Listening to Steven A. Smith yesterday for a little bit in the car and he mentioned maybe making a play for Goran Dragic in the off-season.. I'd love to get that kid -- he and Lin would make for a real nice PG tandem..Unless we could pull off some kind of S&T, I just don't see how it'll be possible to sign him outright with everything else we need to do. For one, Houston's gonna want to keep him. He's played well for them while Lowry was out with the bacterial infection..And he was real good as Nash's backup in Phoenix..Still in the starting lineup for the Rockets last I saw, even with Lowry back now.
Two, I think he's gonna get paid a decent amount of money wherever he ends up -- either back with the Rockets or somewhere else. You figure MLE-type money at least..Somewhere in the vicinity of what Lowry's getting ($5.7M). Someone's gonna offer him that -- I think the dude's a starting caliber PG in the NBA..According to hoopshype we have over $61M already committed to next year -- and I believe that's w/o JR Smith, Novak, Lin, etc. Houston, meanwhile, will be well under the cap next summer. They should have no problem keeping him if they wish.
You know me -- always looking for a bargin..LOL. Everytime I hear Dragic's name I think of Matt Janning. 6'4" PG/SG that went undrafted a few years ago out of Northeastern...I wasn't sure what to make of this kid the first time I saw him. He was with the Celtics' summer league team a couple of years ago and looked good, albeit a little too trigger happy. I thought he was a little too selfish at first...Dude can knock down jumpshots though, I can tell you that. Definitely not afraid to take (and make) shots...The more I saw him, the more he grew on me -- he moves real well w/o the ball, he can penetrate and he can pass it pretty well too. He's got more PG skills than TD. Just a more skilled guard overall imo...Plus he's got a confident little edge to him. He didn't make the Celtics but his performance for them was a real eye-opener. Shortly after he actually made the PHX Suns' roster before eventually getting released (probably had to do with a numbers crunch more than anything else -- they already had Nash and Dragic at the time I believe)..Currently playing in Italy.
I think if we give Lin MLE money, and bring back Novak and Smith (don't even know if all that'll be possible) we're gonna need a few minimum level guys to fill in the blanks and fill out the roster...Janning could be one of those guys. Really reminds me of Dragic A LOT and he wouldn't cost nearly as much. Just a thought -- another name the Knicks should consider in the off-season. Here's some highlights of Janning with the Celtics 2010 SL team and for the Norteastern Huskies. Kid's got nice talent:
Two, I think he's gonna get paid a decent amount of money wherever he ends up -- either back with the Rockets or somewhere else. You figure MLE-type money at least..Somewhere in the vicinity of what Lowry's getting ($5.7M). Someone's gonna offer him that -- I think the dude's a starting caliber PG in the NBA..According to hoopshype we have over $61M already committed to next year -- and I believe that's w/o JR Smith, Novak, Lin, etc. Houston, meanwhile, will be well under the cap next summer. They should have no problem keeping him if they wish.
You know me -- always looking for a bargin..LOL. Everytime I hear Dragic's name I think of Matt Janning. 6'4" PG/SG that went undrafted a few years ago out of Northeastern...I wasn't sure what to make of this kid the first time I saw him. He was with the Celtics' summer league team a couple of years ago and looked good, albeit a little too trigger happy. I thought he was a little too selfish at first...Dude can knock down jumpshots though, I can tell you that. Definitely not afraid to take (and make) shots...The more I saw him, the more he grew on me -- he moves real well w/o the ball, he can penetrate and he can pass it pretty well too. He's got more PG skills than TD. Just a more skilled guard overall imo...Plus he's got a confident little edge to him. He didn't make the Celtics but his performance for them was a real eye-opener. Shortly after he actually made the PHX Suns' roster before eventually getting released (probably had to do with a numbers crunch more than anything else -- they already had Nash and Dragic at the time I believe)..Currently playing in Italy.
I think if we give Lin MLE money, and bring back Novak and Smith (don't even know if all that'll be possible) we're gonna need a few minimum level guys to fill in the blanks and fill out the roster...Janning could be one of those guys. Really reminds me of Dragic A LOT and he wouldn't cost nearly as much. Just a thought -- another name the Knicks should consider in the off-season. Here's some highlights of Janning with the Celtics 2010 SL team and for the Norteastern Huskies. Kid's got nice talent: