Knicks · We are Starting to Look like a Nice FA Destination. Who you want? (page 3)

crzymdups wrote:A low-key free agent who is unrestricted next summer - Greivis Vasquez. Always liked his game.

I like Vasquez. Really glad he isn't a Raptor anymore. He would be a nice pick up.

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

Prior to the Knicks getting Melo, I thought he would be a really good guy to play alongside of Amare. That was when Amare was still healthy.

crzymdups wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

He's a guy who got to put up numbers on a mediocre team for years and never made it past the first round of the playoffs. In GSW, he has sacrificed some personal stats for the ability to play a major role on a title contender. He was Finals MVP and he'll likely get the chance to do it again this year. I mean, maybe in two more years he'll be ready to leave? But he'll also be 33 years old by then.

certainly get the huge advantages of staying in GS ... anyway, not avail this summer :-(

CrushAlot wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

Prior to the Knicks getting Melo, I thought he would be a really good guy to play alongside of Amare. That was when Amare was still healthy.

yeah me too. Iggy would have been a much better fit with Amare. Doesn't really matter since Amare was never really healthy here. Are we allowed to kill Amare btw ?

mreinman wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

Prior to the Knicks getting Melo, I thought he would be a really good guy to play alongside of Amare. That was when Amare was still healthy.

yeah me too. Iggy would have been a much better fit with Amare. Doesn't really matter since Amare was never really healthy here. Are we allowed to kill Amare btw ?

After Amar'e signed with Pat the Rat in Miami, I'd say he was fair game

Sangfroid wrote:

mreinman wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

Prior to the Knicks getting Melo, I thought he would be a really good guy to play alongside of Amare. That was when Amare was still healthy.

yeah me too. Iggy would have been a much better fit with Amare. Doesn't really matter since Amare was never really healthy here. Are we allowed to kill Amare btw ?

After Amar'e signed with Pat the Rat in Miami, I'd say he was fair game

well ... I think that he was fair game on the knicks and I love the knicks as much as any die harder.

Maybe Batum in Lance Thomas's Role as a defensive Wingman. or the 3 in a small ball line up

Gallo
Afflalo
Batum
Melo
KP

is a dangerous lineup. It would probably take about 15 mil a year to convince him to come to NY. Then again idk Lance is playing inspired defense now and hit the open shots about the same % I would expect Batum to do in NY. Maybe it'll make more sense to just keep lance and pay him his worth which with the cap going up might be in the 5-7 a year range.

I can't wait to see what Phil does next FA.

Fournier and Bazemore are other interesting options but they are playing great in a contract year whereas Batum has played great for a few seasons now. Afflalo can then be a scoring punch off the bench or if necessary the third option with the starters.

I think, realistically, I'm leaning also towards Batum and perhaps Conley. Though Grant might end up being our starting PG when he is ready AND we can move Jose. (And I'm not sure Phil wants to move Jose with the cap and his play going up.)

Would love two way players who make us more of a team. We are set with KP and Melo as potential stars. As other said, KD might not be the best fit.
Luckily Phil is running things, so in Phil I trust.

EnySpree wrote:Question should be, what do we need?... we have a good team. We need to identify the weaknesses and try to improve. I don't want to get just any player just because we have money. We all should have learned that lesson this past off season.

We could obviously use a upgrade at point guard, but calderon and Grant are holding it down nicely. We don't want to disrupt chemistry and we want guys that work hard and are smart and skilled like the group we currently have

I would say #1 overall is that we ve improved our team defense. Defense and heart with some timely shooting has won us games early in the year. As much as I laid it on Jose C hes been somewhat unheralded part of the team. Hes been able to sustain on defense and hes become much more efficient on O.

What would make us better? We could use some post scoring some more consistent bench play from individuals--as a team weve done well of the bench. Id like to see Lopez avg 10-12 points at 55% and I was hoping for 10-12 points 45% from D Williams(and an ability to score 16-188 if Melo went out) Were 14 games in--not thinking of FA now --this is a time for organic growth. Lets get better with what we have--lets be opportunistic and smart with Westchester and then we can look at other NBA opportunities if needed around game 30-35

newyorknewyork wrote:Evan Turner can't shoot but he would be a nice ball mover in the tri.

And while guys want to go young understandably. If we can get the right amount of vets at lower wages like Nene and Joe Johnson maybe but would have to do more research on the fit. We could go the deep vet route Dallas took.

I wonder if we can trade Derrick Williams for him this season? Turner could be a pretty good 6th man/starter for us.

earthmansurfer wrote:I think, realistically, I'm leaning also towards Batum and perhaps Conley. Though Grant might end up being our starting PG when he is ready AND we can move Jose. (And I'm not sure Phil wants to move Jose with the cap and his play going up.)

Would love two way players who make us more of a team. We are set with KP and Melo as potential stars. As other said, KD might not be the best fit.
Luckily Phil is running things, so in Phil I trust.

Those would be two very good additions. If Phil can get something of value back for Calderon I hope he makes a move. He is definitely playing better now but for how long? How long before the next injury?

Can Batum really play the 2-guard as he ages? I know he can be a position defender because of those long-arms but if he becomes over-reliant on them as his lateral quickness wanes, I could see him turning into a liability on the court. He's had a reputation for being a streaky (albeit pretty good) shooter, so I'd also be concerned about his ability to penetrate/create separation against an opposing 2-guard. Food for thought.

For the record, I love him and thought he'd be a great addition PRIOR to watching KP blow up during the regular season. That kid should be a life-long starter as a Knick but can only see it happening at the 4 for now, which makes Batum redundant.

babyKnicks wrote:Would love to see the clippers broken up. Dwight Howard. Chris Paul. Only the best. Our role players are solid ole players. Lebron if Cleveland wins this year. Penetrating point.

Dwight Howard? I would not want him for free. He is a team cancer. He is not even a good basketball player. Still only gets by because of his physical gifts.

NO THANK YOU!

If the goal is to bring in another "star" player then the best alternative is to probably sit on our hands and wait for the Russell Westbrook sweepstakes in 2017. He's arrogant enough to think that he can be a franchise player on a contender and New York would be the kind of place he'd welcome the opportunity to assert himself as one. The guy has always felt he was/is better than Durant, IMO, and NY would provide him a very public stage to demonstrate as much.

Personally, I'd hate the acquisition because for all his stat stuffing tendencies, he seems to still lack good decision making ability and general intelligence. These issues tend to get exacerbated heading into the 4th with 4 minutes or less to go , where he routinely seems to turn the ball over or take some of the dumbest shots in the league as "the hero". To make matters worse, I think his myopia, arrogance and selfishness could negatively impact and even stunt Kristaps development. And right now to me, our main priority should be on developing that guy to take the reigns of this team!

But if there were ever a star that could benefit from the triangle and Phil Jackson, it'd be Westbrook. Maybe our guys can get through to him with Zen now that he's a little bit older, hopefully wiser and has his testosterone trending downwards. At the very least, we wouldn't have to worry about him running an offense because the system would de-emphasize his role in that capacity.

EDIT: I'd be willing to sign Russell Westbrook, if our star next to Melo was already established in the league. This is blasphemy but if the Pelicans continue to suck and Anthony Davis demands a trade or if they are looking to dismantle their team wholesale, I'd be willing to give up Kristaps Porzingis for Anthony Davis and their shit contracts/players. A guy like Davis has the clout and game to counterbalance Russell when he starts doing dumb shit on the court. More importantly, Davis is nearly at his peak, so there is less of a concern for the negative impact Westbrook can have on his growth as a player or his confidence.

And if I had control of the team, my main objective would be to move Melo and then use those assets to build around Kristaps slowly and steadily. As I've mentioned a dozen times, my main target would be Justise Winslow, Loul Deng (to be a mentor to KJ McDaniels: see later), Josh McRoberts (backup for Kristaps) and filler.

I'd then also look to liquidate Robin Lopez's and Aaron Afflalo's value in the form of prospects, expirers and drafts picks. The Mavericks, in particular, would be a perfect destination for Lopez and given their recent history (have none of their first round picks playing on their roster), I think they'd be willing to give up a heavily protected 1st round pick for him. I also think that the Nets would be heavily interested in Aaron Afflalo (Jose Calderon) and cap savings in exchange for Joe Johnson and 2nd round picks. Afflalo is much younger and arguably the better player at this point while Joe would provide us more cap flexibility moving forward and a mentor to Justise Winslow.

Hopefully with some of the assets collected in those trades, we could then re-route them to the Wolves for Gorgui Dieng who reminds me a lot of a Greg Monroe with good defensive abilities. I'd also look into trading for KJ McDaniels, who looks to have some point-forward potential, which would be heavily valued in this offense. He reminds me a little of a very young Andre Igoudala but with a better stroke (based on his limited stint with the Sixers). He'd be a major project but I think he could offer major dividends for us should his development go well.

NardDogNation wrote:And if I had control of the team, my main objective would be to move Melo and then use those assets to build around Kristaps slowly and steadily. As I've mentioned a dozen times, my main target would be Justise Winslow, Loul Deng (to be a mentor to KJ McDaniels: see later), Josh McRoberts (backup for Kristaps) and filler.

How would you overcome Melo's NTC?

That said, I question the wisdom of proactively tying to make Porzingis the alpha dog of your roster anytime soon (meaning years). And that isn't because I don't believe in KP… quite the opposite.

bigbasketballs wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:And if I had control of the team, my main objective would be to move Melo and then use those assets to build around Kristaps slowly and steadily. As I've mentioned a dozen times, my main target would be Justise Winslow, Loul Deng (to be a mentor to KJ McDaniels: see later), Josh McRoberts (backup for Kristaps) and filler.

How would you overcome Melo's NTC?

That said, I question the wisdom of proactively tying to make Porzingis the alpha dog of your roster anytime soon (meaning years). And that isn't because I don't believe in KP… quite the opposite.

If Melo wants to win now and win big, the Heat are much closer to that. They are the skeleton of the 2012 and 2013 champions, with better role players and Pat Riley still at the helm. The cherry on top is that Dwayne Wade is a close friend of Melo's (they even vacation together sometimes), which makes it a destination that he'd feel comfortable in. Not to mention....it's freaking Miami aka an actual paradise with the 4th largest economy in the country. What's not to love?

And I'd be a little weary of turning Kristaps into the leader/franchise player of the team overnight. It's a big reason why I'd want sage veterans like Joe Johnson and Loul Deng on the team. They still have a lot of game left and can provide a smooth transition through the post-Melo era into the Kristaps-era, 3-5 years from now. With a young team, you also have to anticipate setbacks due to immaturity. I could easily see young, good-looking, multi-millionaires enjoying the vices of the best city on the planet....veterans like the ones I mentioned would help to keep them in line and also allow us to bench/DNP-CD our young players should these issues occur.

And if I could, I'd also look into acquiring Jarrett Jack from the Nets who is a well-established good-guy and leader in this league. I think he'd be a perfect mentor to Jerian Grant and is a perfect fit in the triangle himself.

CrushAlot wrote:

mreinman wrote:

martin wrote:

mreinman wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:

mreinman wrote:Iggy!!!!!!!!!!

everywhere I look has him with one more year. His fa doesn't start until 2017.

you are right. Not sure why I thought he was a FA this year.

Right that and the obvious, why would he leave a Championship caliber team. Makes zero sense

because he is playing under 30 mins with an extremely low usage rate. Perhaps he would want a bigger role ... you can never say it makes zero sense in cases like this. Lots of variables at play.

Anyway, he is a player that I have always loved and always thought that this is the kind of guy that would have made a great knick.

Prior to the Knicks getting Melo, I thought he would be a really good guy to play alongside of Amare. That was when Amare was still healthy.

Completely agree. He has always been one of my favorites in the league. I just love his game. I remember the rumors of Fields and Chandler for Iggy. I wish he was younger though. That ship may have sailed.

NardDogNation wrote:If Melo wants to win now and win big, the Heat are much closer to that. They are the skeleton of the 2012 and 2013 champions, with better role players and Pat Riley still at the helm. The cherry on top is that Dwayne Wade is a close friend of Melo's (they even vacation together sometimes), which makes it a destination that he'd feel comfortable in. Not to mention....it's freaking Miami aka an actual paradise with the 4th largest economy in the country. What's not to love?

Well, you're putting your eggs in a very small basket here, but okay, I'll play.

Keeping in mind The Heat have the dilemma of whether or not to pay Wade next year, in addition to the fact Whiteside is an UFA and the Heat only have his Early Bird FA rights, and the component of your theory of selling Melo on Miami as a title contender for the next 4 years… construct a trade that works under the CBA.

And I'd be a little weary of turning Kristaps into the leader/franchise player of the team overnight. It's a big reason why I'd want sage veterans like Joe Johnson and Loul Deng on the team. They still have a lot of game left and can provide a smooth transition through the post-Melo era into the Kristaps-era, 3-5 years from now. With a young team, you also have to anticipate setbacks due to immaturity. I could easily see young, good-looking, multi-millionaires enjoying the vices of the best city on the planet....veterans like the ones I mentioned would help to keep them in line and also allow us to bench/DNP-CD our young players should these issues occur.

You know he lives with his parents and two older brothers, right?

bigbasketballs wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:If Melo wants to win now and win big, the Heat are much closer to that. They are the skeleton of the 2012 and 2013 champions, with better role players and Pat Riley still at the helm. The cherry on top is that Dwayne Wade is a close friend of Melo's (they even vacation together sometimes), which makes it a destination that he'd feel comfortable in. Not to mention....it's freaking Miami aka an actual paradise with the 4th largest economy in the country. What's not to love?

Well, you're putting your eggs in a very small basket here, but okay, I'll play.

Keeping in mind The Heat have the dilemma of whether or not to pay Wade next year, in addition to the fact Whiteside is an UFA and the Heat only have his Early Bird FA rights, and the component of your theory of selling Melo on Miami as a title contender for the next 4 years… construct a trade that works under the CBA.

And I'd be a little weary of turning Kristaps into the leader/franchise player of the team overnight. It's a big reason why I'd want sage veterans like Joe Johnson and Loul Deng on the team. They still have a lot of game left and can provide a smooth transition through the post-Melo era into the Kristaps-era, 3-5 years from now. With a young team, you also have to anticipate setbacks due to immaturity. I could easily see young, good-looking, multi-millionaires enjoying the vices of the best city on the planet....veterans like the ones I mentioned would help to keep them in line and also allow us to bench/DNP-CD our young players should these issues occur.

You know he lives with his parents and two older brothers, right?

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what Whiteside's status is. I was working under the assumption that they could go dollar for dollar with whatever the best offer is out there. For Melo to work, he needs to be there because that could be an incredibly porous defensive team. If Melo prevents them from keeping him then you'd be correct to question whether the deal would be viable. Wade though, would be a non-factor; they've got his Bird Rights and can give him what he wants regardless of Melo being there or not.

But I don't see how the trade couldn't work from a cap perspective. Melo's making $23 million.

Loul Deng makes $10.2 million, Josh McRoberts makes $5.5 million, Chris Anderson makes $5 million and Justise Winslow makes $2.5 million. Add it all up and that is $23.2 million right there.

I suspect that the next argument is going to be "well, what bench are they going to have if they do all that?". To that I say: they still have Beno Udrih, Gerald Green, Josh Richardson, Haslem and Amar'e; if necessary, we could throw in Kevin Seraphin at $2.8 million and Cleanthony Early at about $1 million to flesh their bench out and the deal would still work cap wise. Is that bench any worse than what the Clippers, a perennial contender, have trotted out in year's past? Hell, is it any better than what they had when LeBron was there?

As for Kristaps, I was aware that he was living with his brother but not his parents. Either way, does that really matter? You can't get into shit with 7 digits in your bank account and a little ingenuity? At the end of the day, he still has a dick and from personal experiences, having one makes you do stupid shit regardless of how mature you are. Last I heard, he had a thing for Rihanna and now that he has made a name for himself, how long before that type of woman, or a Kardashian, or the army of gold-digging whores out there compel him to be on the social scene? Same line of reason goes for any of the young players I'd target.

NardDogNation wrote:To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what Whiteside's status is. I was working under the assumption that they could go dollar for dollar with whatever the best offer is out there. For Melo to work, he needs to be there because that could be an incredibly porous defensive team. If Melo prevents them from keeping him then you'd be correct to question whether the deal would be viable. Wade though, would be a non-factor; they've got his Bird Rights and can give him what he wants regardless of Melo being there or not.

Whiteside is an unusual and problematic case for Miami. He'll have four years service time, but only 2 with the heat, making him an unrestricted free agent eligible for a 20% max they only have Early Bird Rights to. Meaning if he commands a max or near max, to retain him Miami would have to use cap space, not an exception.

They need to make room for him, Bosh, Dragic and potentially Wade.

There is no circumstance Bosh, Dragic, Melo, Wade and Whiteside can be on the same Heat roster next year. One of Wade or Whiteside (along with bench depth) would have to go, thereby compromising selling Melo on the plan.