Great Thread 8's!
Allow me to offer a different pespective. I think the fact that The Knicks will not be able to sign a big FA will result in us being a better team down the road.
Think about it....like you said a Max FA leaves us with 9 million + the MLE to fill our roster. Frankly no MAX FA is good enough to make the other six players on our roster better than an 6th seed.
See my theory is that we systematically put together a roster of players earning between 2.5 and 7 million to build a solid foundation with cap room down the road.
First order of Buisness is to trade Wilson for a sound SG or PG.
side note, this has nothing to do with Wilson's play this season, he is still my favorite Knick, I think he will come on strong as the seaon progresses, but he and Gallo dont mix tho
I have suggested trading Wilson for Courtney Lee in the past, so lets just use him for arguments sake.
Then we invest 13 of the 27 million in resigning Lee and Harrington, Id say 7.5 to David and 5.5 to Al.
Next we get a legit NBA PG, my pick here is TJ Ford for 8 of the remaining 14 million. Other PG notables are Raymond Felton and Blake, although I like Blake as a backup, more on that later.
Then we sign a backup PG for a 2.5 million one year. Earl Watson, Anthony Carter, or Telfair could all be had for this price. Or get Blake for 4.5
Then we chill! We use the remaining 3.5 or 1.5 to fill out our the roster with players making the league minimum
These modest moves instantly makes us better, while they will not make us a contender overnight they will give us improvement, a good core, a bright future with future cap room
Ford/2.5 backup or Blake
Courtney Lee/Douglas
Gallo/Harrington/Jefferies
D. Lee/Jefferies/Harrington
Curry/Hill/Jefferies
Still a horrible defensive frontcourt, but, the players around Curry should help him do well in the post. Ford and Lee are not an outstanding backcourt, but is a very sound one. Curry and Jefferies will come off the books the following seaon which after player salary increases for 2011 should give the Knicks about 12 million in cap plus the MLE to continue to improve in the 2011 off season. Hopefully Hill and Douglas continue to improve and we should be good.
Do you think Walsh waits two years to spend money and he gets this lineup in 2010? That would be insane and sorry for you to even post that crap.