I’m looking ot start the week off in a good mood, so there’s no use in reviewing a dreadful Knicks weekend other than to say that this team looks lifeless, tired, out of sync, and generally inept. Gallo is hitting the wall and trying to do a little too much. Chandler and Lee are doing what they can, but just aren’t good enough to carry the team. With my least favorite Knick, Al Harrington, injured, we’re getting absolutely nothing offensively off the bench.
If Walsh and D’Antoni were holding on to any illusion about making the playoffs this season, surely it must’ve been shattered this weekend. And, really, this could be a best case scenerio for the future of the franchise. Whereas last year there was still some optimism and hope at the playoff deadline, and that hope probably stopped Donnie from pulling the trigger on any cap clearing Nate or Lee deal, this year we can more easily call a spade a spade.
With all hope lost, it’s time to blow this up completely. It’s time to trade Jared Jeffries. It’s time to see if Nate and Lee will accept being dealt. It’s time to trade Chandler if we need to include him in a deal. I’ll even give up Hill or Douglas. It’s time to trade anyone but Gallo to open up another 6 mil this summer. This season is over.
Hypotheticals I’m in favor of:
Trade idea #1:
Tracy McGrady
FOR
Jordan Hill + Cuttino Mobley + Jeffries
Everyone is talking about McGrady to the Knicks. I do this in a heart beat, not because McGrady will save this season but because it saves the Knicks over 9 mil this summer. Houston gets a productive prospect out of the deal in Jordan Hill, a versatile team defender in Jeffries, and potential insurance savings from Mobley.
Trade idea #2:
Mike Miller (last year of $10 mil contract)
FOR
Jordan Hill + Jeffries + Toney Douglas
Washington is going to blow their team up, and will probably find a way to shed/save money in dealing Jamison and Butler. In this deal Washington doesn’t save money, but it does get them 2 young players for rebuilding. For the Knicks, it saves them over $10 mil in 2010 contracts, despite having to give up a lot of youth.
And my favorite. Trade idea #3:
Josh Howard (last year at $10, having a bad year) + Beaubois (rookie contract, $1.1 mil. athletic pg prospect)
FOR
Chandler ($1.2) + Nate ($4) + Jeffries ($6.5, 2 yrs).
The Knicks get their 2010 cap room, and an exciting PG prospect. Dallas trades little used rookie PG to get 3 players that can help them win it all this year. They get some needed backup scoring at the guard position. They get a super versatile, team-oriented wingman in Chandler who can play on both ends of the court. And they get a D specialist in Jeffries, who they can sick on anyone giving them trouble.
Other cap saving ideas???
#1 by Grade-A-Funk-u-Very-Much on February 1, 2010 - 5:10 pm
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Knicks get (and immediately buy out): Ray Allen
Celtics get: Nate Robinson, Darko, Jared Jeffries
Celtics could get Allen back for the playoffs rested and ready to go.
#2 by AY on February 1, 2010 - 6:58 pm
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I think you’re on to something with Jeffries to D.C.! You figure they’d want character guys after their problems. They probably like him there.
I also like the Celtics idea posted here. Nate needs to get traded there for whatever they’re offering.
It sounds like others may have better offers for McGrady.
We have to &@#@’n move Jeffries!
Of our future pieces (Danilo, Chandler, Douglas, Hill, Landry in descending order), we have to give up one of Douglas/Hill it looks like. Danilo and Chandler are probably too much to give up, and Landry has no value.
Hill’s a goner!
#3 by YesandtheFoul on February 2, 2010 - 9:52 am
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I think Alex is on to something with the Celts trade, too. Nate would really take their cockiness to a whole new level. KG would love him. He’s a game changer and big mismatch against certain teams, and you need that in the playoffs. The only thing stopping that is if the Celts absolutely refuse to be responsible for helping the Knicks create the cap space that gets them both James and Bosh.
I think a Wiz trade is an option, too. Crap, why not even just revisit the Chandler and Jeffries offer, but for Miller? The Wiz would do that, and they’d then be able to move Caron Butler more easily. Giving up Chandler for cap space is pretty rough, but that’s what this 2010 plan is about if we’re going to be realistic. NO ONE is taking back an extra year on Jeffries without sweetening the pot.
Like I wrote in the article, I really think the dark horse here is somehow getting the Josh Howard cap space. With Kidd, that team is on borrowed time a little bit, and they really need just a little extra to take them over the top. And, if I were Cuban, I’d rather get Chandler on the cheap than get Iguodola’s contract (as speculated). I don’t think Cuban has any problems helping the Knicks create their Lebron cap space. In fact, he might relish it in some weird Cuban-esque way.