david lee is not soft! the guy can ball, he's the only knick doing anything, that was a bad statement!
Your interpretation of the rule sounds accurate. I just have a hard time believing with all the crazy LeBron courting going on (the Jay-Z stuff, NY basically spending the past two years planning/hoping for his arrival) that some rules won't be bent or broken out of sheer desperation. As you pointed out, Nike stands to make more with him playing in NY than Cleveland. I guess NY is safe just so long as it's only Nike making the endorsement perks a selling point and not the Knicks. In any event, this summer is going to be very interesting.
What? Then whats the point of clearing cap space? The only thing the Knicks can't offer that a player's current team can is the ability to sign for 6 years and a higher percentage raise each year. But yeah, the Knicks can offer a player the most money besides their current team that holds their bird rights.
I'll play this game and i will let you know I'm not a knick fan, just a guy that loves the league. In the nba its not hard to go from lotto land to relevant again. I think for the first time they actually have a plan of sorts and money. What you must also understand is they will have the ability to absorb a good sized contract, not just sign a free agent. Utah is a place player really didnt want to go to, but they snagged 2 mid level upswing guys like Boozer and Okur. There will be players out there like that as well as a guy like amare who combined with other good players can become a good team in the east. As funny as it sounds, there will aslo be a team looking to dunp a player with a longer contract who they dont want any more. Also, curry in the last year of his deal along with chandler or gallanari is pretty appealing and could net a 15mper yr type of player minimum. If i were in walsh shoes, after i make my run at certain free agents, i would start with the other guys people are sleeping on. Guys like Lowry and Ray Felton would be good players at a good price. I know people have mentioned rudy gay, but unless they offer more than 13m per which is too much for gay, i think memphis would match. On the other hand with the looming cba and the unlimited resources of the knicks, they could make that contract backwards. Meaning even if it averages about 10m per year, his last year can come first and go down like hinrich's contract. If they come out of the deal with Boozer and Gay and use their mle on a guy like Felton and use that curry contract + chandler or gallanari for a guy like al jeffferson, thats a pretty good team going forward. I'm not saying thats a championship team, but with the celtics aging, the only teams who really are top notch are cleveland and orlando. The bucks and bobcats are moving up like a rocket over in the east.
Leeb brings up a good point in that Walsh could just as easily absorb a lengthy contract via trade than he could by outright signing somebody. I forgot that Curry is expiring. Also, perhaps the biggest obstacle throughout all this LeBron courting to overcome is the fact that SF is currently the Knicks' most promising and upcoming position with Chandler/Gallinari both in the fold. A trade package of Curry's expiring deal + Chandler or whoever would be VERY attractive to teams looking to dump long-term salary and it also frees up the SF spot a bit for a big name like LeBron. I like the Al Jefferson scenario too. Well done.
The only "top" free agent they even have a chance at imo is Chris Bosh because no one really wants to play in Canada. The absolute best I can see them doing is getting Bosh and maybe Joe Johnson. Those 2 with a horrible surrounding cast (which is all they can afford after that) is a bottom half playoff team in the East at best. I can't wait for this master plan to blow up in their faces.
Excellent counter-argument leebigez, although the Knicks likely won't have their MLE to spend on anyone. (Larry Coon wrote in a recent article how the Knicks TECHNICALLY could use the MLE early and then later renounce all their free agents and trade exceptions to subsequently open up cap space, but that is purely academic, since the MLE amount used would just reduce their cap space. So, unless the Knicks want to re-sign all their players, there really is no point to using the MLE in lieu of cap space. If they are going after Boozer and Gay, they likely won't be able to use the MLE.) Take away that MLE, and the Knicks are left with no better than a middling Eastern Conference team (assuming they can even get two players the caliber of Boozer and Gay) HOPING that they can pull a deal to land a third star-caliber player using only Curry's expiring contract and Wilson freakin' Chandler. Unless another team suffers a complete catastrophe like the Wizards did this year, I just don't see that package netting them any player of great value. That said, your points are well taken. I just think the probability of the Knicks ending up in the lottery next year is far more likely than your scenario playing out.
Woah there Cowboy, you better go check your Patrick Ewing career statistics. He may not have been as good as Dream, Shaq, or Robinson, but he was certainly better than Deke. He also might have 2 or 3 things if not for Michael Jordan, just as a ton of other players can say. Also, in the 1994 NBA Finals, Ewing essentially played Olajuwon to a push although Dream averaged 8 points more a game. I hardly call that hype.
well, unless LBJ wins a ring this year, I don't see why he is going to stay in Cleveland either. The team is actually declining every year in terms of playoffs success, while Lebron is getting better. Wally and Williams choked big time last year. if that happens again this year, I think Lebron will consider playing in NY if there is another max-player or 2. He already have 3 all-star and many good role players surrounding him, if that doesn't work, he might just take the other route and have 2 or 3 max-players surrounded by crap.
So you're logic says that because its ring or bust for the Cavs this year, he's going to go to a team with absolutely no supporting cast, no role players worth a damn, other than the other max free agent, and he'll have to pretty much start from scratch. I really don't understand how any of you can actually think LeBron will be ok with essentially starting all over and be ok with losing while being in New York. Lets look at A-Rod with his stint with the Rangers. You get fed up with losing. Yes New York is the media capital of the world, but really now, who hasn't heard of LeBron James at this point? How much bigger will his name actually be? Why would he sell more merchandise by being in New York? It does not make sense for him to leave Cleveland to go to an atrocious team where he'll be pretty much guaranteed never to win a chip. And as far as the Knicks are concerned they just don't care. They just want to sign two big free agents so they can create a buzz again at the Garden. When its all said and done I think they'll get two stars, but they will be overpaying. It'll be enough to win 40+ games in the Eastern Conference, but with no future draft picks, and no talent surrounding them, it will take a toll.
Dealing Eddie Curry + Danilo/Chandler/Money/Picks before the season is easier said than done. It's certainly possible to find a taker, but usually teams will wait for a better deal and see what they got before the trade deadline starts approaching and then the talks heat up. So I don't think his situation really influences them much in 2010-2011. The year after that, sure. If the Knicks use their cap space this year, it wouldn't make much sense to let Curry's contract just expire. Going for restricted free agents like Lowry(Felton I'm not sure) is a risky strategy as well. You have to overpay for them, otherwise many teams just wait the maximum 30* days and stall everything else you are trying to do and then match the offer at last minute, like Orlando did with Gortat. And overpaying guys with your capspace doesn't make sense for Knicks this year. When their cap space is used, probably in 2011, they can start handing deals like MLEs again more casually, but that is kinda what got them into trouble in the first place. (Edit: Seems I got my facts wrong. As BimaThug pointed out, the matching period is only 7 days. The point still stands, but the effect isn't nearly as big)
Felton is an unrestricted free agent this summer, since he accepted the Bobcats' qualifying offer last summer. The "match period" for restricted free agents is only 7 days (it used to be 15 days). Also, the MLE might not even EXIST in 2011 under a new CBA. The owners have pointed to the MLE is the single biggest cause of skyrocketing player salaries (in the aggregate) that they are trying to curb. I think the owners would agree to raise the max and the league minimum before they'd be willing to even CONTINUE the MLE. Perhaps the "MLE" (in some form or fashion) survives the CBA negotiations, but it will likely be at a greatly reduced amount and won't be based on the average player salary. That said, your points are well taken.
No matter what happens, if the Knicks sign LeBron James, they have won every trade they have made over the past year.
I'm not saying that he wants to start over again. I'm just saying that it possible that LBJ wants to try it another way since his team hasn't had any progress in the last 3 years. Yes, it's frustrating to lose, it's also very frustrating to do worse every year when you are getting better. Had his contract expired last summer, I had the impression that he wouldn't re-sign with the Cavs. He was PISSED at his team's performance, especially Mo and Wally.
the organization and team won't attract any players, but someone is bound to go there for the money and the city. there are a lot of teams in crappy cities, would you rather play in ny or clv? ny of course, but guys like lebron want to win, so money and location are not important, clv can compete now, ny can't compete ever
Well, I said "top FA" for a reason. Because I understand the avenue of rebuilding that Walsh can take. Walsh sold his soul to the devil err... Morey for a chance at two max free agents. You honestly think he's going to use that on S&T bait or lesser FA? If he does that, would it be more advantageous than keeping Jordan Hill, 1 1/2 picks, and Jeffries? I understand that there's a chance NY can improve substantially if they make shrewd moves in the offseason. But nothing you said involved top free agents. They just involve multiple Morey-esque wheeling and dealing. And Walsh has not shown any of that so far.
