent at that range. We have 3 outstanding defenders and all of them can board. We should be able to move and pass the ball and break pressure easily especially with the bigs ballhandling ability and the height to see over the press.

Off the bench are Harrington and Nate for pure scoring, Gallo for everything else, Bell for defense and three point shooting, and ultimately Hill as a center who can board, block shots and nail midrange jumpers. If we need someone to break down a quick PG we have Douglas or Nate. We have height and diversity. We can score inside and outside. We have depth.

I like this team. Of course the "what ifs" are staggering but it's fun to imagine what might be.

[ironman95]

First, it is Chris Hunter, you got that from me, because I called him Steve Hunter by mistake, because I am studying the lead guitar work for Lou Reed, and that guy's name was Steve Hunter. Most specifically the Intro to Sweet Jane. Best intro of all time. I think this poll is premature because who we CAN keep is very dependent on whether we get rid of Curry and/or Jeffries. If we get rid of both we can probably keep all those worth keeping which in my estimatation is Lee, Harrington, Duhon and Darko(depending on whether he plays well this season. I am indifferent about Nate. I don't want Hughes back. As it stands now, I think the Knicks can keep either Lee or Harrington but not both. I think Harrington becomes too expensive to keep most likely. I think Duhon could be kept if the price is right. Same with Darko. As far as Nate goes, if he finally matures and plays within both himself and the system, then he has some value. I suspect there will be teams out there that value Nate more than Walsh will. Right now I would vote for 3, Lee, Duhon and Darko. Even if Lee comes off the bench(on a good Knicks team), he is valuable.

[jbaer10314]

I think we should fold the whole $@%#?&*^! franchise.

[dk7th]

Oct 12, 2009 15:55:19 GMT -5 ironman95 said:

First, it is Chris Hunter, you got that from me, because I called him Steve Hunter by mistake, because I am studying the lead guitar work for Lou Reed, and that guy's name was Steve Hunter. Most specifically the Intro to Sweet Jane. Best intro of all time. I think this poll is premature because who we CAN keep is very dependent on whether we get rid of Curry and/or Jeffries. If we get rid of both we can probably keep all those worth keeping which in my estimatation is Lee, Harrington, Duhon and Darko(depending on whether he plays well this season. I am indifferent about Nate. I don't want Hughes back. As it stands now, I think the Knicks can keep either Lee or Harrington but not both. I think Harrington becomes too expensive to keep most likely. I think Duhon could be kept if the price is right. Same with Darko. As far as Nate goes, if he finally matures and plays within both himself and the system, then he has some value. I suspect there will be teams out there that value Nate more than Walsh will. Right now I would vote for 3, Lee, Duhon and Darko. Even if Lee comes off the bench(on a good Knicks team), he is valuable.

steve hunter and dick wagner were GREAT working behind lou reed. "vicious" on the live album was absolutely awesome. prakash john was also terrific on bass. good memories for me!

[jbnewyork162]

Ironman, if you noticed in my intro I said that i will introduce this topic now at midseason and at the end of the season so if your view is amended those two times later then we can compare our views based on how we are doing at each point.

A horrible preseason team may or may not look decent at the trade deadline. Same goes for the last day of the season whether thats the playoffs for us or the 82nd game of the regular season.

So while i understand its too early to have your decision seet in stone permanently i wanted to see where AOL's best thought process was on how our money should be spent because basically we have to renounce everyone's rights we have as free agents, in order to have this free space.

So while its nice to think just adding Lebron at 20 mil with only Douglas, Gallo, Curry, Jeffries and Hill to the puzzle will suffice but essentially since its against the rules to have anything less than 11 guys on a roster, think about how Walsh has to add at least 5 more players without hurting cap space for 2011 AND proving to Wade or Lebron or Bosh or whomever we get that we can be championship caliber.

We are a bit screwed that we have 75% expiring contracts and barely any quality signed for longer than this year at great contracts.

So, Ironman before the season, in the middle of the season, and at the end it will be interesting to see where we stand, flip-flop or hold ground to because at the end of the day, the guy you like might be the guy CANT sign anyway.

But blogging about it is what we do.

-Jason

[kgooglog]

Well, I picked David Lee as the one Knick we should keep out of those listed. He is that tough, lunch pail type of guy we need, will rebound, and is still young enough to be a force in the NBA for 10 years. Most of all, he loves the Knicks. I do not think any of the other Knicks will be here after this year with the possible exception of Darko, and that is if he fits into our system, and if he does, Donnie Walsh will make him a very, very cheap offer, and Milicic may accept it.

Remember, that if the goal is to build long-term around LeBron, we have to let these other guys go e.g. Harrington, Duhon, and possibly even Nate. I expect a huge renouncing of the rights to nearly every one of these player's on Jason's list, and possibly a re-signing of Lee at a price which does not prohibit any second FA to don the Blue and Orange.

[kgooglog]

BTW, I would have picked Al Harrington to remain, albeit as second unit forward off the bench, but here's the problem. Al is not going to take $5,000,000 per in what could be his last chance to score a bigger contract and to remain a starter. As much as I think Harrington is an excellent scorer, he is lacking in a few areas which piss me off, since I know the man can play defense far better than he has shown, and he never hands off the ball once it is in his mitts.

IMHO, NY should offer Al a MLE if signing him does not prohibit Donnie Walsh from going after LeBron and a second elite FA, preferably a big man pivot-type like Bosh or Amare. If Jeffries and Blob cannot be traded, we allow them to fall off the cap next year and go after the best PG in the NBA, who is Chris Paul, in Summer 2011. We will be able to give Lebron a true point, and then we can look at a superstar line-up and a possible title in two years.

I also know that Gallo and Wilson Chandler will be coming up for qualifying offers in 2011, so Walsh has to be able to secure CP3 and extend long-term deals to the two brightest youngsters we have on the roster as of this moment. Having a team with King James, Chris Bosh/Amare, Chris Paul, Lee, Gallo, Wilson Chandler, with the two rookies, possibly Darko and potentially Harrington, will make NY a force to be reckoned with for 5 to 10 years. In fact, by the time NY does gain that extra cap-room with the exodus of Jared and Eddy, Walsh should be able to get an elite PG, while the Celtics just age out of the NBA, and Cleveland simply hits the basement.

I think in 2 years, Orlando will be our only foe to be wary of in the East, if all goes according to plan.

[ironman95]

Of the three remaining Knicks, Marcus Landry, Chris Hunter and Joe Crawford, there are some conflicting opinions as to who will make the team. Alahn Hahn in either his blog, twitter or regular column spoke as if Landry and Crawford were competing for the ONE remaining spot, making no mention of Hunter. Is he assuming Hunter has made the team? Did he just forget about him? Not sure. I haven't seen much of these guys playing, except for Crawford, who looked just OK to me in the summer league. I do know that Walsh and d'Antoni are both singing Landry's praises saying that: This is the kind of player we need on this team" or words to that effect. Landry was a 6'7" center at Wisconsin, so he has to make a huge change in position and the way he plays. To me he seems to be a hybrid. Skills of a power forward who will have to play small forward due to size matchups. Nevertheless it appears that he may have played his way on to this Knicks team. Hunter is tall, and with Curry and Darko both question marks, he may make the team by default. I think Crawford is the odd man out, except that I think D'Antoni likes him. I am rooting for Landry, indifferent to the other two. The other two have contracts, Landry does not, which may work against him. Only 700k each, with option for next year(see HoopsHype), but Donnie is $ conscious. Of course Dolan is not and it is his money.

[neilverson]

Just a shot in the dark....I don't think anyone in this league will offer Al Harrington a 5 year deal next year...... I'd like to keep him though. Lee and Robinson are the guys I keep. We keep Nate because I think Lebron really loves competing vs nate and will want to compete with nate. Hughes is gone and Im still not sold on Duhon. I like what I've seen from Toney Douglas. If Darko shows us something and he can be had for the right price, sure. I dont want Duhon after next year unless he shows me something in 09-10. MObley's contract will be off the books and honestly...I dont want any of these practice players we've been tryin out at all for any longer than this year. The more open roster spots the better!

neil

[kgooglog]

I think there will be an NBA team looking to ink Al Harrington next year. Lest we forget, this guy is a lock for 20 PPG a game and when you need points, Al's number is called. He is an unbelievably accurate three point shooter and he also can drive to the hoop, creating some of the most magical shots I've seen in any Knick player who currently is on the squad. What I don't like about Harrington is his lack of defensive willingness. I say willingness since the guy came into the NBA with the label of "defensive player" stamped on his head. Al has abandoned these precepts, although he completely evolved as a legitimate NBA scorer. He is also lacking in selflessness, and never gives up the ball, so the offense stagnates as Al goes one on one versus his man 90% of the time. He also isn't a high IQ player.

All that said, Harrington is now close to, if not 30 years old and I am certain that he may get a $5,000,000 Five year deal. Think about it. $25,000,000 over five years for a 20+ point a game scorer with a "name". I just hope the Knicks are cap-conscious when it comes to Al, who has that Donnie Walsh connection going on real well. I think Harrington will have an excellent season as well, since it is his walk year.

I am not thrilled about offering a five year deal to a player who will, as history has shown with nearly every NBA player sans Dale Ellis, inevitably slow down after age 33. Harrington is a high-octane player now. The problem is that when he hits 34 years of age, he won't even be able to do rim chin-ups against the Sacramento Kings.

[greatgates]

Oct 12, 2009 13:20:49 GMT -5 irish2u2 said:

A lot of what I think now is pure conjecture not knowing how certain players on the team will work out or how much money we will have to spend depending on our ability to trade Curry and Jefferies.

But here it goes.

Curry has an option next season. My chances of dunking over LeBron and DWade are better than Eddy exercising that option. Therefore we must play him enough to showcase him to a team willing to pay 11 million and change for him. Intellectually, especially now after his latest injury, I think that is impossible but we traded Clarence Witherspoon didn't we? ; ) Bigs who have skills will always have value but the trick is to remind NBA GMs that Curry does have skills.

I am still of the opinion that Jefferies has more value than most think and can be moved.

I don't think Larry Hughes is anything more than an expiring contract this year. Shooting Guard belongs to Wilson Chandler and all I can say is we need to remember it's a process and we need to be patient.

If Duhon isn't a starter than we need to let him go after this year. Our PG backup should be Toney Douglas. That means we need to trade or sign a PG sometime before next year IF Duhon is not a starter. Of course what we do depends a lot on who we sign. If it's LeBron then we don't need a traditional PG type. We need a combo guard type. We need a guy with skills to score but also an enabler for other players. I'd like a guy who can cover quicker PGs but keep in mind size is an advantage too and we do have Toney Douglas and maybe Nate Robinson to help out in the rotation.

The guy I like is Mike Miller of Washington. He could be had for the MLE, he has size and athletic ability and he is a terrific, high basketball IQ, great shooting fit for the system. He's still only 29 and he's great friends with David Lee.

Assuming we keep Curry and/or Jefferies we could have some cap/free agency wiggle room or a 2011 draft choice to utilize on a more conventional PG. I like the idea of 2 6'8 guards in the backcourt and 6'8 LeBron at SF.

The thing is we really need to get rid of Eddy Curry if we want a chance at keeping David Lee and part of my plan is to keep David Lee. In fact my plan is to keep Darko, Harrington, Lee and Nate.

My math may be off but according to HoopsHype we have just under 22 million in salary committed to next season. Take off Curry and Jefferies and that's just 4 million.

In order we need to extend Gallinari (3.3 million) and Chandler (2.1 Million). That's 9.4 million and that includes Hill, Douglas, Chandler, Gallinari and at least 2 bench guys making a million apiece.

The max we can offer LeBron (as reported) is 20 million.

We are now up to 29 million.

David Lee - 7million starting on a 6 year contract.
Al Harrington - 5 million starting on a 5 year contract.
Nate Robinson - 5 million on a 5 year contract.
Darko Milicic - 5 million on maybe a 2 or 3 year deal so he can play himself into a bigger contract while still young.

That's 51 million right there and the team includes:

Center: Darko Milicic
Forwards: David Lee, Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Hill, Al Harrington and some guy named James. ; )
Guards: Wilson Chandler, Nate Robinson, Toney Douglas.

Plus we have room for 2 bench guys. Or more. Guys like Marcus Landry, Joe Crawford or Chris Hunter.

Now add a MLE signing (keeping in mind we can go over the cap) for Mike Miller.

We also have a bi-annual exception we can use which is roughly 2 million dollars. You might use this exception to land Raja Bell who fits D'Antoni's system like a glove but at 33 is a little old to be banking big bucks for the future. Sebastian Telfair, Marcus Williams Earl Watson or Luther Head could be likely had for this salary. They are all 2010 free agents.

Personally I want the Knicks to keep Hunter, Crawford and Landry divided amongst the 2 million I have allocated for them. I'd like them to sign Raja Bell with the bi-annual exception.

Centers: Darko Milicic, Steven Hunter, Jordan Hill
Power Forward: David Lee, Al Harrington, Danillo Gallinari
Small Forward: LeBron James, Danilo Gallinari, Marcus Landry
Guards: Wilson Chandler, Mike Miller, Raja Bell, Nate Robinson, and Toney Douglas.

My thinking here is that with Lee, James, Gallinari, Miller, Milicic and Bell you have outstanding passers. Miller, James, Lee, Gallo, Bell, Nate, Chandler, Harrington, and Douglas are all good ballhandlers.

Milicic provides a post defensive presence who can rebound. He is perfect to protect Lee as is James. Together they are a formidable group in combination. Gallinari and Harrington are there for offensive purposes. Gallo conceivably can play all three frontcourt positions. I see Hill ultimately as Darko's backup. I see the centers all being able to hit midrange shots along with Lee giving us 3 or 4 shooters with almost every combo on the court.

Gallo, James (who is getting better), Harrington, Miller, Nate, Chandler and Bell can all nail treys. Miller, Gallo and Bell are exceptional 3 point shooters. With those kind of shooters on the perimeter the inside opens up for LeBron, Chandler, Lee, Darko, etc.

My starting lineup is Lee, Darko, James, Chandler and Miller. It's a tall lineup. We have at least one outstanding 3 point shooter in Miller and James is decent at that range. We have 3 outstanding defenders and all of them can board. We should be able to move and pass the ball and break pressure easily especially with the bigs ballhandling ability and the height to see over the press.

Off the bench are Harrington and Nate for pure scoring, Gallo for everything else, Bell for defense and three point shooting, and ultimately Hill as a center who can board, block shots and nail midrange jumpers. If we need someone to break down a quick PG we have Douglas or Nate. We have height and diversity. We can score inside and outside. We have depth.

I like this team. Of course the "what ifs" are staggering but it's fun to imagine what might be.

Excellent post bill but in lieu of :
David Lee - 7million starting on a 6 year contract.
Al Harrington - 5 million starting on a 5 year contract.
Nate Robinson - 5 million on a 5 year contract.
Darko Milicic - 5 million on maybe a 2 or 3 year deal so he can play himself into a bigger contract while still young.

I prefer one more stud player
Then use the midlevel as you stated

If no labron then sign ONE premier guy and save the space for 2011.

[ironman95]

I don't think Walsh will want to keep Harrington because he will become a lot more expensive than the contract you propose of 5mil/5yrs. I am also not sold on Nate right now, he does not possess the skills that this team will need. This team will need a point guard, so I would rather have Duhon than Robinson, unless a point guard falls from the sky, or Douglas proves to be capable of running the team. Three years ago, I wanted Carlos Arroyo, and again we could have had him, and blew it again. So I want to hold on to Milicic and Lee for sure, and Duhon probably. Robinson, last night showed immaturity yet again, constantly in that one referee's ear, that when he yelled out about a missed free throw, the ref thought it was aimed at him. A bad technical for sure, but Nate set himself up for it. Nate got 12 technicals last year, and his stated goal for this year is 6. Wouldn't zero be the mature goal? It is becoming more and more evident to me, that it will be 2011 before this team really comes together, even if LeBron comes in 2010. 18mil comes off the cap in 2011, that's a major free agent right there, like CP3. We're still a point guard and a center away even with James onboard. Last night sucked, they looked totally disorganized on...............................OFFENSE. I think good or bad, Milicic has to start. This experiment with the space cadet named Jeffries has to end. Hughes and Jeffries looked horrible, Harrington and Chandler barely passable with too many bricks. The rest looked fair. What this team doesn't need is Harrington hanging around on the perimeter. As I have also said before, I judge Harrington's game by how many foul shots he gets. He's not the shooter he thinks he is. He has to drive and draw the foul at least early in the game. Then he might find his defender back off a little, and then the shot will be there.