Trade Idea - Let's clear some cap space ;-)

Where do I sign?

Leaves us way tooooooooo thin up front. Basically Ming and Eddie. McDyess is too injury prone to count upon, but I'd roll the dice.

Maybe.

 

haha wow thatd be nice but man do the knicks get bum pasted. ouch. possible allstar pf and a capable backup pg for a softie and a cba overachiever.....hummmm. it may just be a drunken saturday night but id take that girl to the dance

 

Anyone know how much cap space exactly?

 

my favorite part about this trade proposal is how Antonio McDyess is listed as a point guard.

twice.

 

Surely you jest! You want to trade Cato (who will start), MoT (who will probably start) and Moochie (who will back up) for Ward (who will back up) and McDyess (who will probably never play again)?!?

Since McDyess' knees won't let him play, who backs up Yao, who starts at pf and who backs up pf?

 

If we cut Ward, we pay him 2M rather than 6M. That saves money.

What to do with all that cap space though? Rasheed Wallace is the only available MAX player next summer. Obviously, Kobe and Garnett are not going to sign anywhere outright.

 

Here's an article on FAs next year :

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1591939

not much.

Kurt Thomas. Jamal Crawford. Stro Swift. Brent Barry. Mike Miller. Jamal Magloire. Q.Richardson. Adonal Foyle.

Some of those guys could play here.

 

I'm not arguing the flexibility we get. I'm just wondering if any of those guys will come here. I mean, obviously we can rule out these guys:

Kobe
Garnett
Crawford
Mike Miller
Magloire


But I think that if we get a few great role players, like Brent Barry and Kurt Thomas at a decent rate, for 3 or 4 year contracts, we could be in great shape, like you said.


But is that good enough? I'd much rather get my hands on Wallace, as I'd be 100% satisfied with a Wallace, Ming, Francis trio. Anyone else on the roster won't matter much, as those 3 players will get us into the playoffs and keep us contenders year in and year out.

 

How do you draw that conclusion? We're still paying for Matt Maloney. Do you know for a fact that Ward has a lack of skills clause in his contract?

And even if you are right (which I doubt), we can't use the savings for anything other than to duck the LT since all we had to start the summer was Posey's Bird Rights, the MLE and vet minimums.

I have seen the ROX projected 2004-05 committed at $47. Subtract Ward and it's $41m. That's likely under the cap so you lose your MLE. But you don't have enough to be a major FA player.

Unless McDyess is a definite medical cap exception AND there is a decent FA PF still available to backup EG, I say "No".

 

GATER,

I don't know what it's called, but I'm pretty sure that there is some clause in Ward's contract that states that if you cut him before a certain date (maybe it's passed?) that you pay him 2M rather than 6M.

That would help us because Moochie makes around 3M right? Ward would make 6M right?

So keeping Mooch, we'd pay 3M. Cutting Ward, we'd pay 6M.

None of those options is better than cutting Ward for 2M, then signing someone to the vet minimum, which is around 900K right?

 

Sane -
I am reasonably sure it is called a "lack of skills" clause. I am also reasonably sure that a reliable poster (hp perhaps?) has mentioned that Moochie has a lack of skills clause in his contract which means the Rox can opt out on him in either of his last 2 years. I'm not 100% sure so let's not discuss it now.

However, if you look at the original SJC trade proposal, it includes Mooch to NYK. Therefore you can't cut Ward unless you sign another PG (Kenny Anderson or Mark Jackson?) for the vet minimum.

Also, I wasn't paying close attention and forgot to notice that McDyess is in the last year of his contract. If he is still able to play, there is no way the Knicks give him up for Taylor and Norris. He's way better than MoT and they have his Bird Rights to re-sign him for market value next summer. IOW, the Knicks would be giving the Rox $13.5m in cap relief next summer less what the Rox could re-sign McDyess for (the Bird Rights transfer). No way they do that for MT & MN IMO.

Now, let's suppose McDyess is unable to play any longer and retires next summer. The Knicks just gave the Rox $13.5m in cap relief for Mo and Mooch. I just don't think the Knicks are this dumb. But if they are? Let McD ride the IR the whole season and sign Cherokee Parks as a backup C/PF and/or Ty Hill.

An expiring Rice and Dice = ~ $10M in FA $ next summer.

Good call by SJC. Now if the Knicks would only return his call.

1) SF / Jackson (Ward waived for lack of skills)
2) CM / Pike / Hawk (IR)
3) Rice / AGriff / Pike / Boki (IR)
4) EG / Hill / Parks (McD IR)
5) Yao / Cato / Parks

That's a solid 8 or 9 man rotation with little waste or skills duplications. And FA $ next summer. Would the Knicks?

The downside is MoT was in fire in almost every Q4 toward the end of 02-03. That could come back to haunt. But if the depth chart I listed is an 8th seed? Not much has changed and we have $ next summer. C'mon Layden...pick up the phone...

 

Not bad, but I don't quite like the idea of playing McDyess at point guard. He's more of a SG, don't you think?

 

This team wouldn't be too bad. We could still make the playoffs. We aren't going to get too far anyways. But with $10 million..which would be very nice.....who would we get? Any unrestricted free agents?

Knicks would maybe do it to have Mo Taylor and Kelvin Cato. But don't they have a lot of big men already? Maybe they want some payroll relief like us..

 

trade 2 of our good bench players for a cripple? i think not