No one's taking Amare unless they're crazy and believe in miracles. He'd even be sketchy at a 1/3rd of his contract.
As a matter of fact, I watched every Knicks game last year as it directly pertained to the Rockets. First of all, if Shumpert could play point guard or at least score at a somewhat efficient rate, Jeremy Lin wouldn't have even gotten the chance. Consider this... Shumpert scored 10ppg on .401 from the field. That is abysmal. He was barely over .300 from the 3 point line. That is brutally inefficient, yet you think he is a good shooter. Chandler Parsons is a much better two way player. For you to think Shumpert is more valuable than Asik, is just insane. Asik is one of the best defensive players at his position. If you are arguing that Shumpert's defense is what makes him special, consider the fact that the defense of bigs are way more valuable than that of a wing stopper. To add to that, Shumpert isn't even close to the best perimeter defender in the league. Tony Allen, Avery Bradley, and even someone like Ronny Brewer comprise a very long list of people better on that side of the ball. In any case, Asik and Parsons are way more valuable at this point and it isn't even close.
This. Though I would say that Shumpert does somewhat better at perimeter defense than what you're giving him credit for, I agree he's nowhere Tony Allen's level.
When the article says for free they mean without any players in return. Amare is very very very far from free. He is salary cap POISON. the only way you could stomach a huge uninsured contract like his is if the Knicks ship him with a shyteload of cash to essentially pay for part of his salary. He'd be out of their hair and wouldn't count against their salary cap. Essentially, the Knicks would have to pay someone to take Amare. Tantalizing as a finishing 4, but can be really finish anymore? We know he can't defend George Mikan at this point.
Shump had like a 20-30 game stretch where he played lock-down perimeter D as a rookie - there will be some regression and his D is so hyped these days that there is bound to be some disappointment (especially considering he's recovering from a major injury).
If his contract wasn't such a problem, it could be considered. But he's being paid way too much right now.
Yup that contract isn't "free." And moreover, it's more than an albatross - it's a frickin anvil that will weigh down the organization. SAY NO to AMARE.
I think Toney plays 'sticky D' nearly as well as Shump but can also run the pick and roll, and shoot better too. I like Shump, but Knicks fans are definitely overpraising him.
His big bloated contract alone send chills down my spine. Plus the fact that he has decline so much, and has all the red flags during a physical examination. He can't stay healthy and most likely, the Rockets will have to give up a lot to trade for him in return. Trading for Amare would just basically ruined everything the Rockets worked so hard for the past few years. The Rockets did a great job with clearing all that cap space and rebuild this team into one of the brightest and youngest team in the NBA. To have all that cap room gone because of Amare and his bloated contract, it would prevent the Rockets from any chance of signing a young marquee player.
Somebody need lock this thread and never mention his name again. Hell No! No team will take him. He is knicks' problem. Period.
Seriously? Amare is 30 years old and is declining all have red flags all over him. Felton is who he is and will never be anything more than just a low bball IQ player while Lin is young, smart player and have a much brighter future than Felton.
IMO Shump plays much better D than TD because of his sheer athleticism, but I agree with you that Knicks fans are over-praising him.
