BuzzerBeater Forums

The Knicks have a clean slate? What do you call Eddie Curry and his $11,276,863 salary? But other than that, I understand the point that they are clean slate and can add what they can fit under the cap. It’s the cap issue that’s that problem there for the Knicks, though. If the Knicks sign two huge salaries, with LeBron taking one and someone less, like Bosh or Stoudmire or whovever would be the other, those two salaries would almost max out the cap and there’d be room for only role players making more in the $2-3million range, maybe they could grab someone for $5-6 million. But it would be really tough to sign two big salaries and also keep T-Mac and/or Lee, and I have to think T-Mac is just about done and Lee is going to take his double-doubles to the highest off out there (it’s nice to have gaudy stats playing for a bad team in a contract year). So for LeBron to sign with the Knicks, it basically means that in a best case scenario he’ll have another all-star and another really solid player in the lineup with him, and the hope that Gallinari actually becomes a real player and that one day the Knicks will be able to develop a few players, too (assuming they don’t keep trading away all their lottery picks).

This is really why the Bulls are the fashionable favorite as the team most likely to draw LeBron away from Cleveland. In either Chicago or Cleveland (or Miami), LeBron already knows he’ll have a supporting cast. Those teams can sign him and go over the cap the next bunch of seasons just by resigning their own expiring contracts, which a team can’t do with free agents coming from other teams. So if LeBron decides not to give the Cavs one more chance (if he stays there, I see him signing something like a 2 or 3 year deal), and he wants to win a championship, he’ll probably go to a team that already has most of the pieces set for a championship run, and he especially won’t go to a team that is now famous for rolling out garbage teams and making really bad personnel judgments (like with almost every player the Knicks have signed or traded for in the last decade).

What I meant was that the Knicks should NOT resign Avid Lee, and neither T-mac for that matter. And what I call eddy curry's salary? I call it one of the biggest expiring contracts in the league this season. Curry was a burden until the end of this season. Come July 1st, Curry's contract becomes a great asset. The Lakers traded Kwame Brown's expiring contract for Pau Gasol. That was kind of absurd, but it happens. The knicks may not get a 3rd superstar out of that (although there are rumors about Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, and even CP3), but they can at least get another starter.

I think the Bulls have a good shot too, but I think they are more likely to get Bosh than Lebron. Miami also has a good chance of keeping Wade and adding someone else like Boozer.

But it's too hard to tell. There are several possibilities. The Knicks might put together a contending team this summer (such as Parker, Gallo, Lebron, Chandler, and Amare), but they also might not get anyone and have to start building a new plan. I guess we gotta wait and see.

Last edited by raonne at 5/26/2010 2:59:31 PM

Knicks deserve a nice team after decade of debacle...I sure hope all fall into place for once.

Eh, New Yorkers are greedy pigs and don't deserve anything. It's nice to see a team counter-balancing the Yankees in the city. I say let LeBron go to Portland! or Milwaukee! or Seattle! (Bring a team back to Seattle!!! Call them the Seattle SuperLeBronics!)

Nah, there are other horrible teams to balance out the Yankees. Wait until the Mets' annual end of season collapse. It's a close race between the Islanders and the Knicks for consistently worst team in New York. Though the Islanders get the edge since their "slump" has lasted years longer.

(Says the bitter Mets, Islanders, Knicks fan...)

What was up with Wade's comment about not liking the Bulls' lack of loyalty to former players?

Nah, there are other horrible teams to balance out the Yankees. Wait until the Mets' annual end of season collapse. It's a close race between the Islanders and the Knicks for consistently worst team in New York. Though the Islanders get the edge since their "slump" has lasted years longer.

(Says the bitter Mets, Islanders, Knicks fan...)

What was up with Wade's comment about not liking the Bulls' lack of loyalty to former players?

Wade slammin’ the Bulls? My take is this: he’s already decided he’s going to stay in Miami and he wants to dissuade other stars from going to Chicago and go to Miami. It’s sort of like when a girl is a little bit pretty, she’s going to tell everyone that a really pretty girl has a bad personality.

I think this since I’m giving Wade the benefit of the doubt since I he’s either politicking because he wants to make sure he gets an all-star to play on his team, or he’s truly ignorant of the business of the NBA. The NBA is a business, period. Looking closely at Wade’s criticism (you can find it online), I am forced to think about how MJ didn’t retire on good terms with the Bulls since his ego wouldn’t allow him to be friends with Reinsdorf/Krause and always thought they were fighting (though they gave MJ the biggest salary ever as a parting gift). Pippen wasn’t happy with the Bulls since he though that if he wasn’t as good as MJ, he was at least close, and he had a short-term memory when he forgot that the signed a really bad contract once against the advise of the Bulls management (as I recall) and thought he was underpaid (he was). Scottie went to Central Arkansas, not Harvard (no offense meant to you Central Arkansas grads, I didn’t go to Harvard either). Wade didn’t mention that the Bulls do have a history of keeping players around after retirement. Bill Cartwright spent time as the head coach. Pete Myers, who is still a Bull’s coach, took over the head coaching job after Cartwright was fired and again as the interim head coach again after Scott Skiles was fired. John Paxson is currently the VP of Basketball Operations (and the Bulls' puppet master). Bob Love is the Director of Community Affairs. Jerry Sloan has moved on, but a couple of his kids still work for the Bulls. Johnny Red Kerr’s kid also still works for the Bulls (at least I think she does…). And even if the Bulls never showed loyalty to former players and superstars, so what? You think the superstars show loyalty? If LeBron walks from Cleveland, he has only the hypocrite’s right to choose a team based on loyalty. The NBA is a business first and foremost. So either Wade is showing us that he’s sticking with Miami and just trying to give the Bulls a black eye to help himself, or he is truly ignorant of the way professional basketball works.

i just dont get the point of paying a player max contract of 20 million a season which could just be the number 2 guy on a really good team at best.

imagine paying someone who averages 21.3 pts , 4.9 assist , 4.6 rebs. a ballhog who takes jump shots often than taking it to the rim, if you see his minutes are dropping every season and his ft% are going along with it having the latest getting 3.5 attempts only? tell that to your number 1 scorer or best offensive player on the team

this move by the hawks will again add to the books of bad decision ever made in desperation during free agency. im expecting around 2-3 seasons joe johnson will likely be move especially as the stats shows! aside from that 100% sure his going to hurt his team money wise/ flexibility and their chances to improve.

i dont think wade staying with miami has nothing to do with anything of chicago, the way i see it his giving time or chance for maimi to try to persuade him or let him see what miami would do to keep it competitive.

like trying to get another star player, maybe imagine the time duncan before signing with the spurs to make sure he gets help , the spurs immediately get players to surround him.

i think wade is ditching an effort to make the miami desperate enough to get 1-2 very good players in.

the reason for me to believe this is, with the past seasons wade is already getting injured and starting to miss a stretch of games. now for him to move to another doesnt make him more valuable to the other team than the heat and bottom line is wade can get more money in miami than elsewhere in terms of contract.

also if you look at some other teams, i think one move im anticipating is the amare drama. its become clear that probably we wont see him wear the suns uniform anymore. but why sign only a warrick . . . the key here is if im not mistaken they hold the right to match any contract offer presented to him by any team which can lead to a sign and trade for other players.

such can be seen in the David Lee story, his taking trips elsewhere but the difference is NYK doesnt have the right anymore to match any offer given with what they did last season of giving him a 1 year contract.

one thing is exciting is to know where bosh will be headed, till now his just taking his time.

I see JJ as an overpaid, but a move that Hawks should do. With him, they are PO team, without him, back to mediocre years. Yes he is not a franchise player, but its not all or nothing. They are something between. Atlanta is not popular destination for the top FA, so his replacement would be really hard. Also just to note that he game of JJ is not based on his athleticism, so he will age much better than lets say Amare, o Wade.

Sure they'll make the playoffs but they're not going to get anywhere.

So i guess it comes down to what is better?
Letting Joe Johnson go if he doesn't accept a "reasonable" contract to stay in Atlanta and maybe having a mediocre season or two but having the freedom to make long term improvements.

OR

Locking JJ in to a crippling max contract which means that the team won't be able to make any significant improvements and won't be more than a first or second round playoff team at best for the next 5 years or so.

They where in mediocrity for 8 years without PO. They start to built some good reputation, being constant PO team. How you will be able to recruit someone if your talent is poor? its not like they are Chicago or NY (large markets). NBA is not only about to be a champion but also a business too.