EXACTLY... I would take WCS + Winslow-Grant-Kaminsky over Towns or Okafor. No doubt. I a way, JAX hinted at this when he talked about the need for a defensive-minded presence in the middle of the paint, like T-Chandler (He said).
maybe I will be wrong about Kaminsky, but the dude is a big doof... he has one move that everyone knows, that crap may work on the collegiate level with 35 second shot clocks and refs that call games very tight, but on the next level, you may be looking at a jason smith or bargnani.. No thanks, we have enough of those guys already.
If the knicks don't get a top two pick, I say trade down. All the assets we gave up for fatmelo, including picks, have come back to bite us, as I said would happen years ago.. This team doesn't have enough talent for just one top pick and an average free agent to come in along with the ball hog carmelo and make the knicks a playoff team.
If you can't get okafor, trade down, get multiple picks, stock pile cheap talent.. Look at the sixers, everyone of their young players are better than anyone we have on our team out side of fatmelo, and I only give him that much credit because he has been an allstar..
But when you look at these teams around the league, they can boast one or two blue chip young pieces, and guess what, they too will be drafting high like us and oh, they too have cap space...
another example, what happens if the wolves win the lottery? they already have young pieces in rubio, Dieng, and a stud in Wiggins. We have nothing close to that....
This idea of a quick fix, with a free agent like greg monroe(rofl this guy will be another high paid slug) a top pick and carmelo is laughable... first of all the fact that fatmelo is still on this team is disgusting, and trying to construct a winning team with this guy sucking up a ton of cap room and shot opportunities is depressing.
The knicks need okafor, and they also need to find a way to get picks for next year, they need to infuse this team with real young blue chip talent. Guys like galloway are ok, as is Hardaway, but they are not the kind of culture changing young talent we need. Collectively we need a group of young players that will force change and new leadership... to the point where they make guys like fatmelo irrelevant... hoping a guy like okafor and monroe alone can do that is not a recipe for success.. But if okafor is there, you take him of course.. resist the urge for a guy like monroe and use the money on younger lower priced pieces, aim to be really good over the next couple of years..
by then maybe phil will be gone, fisher and maybe carmelo traded, but who cares... hopefully there is a good enough foundation of young blue chip talent here for the next GM and coach to take to the next level, ala Steve kerr and the warriors..