Very good Backup PG who would come cheap.....hand and glove fit for us!!!
No question about it. I love this guy's talent -- with regular playing time, he'll produce at a high level. Talked about him in the past and again recently:
http://www.knicksonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12481
http://www.knicksonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12692
Mills would be my 3rd option in free agency behind Nash and Lamar Odom. Outside of those 3 -- I'm really not overly impressed with the other MLE-type players out there...There are other guys I like a lot but I don't think they'd come for mid-level money: Dragic, Ilyasova, Nick Young, OJ Mayo, Ray Allen, etc. I'd pretty much narrow down my FA targets to those 3 -- Nash, Odom and Mills... And if I couldn't get those guys, no sweat --- there are TONS of good cheap alternatives out there we could pick up for minimum money that would likewise bolster and improve this roster. Said it before -- just because certain guys went undrafted and/or played in the D-League DOES NOT mean they could never cut it in the NBA...That's pure fiction. Jeremy Lin prove it.
I wouldn't play around with Nash too long here. I'd come strong with the full mid-level right away. First phone call we make. And I'd respectfully ask for an answer by the end of the day. No secrets here - Steve knows our deal -- our personel and our cap situation. Either he's gonna want in or not. If not, no hard feelings but don't string the us along here for leverage. Leave that to the Grant Hills of the world...I refuse to get played here by any player.
If we can't get Nash, onto Lamar Odom. I agree with a lot of you guys, he could help us backing up Amar'e and Melo. Would prob. be my second phone call. Same deal as Nash though -- no fooling around, I'd need an answer. Either he wants in or forget it, train is leaving the station...If we swing & miss on those two, I go hard after Mills, the most realistic target of the 3 (part of me would make Mills my first phone call to be honest). I'd come strong with a solid offer: first I'd offer him regular playing time (which, as Paul pointed out above, he's not getting in SA behind Parker, Neal and maybe even Cory Joseph -- the man was a 3rd/4th string PG once before in Portland -- I doubt he wants to go through that again). I'd guarantee around 20 mins a night as the primary backup PG behind Lin AND a contract offer in the neighborhood of 2 yrs/$4M increasing to 3 yr/$9M if that's what it took.
5-Step PG Gameplan:
(1) Re-sign Lin. A given.
(2) Contract offer for Nash - full mid-level.
(3) Contract offer for Mills - regular PT & 1/2 the mid-level.
(4) Draft Scott Machado if the following 2-guards are all off the board: Orlando Johnson, Kim English, Kevin Murphy, Hollis Thompson, Darius Johnson-Odom (and it'd be close with DJO -- if it came down to him or Machado, I might go with the pure PG here). Just talking draft for a sec -- I really want backcourt help more than anything but if all of the above are off the board, I might switch gears & go with one of these two PFs: Mitchell Watt, then Mike Scott... Nbadraft.net has us taking 7' LSU C Justin Hamilton at 48. Nice backup C that looks like he can shoot a little. Reminds me of Michael Doleac. Nothing special..Tell you what, I wouldn't burn the pick on this guy if I knew 7' Marcus Cousin was out there and I could get him cheap. He's 5-10x the player this kid Hamilton is. You can also make a case that Robert Sacre is the more advanced C prospect at the end of this draft..
(5) If all else fails, sign one or 2 of the following PGs for league minimum money: Ben Hansbrough, Curtis Jerrells, Demetri McCamey, Matt Janning, Sherron Collins, Willie Warren, Curtis Stinson..I might even be down for giving Mardy Collins another look -- dude's played here before, has always had nice intangibles -- came back from injury and played very well in the D-League playoffs. Even if we somehow landed Nash or Mills, I'd invite one or 2 of these guys to summer league for a close look. These guys are all NBA players in my book.
For the record, not interested in blowing a lot of money on this Euro. PG Pablo Prigioni who looks well past his prime. If we can get him cheap, fine. Take a shot..If not, pass..I'm aware that they think they need a vet presence at the point. I don't think they do -- Lin and any of the above younger up-and-comers would suit me just fine...Def. not interested in overpaying for any vet PG not named Steve Nash, esp. a Euro. nobody knows a thing about.
