Knicks · potential new number 1 target in free agency (page 1)

This is why you keep things fluid and stay w an open mind. Alexis Anjica seems on the threshold of a breakout.What's nice is w can see him for 30 more games. Like Phil said perhaps a piece meal attack is best. Instead of offering 1 player 15mm mAybe out bidding for Anjica let's say 3 years 19 mm with team portion for 4 gives us a rim protecting big who can also score and rebound and there is many avenues in the draft to find really good 4s and 1s. Right now this might be my new personal strategy and moving away from spending 15mm on any one player

BRIGGS wrote:This is why you keep things fluid and stay w an open mind. Alexis Anjica seems on the threshold of a breakout.What's nice is w can see him for 30 more games. Like Phil said perhaps a piece meal attack is best. Instead of offering 1 player 15mm mAybe out bidding for Anjica let's say 3 years 19 mm with team portion for 4 gives us a rim protecting big who can also score and rebound and there is many avenues in the draft to find really good 4s and 1s. Right now this might be my new personal strategy and moving away from spending 15mm on any one player

He is not a rim protector although at his size and length he should be. He will get you blks but he is not a rim protector. He is still kind of young and maybe he will get better as he gets older but he needs to become a better team defender. He is more of a finesse big that can score in PnR and step out and make a jumper. He has been highly efficient since he has came back into the NBA and would easily fit in were Amar'e was. He is a back up but depending on who the Knicks draft I would not mind a rotation of back up Centers for NY.

I am not sure if his market value will be at or around $6m+ a yr. He does not get that much playing time because he plays behind Davis and that could lead to teams not wanting to invest in him.

We see him the other day when we played the pelicans......he plays soft. He's got skill but he's very timid out there to be so big. He's a finese jump shooter from what I've seen

EnySpree wrote:We see him the other day when we played the pelicans......he plays soft. He's got skill but he's very timid out there to be so big. He's a finese jump shooter from what I've seen

He's not close to being a #1 target

And he was already mentioned by Briggs in the other thread about "Excellent Off-Season"

A player the caliber of Ajinca doesn't deserve this much consideration

EnySpree wrote:We see him the other day when we played the pelicans......he plays soft. He's got skill but he's very timid out there to be so big. He's a finese jump shooter from what I've seen

He didn't play that well in that game but he still ended up with 11 boards in a limited time. He is more than a jump shooter but he is a finesse player right now. Like I said he is similar to this new version of Amar'e except he has a jumper and can rebound.

The other day against Deandre/Co. he put up 17 pts, 9 rebs, and 3 blk. in 24+ minutes.

He is soft as hell

The knicks need bench players that are actually NBA quality players. I would not call him the number 1 target but he should be on the top of the list of cheap targets than can improve the bench/team.

What is also good about Ajinca is that he can actually play some 4. He plays with Asik at times.

TPercy wrote:He is soft as hell

Hassan Whitside was not considered an nba basketball player 6 weeks ago.Anjica is showing strong signs of breaking out.The fact that he can also hit the mid range jumpshot fills out nicely with what we are doing. He's blocking shots he's scoring rebounding you put him next to melo and okafor with a good pg and he's going to be really good. For4-6 mm a year that's what we want low risk high reward

F500ONE wrote:

EnySpree wrote:We see him the other day when we played the pelicans......he plays soft. He's got skill but he's very timid out there to be so big. He's a finese jump shooter from what I've seen

He's not close to being a #1 target

And he was already mentioned by Briggs in the other thread about "Excellent Off-Season"

A player the caliber of Ajinca doesn't deserve this much consideration

Anjica has many assets we need. I'm not sure what type of playet u want u mentioned thad young? We need someone who will fit with melo and a premium pf anjicas the guy

BRIGGS wrote:

TPercy wrote:He is soft as hell

Hassan Whitside was not considered an nba basketball player 6 weeks ago.Anjica is showing strong signs of breaking out.The fact that he can also hit the mid range jumpshot fills out nicely with what we are doing. He's blocking shots he's scoring rebounding you put him next to melo and okafor with a good pg and he's going to be really good. For4-6 mm a year that's what we want low risk high reward

I would not put him around them two because of their lack of defensive abilities. Ajinca needs to get stronger in his base and needs to pick up better team defensive instincts. Bigs are late bloomers and like Whiteside he had to step away from the NBA to become a better player. Whiteside looks like a Starter while Ajinca looks like a good backup that can start occasionally in case of an injury.

Going back a year or 2 ago, I liked Ajinca a lot for us but have since cooled on him. I can see what you're saying--he's big and he's got some skill, just had a nice game against the Clippers--but I think Jeff Withey might be the better buy of the 2 New Orleans FA centers, just thinking about potential cost and impact. Ajinca might be a little easier to acquire being an UFA (Withey's restricted), although not necessarily -- Withey's barely been playing for the Pels. Why hasn't he been playing? Do they have any interest in retaining him? If so, they're not showing it. He's had nice moments leading up to this year and now all of a sudden, he's in Monty's dog house. Why? I like Withey a lot as a backup C for us next year. I think he's just as big as Ajinca, 2 years younger and I think he can give us more than what Cole Aldrich has been giving us on both ends---Withey has more potential than Cole offensively and he could be a real impact shot-blocker if given enough playing time, evident by his numbers in this category going back to college. Ajinca, as others have pointed out, isn't a big-time rim protector. Withey has much more potential to help us in this area. He may come cheaper than what you're forecasting Ajinca may cost. A few more impact games for Ajinca like he had against the Clippers, the price will only go up. I kinda like that Withey hasn't been playing -- should keep the price tag down + I already know what he can offer. I think I prefer Withey but you're right -- Ajinca on that size and intriguing skill set alone (even if not completely realized yet) warrants consideration as a FA. Good call.

These are the big men I'm most interested in for next year:

Okafor - obviously draft target #1.

Towns - draft target after Okafor, Mudiay or Russell --- I still wouldn't sleep on Mudiay btw. Still my #2 draft target behind Okafor -- I think Mudiay winds up being a better player than Marcus Smart in the NBA.

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Enes Kanter - my #1 FA target, esp. if we target a PG in the draft.

JaMychal Green - I still want him bad. Find a way Phil.

DeAndre Jordan - secondary consideration behind Kanter. If the LAC have any interest in keeping him, I think he'll stay. LA's a great city, he's super tight with Blake Griffin and the Clippers have a very good team. If we wanted him, we'll have to overpay by a good margin and I don't think that's advisable.

Lavoy Allen - I think this guy could be a good fit. He's young, he can play both 4 & 5 and he shouldn't be too expensive. Dude's got a lot of Kurt Thomas to his game imho. If we got this guy to be our starting 4 and gave him enough minutes, he'd average a double/double, maybe even 15 & 10 or more.

Jeff Withey - tall, adept shot-blocker, shouldn't be too expensive.

Khem Birch - rebounding/shot-blocking hustle big that would come cheap. Birch/Withey together go a long way towards adding legit rim-protection.

Earl Barron - still around and doing a great job in the DL this year. Even adding to his game -- taking and making 3s now. He'd be a perfect reserve 5 to have on standby down on the depth chart.

His name sounds familiar, but I have no idea who he plays for!

Finestrg wrote:Going back a year or 2 ago, I liked Ajinca a lot for us but have since cooled on him. I can see what you're saying--he's big and he's got some skill, just had a nice game against the Clippers--but I think Jeff Withey might be the better buy of the 2 New Orleans FA centers, just thinking about potential cost and impact. Ajinca might be a little easier to acquire being an UFA (Withey's restricted), although not necessarily -- Withey's barely been playing for the Pels. Why hasn't he been playing? Do they have any interest in retaining him? If so, they're not showing it. He's had nice moments leading up to this year and now all of a sudden, he's in Monty's dog house. Why? I like Withey a lot as a backup C for us next year. I think he's just as big as Ajinca, 2 years younger and I think he can give us more than what Cole Aldrich has been giving us on both ends---Withey has more potential than Cole offensively and he could be a real impact shot-blocker if given enough playing time, evident by his numbers in this category going back to college. Ajinca, as others have pointed out, isn't a big-time rim protector. Withey has much more potential to help us in this area. He may come cheaper than what you're forecasting Ajinca may cost. A few more impact games for Ajinca like he had against the Clippers, the price will only go up. I kinda like that Withey hasn't been playing -- should keep the price tag down + I already know what he can offer. I think I prefer Withey but you're right -- Ajinca on that size and intriguing skill set alone (even if not completely realized yet) warrants consideration as a FA. Good call.

These are the big men I'm most interested in for next year:

Okafor - obviously draft target #1.

Towns - draft target after Okafor, Mudiay or Russell --- I still wouldn't sleep on Mudiay btw. Still my #2 draft target behind Okafor -- I think Mudiay winds up being a better player than Marcus Smart in the NBA.

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Enes Kanter - my #1 FA target, esp. if we target a PG in the draft.

JaMychal Green - I still want him bad. Find a way Phil.

DeAndre Jordan - secondary consideration behind Kanter. If the LAC have any interest in keeping him, I think he'll stay. LA's a great city, he's super tight with Blake Griffin and the Clippers have a very good team. If we wanted him, we'll have to overpay by a good margin and I don't think that's advisable.

Lavoy Allen - I think this guy could be a good fit. He's young, he can play both 4 & 5 and he shouldn't be too expensive. Dude's got a lot of Kurt Thomas to his game imho. If we got this guy to be our starting 4 and gave him enough minutes, he'd average a double/double, maybe even 15 & 10 or more.

Jeff Withey - tall, adept shot-blocker, shouldn't be too expensive.

Khem Birch - rebounding/shot-blocking hustle big that would come cheap. Birch/Withey together go a long way towards adding legit rim-protection.

Earl Barron - still around and doing a great job in the DL this year. Even adding to his game -- taking and making 3s now. He'd be a perfect reserve 5 to have on standby down on the depth chart.

Fine- difference between anjica and almost any other secondary big fa is that anjica has been hitting new highs in production accross the board.. Hes had this in him and if he stays with a strength program he has the ability to be a really quality c. From an eye test per se Anjica is so much more skilled than A Withey for example- I mean he has skills post mid range he's shown high number rebounding games now his shot blocking output is showing. You add 20% base strength on him and he may be scary. I look at him at 26 as having a 10 yr career ahead of him that he's getting it and comes moving towars consistent play of high production

No thanks.
The guy's a foul machine.
He would have been a good hack a shaq.

Briggs makes a good case. I was enamored with Ajinca myself awhile back. I remember discussing him a few times, posting video etc.. The man's big, young, skilled offensively and I agree--there's potential here for much more. Definitely one option out there to upgrade the frontcourt (I like that we have several ways we could go -- our frontcourt will definitely be upgraded one way or another). He could very well be a piece to the puzzle for us.

Finestrg wrote:Briggs makes a good case. I was enamored with this guy myself awhile back. I remember discussing him a few times, posting video etc.. The man's big, young, skilled offensively and I agree--there's potential here for much more. Definitely one option out there to upgrade the frontcourt. He could be a piece to the puzzle for us.

He's a number 50 target at best, guy is trash

KNICKSBIGCATS wrote:No thanks.
The guy's a foul machine.
He would have been a good hack a shaq.

Hes going to be a cheap steal. His advanced stats plus just looking at his play if a team can get him c heap hel be an impact 7 footer

Daniel Orton's yet another option for us at C, depending on who we wind up adding. I think we could do a lot worse at backup 4/5 -- big strong/tough kid with some decent skills (he'll score it in close, he's actually got a jump shot with some range that he rarely uses, he'll bang/rebound and he'll block some shots). He reminds me a lot of Kendrick Perkins. Currently in China with the Sichuan Blue Whales putting up respectable numbers: 14.5 ppg, 9.5 rebs, 1.6 blks.

BRIGGS wrote:

KNICKSBIGCATS wrote:No thanks.
The guy's a foul machine.
He would have been a good hack a shaq.

Hes going to be a cheap steal. His advanced stats plus just looking at his play if a team can get him c heap hel be an impact 7 footer

I get it. He should be on the radar, but the guy is still soft. I love when players prove me wrong.

The guy who I would try but doubt his team would let him go is Kyle O'Quinn. Maybe can get him at $7M but that's doubtful and that's overpaying him.

yellowboy90 wrote:
The guy who I would try but doubt his team would let him go is Kyle O'Quinn. Maybe can get him at $7M but that's doubtful and that's overpaying him.

I think you could definitely get him at 7 mil but I don't think he is worth it.