Knicks · How about trading for Melo’s expiring contract? (page 1)

OKC needs shooters so how about Hardaway & Lee for Melo & Ferguson??

We can let our young guys play more while freeing up a bunch of cap space for 2019.

Funny, I had a similar thought about trading for his expiring. But I then realized that the circus it would create would far outweigh the benefits. There has got to be another expiring contract we can trade for before Melo's deal.

if New York wants a shot at free agency this coming summer this is exactly the chair that they should make. Make the trade immediately wave Anthony let him go where he wants to go let the young players develop and then hopefully porzingis comes back healthy so you've got something that is attractive to you other free agents. Although the next you hold the misguided belief that Hardaway Jr is some kind of core player.

Would I take Melo back for one year to get Lee and Hardaways deals off the books for free agency next year? Sure. It's worth the sacrifice. We landed lottery picks with Melo before so we'd likely land them again. The issue would be the media circus but it would only be for one year. Heck we could even arrange a buyout if needs must and we've cleared space for next year.

KEEP MELO as far away from Knox as possible, PLEASE!

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:KEEP MELO as far away from Knox as possible, PLEASE!

Trade for him, then waive/buy him out. It's a near perfect way of clearing cap space and then he can go join LeBron in LA or CP3 and Harden in Houston. Then again he could always take a minimum deal and become the Warriors sixth man!

what about NTC ?

Lunacy at any cost.

I did not take into account OKC’s tax bill..that being said, they still need shooters.
From the Knicks perspective, it would be to waive Melo before the season starts so he can go to Houston or LA.

In a perfect world this would be great, but this is one of the main reason i didn't want to trade him in the first place with 2 yrs left on his contract.

It really did nothing for the franchise, he had more value as an expiring contract, I know he would have waive that NTC to buddy up with Labron, and we would have gotten more in return.

Mike1989 wrote:

GoNyGoNyGo wrote:KEEP MELO as far away from Knox as possible, PLEASE!

Trade for him, then waive/buy him out. It's a near perfect way of clearing cap space and then he can go join LeBron in LA or CP3 and Harden in Houston. Then again he could always take a minimum deal and become the Warriors sixth man!

That would be fine. The man should never get on the same court as a teammate with Knox or ever talk to him. LOL.

I like the GSW idea! With Boogie and Melo, no way GS could win the title again.

Gave this one some thought - due to OKC's tax situation reducing that bill is paramount for them, but I assume they'd prefer to keep adding to the team as well after laying out all that cash for George and Grant.

THJr is a non-starter, too much money and too many years. I think a trade could be engineered to provide OKC with significant tax savings though, along the lines of the following:

Courtney Lee - $12,253,780
Lance Thomas - $7,119,650
Ron Baker - $4,544,000
Troy Williams - $1,544,951

Total Outgoing: $25,246,381 (with the 125% rule, the Knicks can take back a maximum of $31,557,976)

For

Melo - $27,928,140
T.Ferguson -$2,118,840
Dakari Johnson - $1,378,242

Total Incoming: $31,425,222

(I tried to make it work without Williams and Johnson at first, but it was just barely over the 125% rule, so swapping Williams and Johnson is needed to make it a legal trade.)

The exchange by itself saves the Thunder 6.2 million. Additionally, I would expect them to waive/stretch Lance Thomas and Ron Baker for additional savings. Lance's contract is good for this since he technically has 2 years left, but the second year is only guaranteed $1 mil. So his remaining guaranteed $(8.12m) can be stretched over 5 years at a cap hit of only 1.63m. Ron Baker's contract stretched over 3 years would be 1.52 mil cap hit.

So the final exchange if this worked would look something like this from OKC's standpoint -

31.4m outgoing, 16.9m incoming (Lee's 12.25m + Williams 1.5 + 3.15 in 'dead money' from the stretched LT/Baker contracts) - That's a 14.5m savings for the Thunder, which is huge given where they are tax-wise. Comparatively, just stretching Melo's last year out over 3 saves them 18.6m this year, while adding nothing to their team and leaves them with a 9.3m dead money hit in years 2 and 3 for the stretch. In exchange for a little less savings they get a very useful role player in Courtney Lee for their quasi-contender. The dead money is only 3.15 mil for the first 3 years and 1.63 mil for 2 years after that. I expect they'll waive and stretch Singler as well (like LT, his can be stretched over 5 years) to save even more on their tax bill. All this trade costs them is T.Ferg and a swap of end of the bench players. I think this passes the 'mirror test' from OKC's standpoint.

For the Knicks, they get another young piece in T.Ferg on a rookie deal and generate 11 million in additional 2019 cap space. Melo would be waived immediately and free to sign with the Lakers or Rockets so there would be no reason for him to invoke his NTC.

Edit: Forgot to include T. Willams' salary in the exchange, now corrected.

That’s not a bad idea.

Hardaway and Thomas for Melo with a buy out immediately would be a great move for both teams. Lee I do believe some team will want eventually.

Hardaway for George Hill works as well. The Cavs get younger and the third year of his deal is not guaranteed.

I still don’t know how Perry missed on trading for Dwight and then buying him out. Include as many second round picks as possible.

Only the Knicks can get themselves in this position every year! Dumbest franchise on earth. Bradley and Lou Williams signed for peanuts comparably. I’m not sure why it’s so hard to execute a competent contract.

Wouldnt describe Melo's time in OKC as a class act. Melo went to a new team, acting like they owed him more than than those two very expensive years left on his deal.

Not the attitude I want to see him bring back to NY. Its KP's team now anyway.

TLover wrote:OKC needs shooters so how about Hardaway & Lee for Melo & Ferguson??

We can let our young guys play more while freeing up a bunch of cap space for 2019.

Proposed below deal "which works" a few days ago.

Melo/Ferguson for Kanter/Lee/Mudiay.

OKC gets back Kanter to provide post/bench scoring a give Adam's a break and adds versatile 2-way wing in Lee who won't wilt under playoff pressure. Mudiay is a throw in.

Knicks clear Lee $$$ long term and add another young/long guard prospect to throw into the mix.

Deal can't be done until late Sep but you never know --- Melo is bought out and goes to LA or HOU.

The assumption is Hardaway is not good?
Or not worth the 17mil?
Or that his lone season is the high water mark of his career?
Or that Fiz can better utilize him?
Or that Fiz can help his game?
Or that THjr is part of the problem, not the solution?
We doing what fans do, dream that free agency will be great for us.

keep Hardaway!!!! yall sleep

Oh hell no!

THJR makes way too much for a streaky shooter who’s not a great defender. Hardaway was brought back after Phil Jackson left and before Scott Perry arrived. This was a bad move by Steve Mills who drafted Timmy in his only year as GM.

TripleThreat wrote:

TLover wrote:OKC needs shooters so how about Hardaway & Lee for Melo & Ferguson??

We can let our young guys play more while freeing up a bunch of cap space for 2019.

OKC is facing a massive tax bill.

They need to shed salary CLEANLY off the roster. You are asking them to retain a tax base that will hit nearly 9 digits for Tim Hardaway Jr and Courtney Lee.

Dumping Melo onto the Hawks is a more feasible solution for the Thunder ( Hawks have cap space and could use the marketing boost) They could shed his salary cleanly. Of course Melo has a NTC. Which means OKC will be better off stretching his contract. Hardaway has this year plus two more. With Westbrook and George's massive deal, that would be gutting on a tax level. For THJr?

You are also asking Melo to come back to being an even larger malcontent/locker room nightmare.

You've managed to come up with a rare trade scenario that firebombs both teams into oblivion. This is like a guy cheating on his HIV positive girlfriend with a thot from Tinder with the Ebola virus. ( They made a movie about this. It was the Jerry Maguire screamer chasing a little monkey with the Midnight Cowboy/Rain Man )

Melo wouldn't be coming back though we would be buying him out immediately. No one is taking Hardaway Jr without a fat asset though so its a moot point

dwiley20 wrote:keep Hardaway!!!! yall sleep

+ 100 before his injury and after his early season mini slump Mills was looking like a genius. Hardaway was playing like a borderline all star at only 17 mil a year. His leg injury was nasty he could/should have sat out the rest of the season.

I’m a huge Hardaway fan! Fiz will make him d up, last year you could watch the whole team give up on horny esp on defense. Hardaway flourishes with good bigs around him like KP. He has to stay healthy so he can keep attacking the basket like he can, he’s coming into his prime years, thjr is someone you will regret trading/giving up on.