I feel great about our our swap option, too. Don't forget they lose out a 3rd All-Star Shawn Marion and Barbosa, who is better than Douglas.
The Knicks have only Curry, Chandler and second round picks under contract (I might be forgetting someone) at the moment. If David Lee moves on elsewhere then I'd say that this team is going to be WORSE than the previous season's team. I think they will pick some other player's up but I see the Knicks struggling all season long. Chris Bosh and the Raptors (a team with a much better supporting cast) finished the season with the 13th pick, this year's past Knicks had the 9th. Also consider the fact that the East has gotten noticeably better (teams like Wizards, Sixers, Bulls, etc) and this year's Knicks first could be a top 8 pick in the draft.
I dont think it matters much cuz Lee is most likely gone so its an Amare-Lee trade off and altho Amare is the better athlete he doesnt bring the all around game Lee does and a higher motor, they both dont play much D.. also Amare wont have Nash and Lee didnt need one to get his, I can essentially see them slidin back even worse this season barring them signin another high level player but those prospects are slim
Offset by Cavs and Mia potentially falling off really badly depending on how FA goes. Boston getting older too.
The Cavs are still a pretty decent team in the East without Lebron, and yes Miami will fall off the map if they strike out in free agency. Boston will make the playoffs regardless of them getting older, don't forget Rondo is still a young player. More East teams getting better than worse.
I think the value ups if they're dumb enough to sign Amare and let Lee walk. 23-9, defensively disinclined, will see a drop in efficiency without Nash spoonfeeding him and being the sole target for opposing defenses. and they're giving up 20-12, only semblance of defense on the team, made things happen with little to no help, and a good locker room guy. Idiocy. Even if you think Lee is overrated, Amare is fools gold. Evan
I disagree. I think Amare is a huge upgrade to Derek Lee. I didn't even know he played basketball. All kidding aside. Amare is not so much an upgrade to David Lee as a change. I think Lee is a scrappy fighting rebounder who works for his points. Amare is more athletic and better at getting to the basket. On a bad team then I would take the scrappy double digit rebounder.
not to mention lee's 3.6 assists per game to amare's 1.0. amare is going to be 28 with 8 years of nba basketball on the odometer. lee is 27, but with only 5 years on the odometer. lee has less milage, and a proven history of durability... unlike amare.
I'm not sold on NY being that much better with Stoudemire. Of course, this is the Eastern Conference.
Last time, D'Antoni coached Stoudemire and Joe Johnson. He managed a 21-40 record with Barbosa at PG and Marion at SF. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2004.html
Same. New York without David Lee adds David Lees evil twin who plays less defense and rebounds less with Amare. His brother from another mother.
The problem with Amare is with the attitude problem that he has you would think the chances are high that he is one of those players that adopt the " I got paid" attitude and just slack off during the first contract year and try to exert efforts during the contract year.
How resilient will Amare be when and if the losses start piling up especially since he's used to being on a winning team?
If they don't get Lebron or Wade...then the value of those picks is EXTREMELY HIGH!! We can use those picks and keep Battier or Ariza or even Scola. We don't need to trade all of them.
I still like the value of the pick... I know A'mare is an upgrade for the Knicks, but I'm not really sure how good he can be without Nash or a good PG..
