And if that weren't bad enough, I think Amare is falling appart prematurely as well. It can only get worse for Amare and Knicks.. Will Pau come to play with a broken down Amare and no Melo? Best to trade Amare to get Pau in a package rather than Melo don't you think?
To begin with, either 14 million or nearly 4 million. And then you have to factor in that next season, there will be a lockout so player's salaries get reduced anyway (since they get paid on how many games they play, and other various incentives), so I doubt they'll ever have to pay the full 14 million.
...geez - don't know what to think about NY making all these good moves. Waiting for Thomas to step in to screw it up again. Que Dolan.
...I think the Knicks make a hard play at a sign and trade for Dwight Howard this year. It isn't ideal for the Magic but if Howard is dead set on leaving, a deal for Amare(even if he is a risky acquisition) would be the best deal they would get. What would really be dangerous is if the Knicks manage to convince the Magic to trade Howard for Billups and someone like Landry Fields and then they could trot out there own Miami style lineup of Amare, Howard, and Melo. Then they give someone like Kidd or Nash(this would be for the 2012-2013 season remember) a vet minimum to bring the ball up and feed to their huge lineup. Would that team be an awesome squad? Probably not, but better than they are now and more importantly, selling lots and lots of tickets to make the Nets the Clippers of NY.
Nash and Kidd are older than Billups so I dunno. So you're saying the Knicks will just have to suck for the upcoming season are what's left of it and try to trade for Dwight before the set deadline but still suck for whatever it's worth of a season since they don't have the pieces to go with Dwight. Then 2012-13 season they can pick up the corpse of either a Nash or Kidd... hmmm...
Seems like a no-brainer to me. NY isn't counting their pennies. Billups is a good pg, and he might have left if they didn't pick up the option, and leave them no compensation talent-wise. They wouldn't get enough salary cap space to replace his talent in free agency. And, his contract will be expiring at the same time as Paul's and Howard's at approximately the same value, in case they manage to agree to a midseason trade or need cap space next offseason.
Why the f would the Magic do this? Just like with LA, New York cannot sign Howard either as all their money is going to Billups, Amare, and Melo. So that threat is removed. The Magic can get better offers from virtually every other team in the league than Billups and Fields. The Lakers offering Bynum alone is better than that, especially since Fields hit the rookie wall hard and everyone knows will remain a role player. And unlike say, the Lakers, the Knicks do not have the ability to take back the contracts of Arenas or Turkoglu as they do not have the salaries to match up with those and Howard.
Anyone else catch this? Or am I missing something? Guess they traded Melo for Chauncey's brother. I think it's a good move by the Knicks. Positives: -Technically they're paying about $10m since they would have had to buy him out for ~$4m. -Gives them an expiring contract to move if they need to. Not to mention he's a really good player and team leader. -This puts them over the cap, which gives them a MLE, unless the new CBA changes that. -Who could the have signed to replace him? They would have only had about $7m maximum. Negatives: -He's coming off an injury in the playoffs. -He's a year older. -It cost them basically $3-$5m more ($14m-$4m-cost of new PG ($4-$7m)) than bringing in someone new. Never thought I'd say this, but good move by the Knicks. Yes, Chauncey may be overpaid, but based on they could have got, I definitely think they made the right move. I wouldn't be surprised to see his contract moved for some "assets" near the trade deadline. That's probably going to be a lot better than bringing in someone else for cheaper and paying them 3-4 years. The only problem I see is....who is going to be his replacement next year? They may trade for a PG using his contract, may get someone in the draft (probably not likely to get a starter though), or god forbid, end up with CP3. I'd say the postives outweigh the negatives. Pugs
I bet they try and use him as an expiring, or he does come off the books when CP3 and Dwill are available. I can't see any team trading with them tho, since they have nothing to give anyone aside from Fields and his expiring ha.
Not advocating this line of reasoning, but Amare + Billups probably comes roughly equal to Howard + Turkoglu in salaries. More likely though, I think they keep Billups and then re-sign him to a smaller contract next offseason.
It makes sense - they aren't signing anyone in FA that would be as good as him, and they're spending WAY less on payroll than in ears past, so why not? And as mentioned, he'll be their best poker chip for getting a longterm player at PG or SG. With all signs pointing to a hard or nearly hard cap after the CBA, better not bet on cash spending to build your squad.
