2 Max, 1 Max +, or two non max +?

[Paul1355]

The Knicks will have roughly $36 mil in cap space this summer. After 1 max that would leave approximately $20 mil remaining. Enough for 1 more max and a few scrubs to fill out the roster.

Which would you prefer?
- Two max contracts
- 1 max contract and a really good supporting cast
- Two not quite max players and a really good supporting cast


Max contract players should be Lebron, DWade and maybe Bosh. Close to max should be Bosh, Amare and Joe Johnson. Other notable free agents include David Lee, Rudy Gay, Tyrus Thomas, Randy Foye, J.J. Redick, Ronnie Brewer, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby, Al Harrington, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Korver, Mike Miller, Brad Miller, Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, Ray Allen.

Here is a complete list of free agents:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-10-11


Build your team. Make it reasonable and financially sound.

If we can get Lebron, then we would have to get another max guy.

My opinion is that getting two max FA's is the best choice BUT getting one max guy...signing T Mac to a small deal, signing Lee, GETTING A SHOTBLOCKING CENTER would be ideal....we would have a complete team.

 

[DaTPRiNCE]

Remember that we can trade Curry near the deadline or wait till 2011 and sign a center. I think the priority has to be acquiring the best one-two punch possible. All the other pieces will follow. If you bring in Bron and Bosh other players will be tripping over themselves to come win a title in NY. You will see young cheap players with upside coming along with veterans looking for one last shot. It's all about Lebron + 1.

you got a point there, but one thing is i dont agree that its lebron or bust, sure he would be great but the beauty of this free agent class is theres so many stars sure not as big as lebron( he is the first option ) but if we dont get him Bosh would be my guy dudes a monster and i think he's capable of being a leading man, he's taken the shit raptors to the playoffs imagine what a better supporting cast with a couple other stars here would do

 

[RaptorRulz]

Vince Carter loves the Raptors.....right?

What in the world does that have to do with Bosh getting max money?

 

[jimkcchief88]

I am leaning toward 1 max + supporting cast. I think it will be hard enough to sign 1 max player with the number of teams after the same couple guys let alone two of them. Sounds like T-Mac and D Lee will give us the hometown discount. My pipedream was D. Wade because he is a winner, but with T-Mac in the fold now we need a center. So I guess that would be Bosh or Amare.

 

[pakopako]

Which would you prefer?
- Two max contracts
- 1 max contract and a really good supporting cast
- Two not quite max players and a really good supporting cast


Max contract players should be Lebron, DWade and maybe Bosh. Close to max should be Bosh, Amare and Joe Johnson. Other notable free agents include David Lee, Rudy Gay, Tyrus Thomas, Randy Foye, J.J. Redick, Ronnie Brewer, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby, Al Harrington, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Korver, Mike Miller, Brad Miller, Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, Ray Allen.

I am firmly behind the 1 max, supporting cast crew, but I am intrigued about two non-max players and a much better bench.

Too bad I remember this is D'Antoni running the floor and not Don Nelson, which means nuts to longer rotations.

I'm a big supporter of Joe Johnson, a real good shooter and a decent playmaker. If the Knicks can't get Johnsons, Bosh or Amare would fit here as the Max player.

TJ Ford would be a good Guard, but he might cost too much. If cost were an issue, Arroyo is a cheap pick-up. Both are improvements over Du-not though.
Sergio Rodriguez is probably the only affordable starting guard we have.

Rausul Butler is a good SG, a bit old, but that might lower his costs. (Though the same argument can be said of Eddie House.)
Quentin Richardson or Mike Miller would be welcome additions, but at close to $10mil, they would be too expensive.

Peja Stojakovic still has a year or two left in him. I'm not sure if it warrants a $25m/2 yr contract...
Luis Scola would be my next choice, but he won't leave Houston.

David Lee, but he might cost too much (like Carlos Boozer much). Drew Gooden might be a cheaper choice.
Steven Hunter would be a good replacement for Bender; younger, cheaper, and about as productive. Maybe a bench-warmer like Joe Smith if we don't have any rookies left.
Hakim Warrick might be a decent backup PF; much cheaper than Haslem.

Yao Ming, but he's cursed with injuries... which just means he'll be likely to be sent over. *groan*
Nazr Mohammed would be a decent starter if he were healthier. Or younger.


Actually, I can't see a way the Knicks can have a deep bench and sign a max contract any more...

 

[paris401]

. The $54 mil in cap space figure is based on projections prior to this season beginning. All figures seem to state that things are a little better than anticipated and a $56 mil cap space figure is not unlikely..

i read not sure where, but i'll find it, the cap could be as low as 50.4m... flickin around the dial to various games every nite, i see lots and lots of empty seats, not in the large markets (unless ofcourse u r the nets), but the smaller markets,which is probably 75% of the nba... and if the owners can somehow fudge the numbers(would the owners do that...nah)....

 

[johnniesfan2]

i say go after the best players you can (lebron) and than keep going down the line until one offers without paying too much, than do the same with the next player. after that fill out your roster with the best players to play with your stars

 

[LJ4ptplay]

What About This Scenario??

If our cap space is around $33 mil. We can sign a max ($16 mil), retain Lee's Bird Rights ($10.5 mil) and retain the MLE ($6 mil). This totals $32.5 mil leaving us still under the cap.

Also, when you make trades while you are under the cap the salaries do not need to match.

So,

Step 1: Sign max contract player when free agency begins.

Step 2: Trade Curry's expiring contract to the Hornets for BOTH Emeka Okafur and Peja Stojakovic. Remember, we will be under the cap so the salaries do not need to match. This would be a huge salary dump for the Hornets and would give us the Center we need and Peja would be a good bench player and give us some depth.

Step 3: Sign David Lee. Since we retained his Bird Rights, we can go over the cap to resign him

Step 4: Now we can use the MLE to resign Sergio and TMac as well as other players to fill out the roster. Note: If a team is under the cap, they can still retain the MLE. This value however is counted in team salary and against the available cap space. Typically, most teams under the cap will renounce the MLE inorder to preserve the cap space. We, however, will be so far under the cap that we can afford to retain the MLE.

Example lineup:
PG-Sergio
SG-TMac
SF-Lebron
PF-Lee
C-Okafur

w/ Chandler, Gallo, Peja Stojakovic, Douglas off the bench


If you don't like Okafur and Peja, we can substitute trading Curry's expiring contract to GS for Monta Ellis and Biedrens:

PG-Ellis
SG-Tmac
SF-Lebron
PF-Lee
C-Biedrens


Or some other team desperate to dump salary. The point of this post is to show that we won't need to match salaries in trading Curry and we can still retain Lee and the MLE if we get creative.

Any other ideas? What other teams would you trade Curry with? Who else could we use the MLE on? Tyrus Thomas? JJ Reddick?

 

[NYKing]

- Two max contracts = The Knicks possibly having 2 of the best players in the NBA.
- 1 max contract and a really good supporting cast = The Patrick Ewing Knicks who couldn't win a championship.
- Two not quite max players and a really good supporting cast = The Allan Houston and Latrell Spewell Knicks who were good enough to win 50 games but would get eliminated in the playoffs.

I would go with the first option because you need to have 2 superstars on a team to win a championship in the NBA.

PERFECT

2Max = greater probability of title !!!!!

Lebron (16,5) + Bosh (16,5) = 32

+ Gallo (3,3) = 35,3

+ T-Mac (1,9) = 37,2

+ trade Curry + Chandler + Douglas >>> Okafor (11,5) + Collison (1,4)

Collison, T-Mac, Lebron, Bosh, Okafor... Gallo (6man) = 50,1

3million other for Walker, Bender, maybe Rodriguez (new contract), two 2?round pick...

 

[KING~POETIQ]

i say go after the best players you can (lebron) and than keep going down the line until one offers without paying too much, than do the same with the next player. after that fill out your roster with the best players to play with your stars

I would be against this.

If we can't get Lebron or Wade, then we should continue building our team with young players this next season. The following off-season(2011), we'll have more money to spend on other big name free agents.

 

[dre48ny]

Unfortunately if LeBron decided to come here, he would choose his sidekick. I don't know if he sees Lee that way. So he will either choose between Amare or Bosh. Bosh always claims that a team should build around him so his ego might get bruised with LeBron. I see LeBron (max deal) and Amare (not max deal). Find a way to give T-Mac a one year deal. Sign Segio cheap.Then wait for Curry's contract to expire and bring in maybe a Tony Parker. Use a MLE exception on a Center or draft one in 2011.

2010

Sergio/Douglas
T-Mac/Chandler
Lebron
Gallo
Amare/Curry