858 replies to this topic

[BigSoxFan]

Going to be a very interesting offseason for this team. With Amare fading, there is absolutely no low post scoring threat on the Knicks. Tyson Chandler is so incredibly inept in that department even though he is 7'1. I mean, how hard is it to develop a simple baby hook? Carmelo just isn't going to beat the elite teams by himself but I have no idea where that help is going to come from.

[Three10toLeft]

Amnestying Chauncey is going to look worse and worse with every passing moment this off season.

What can NY do with Amar'e? Nothing.

You're starting 5 is going to consist of Lin, Melo and Amar'e. Three of the worst defenders in the league at their respective positions.

This team will be lucky to push their next playoff matchup past 5 games, if they even get there.

[jon abbey]

Three10toLeft, on 09 May 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Amnestying Chauncey is going to look worse and worse with every passing moment this off season.

Even though it got them the DPOY? I guess you mean because now they can't amnesty Amare, but it's far from clear they'd do that anyway, and Billups himself wasn't much of an asset this year, on court anyway.

But yeah, this team has essentially been fucked since LeBron turned them down. Then again, so have most other teams not named Miami or Oklahoma City.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

For the series Steve Novak, Landry Fields, and Amare Stoudemire combined to take 76 shots, shooting a combined 51%. JR Smith took 76 shots and shot 31%.

Hell of a game plan, Woody.

[BigSoxFan]

jon abbey, on 09 May 2012 - 09:48 PM, said:

Even though it got them the DPOY? I guess you mean because now they can't amnesty Amare, but it's far from clear they'd do that anyway, and Billups himself wasn't much of an asset this year, on court anyway.

But yeah, this team has essentially been fucked since LeBron turned them down. Then again, so have most other teams not named Miami or Oklahoma City.

Billups was an asset before he got hurt - was averaging 15/2.5/4.0. Maybe his injury would have occurred with the Knicks, maybe not.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

BigSoxFan, on 10 May 2012 - 08:54 AM, said:

Billups was an asset before he got hurt - was averaging 15/2.5/4.0. Maybe his injury would have occurred with the Knicks, maybe not.

Hindsight is obviously helpful in cases like this, but I agree that the Knicks might re-think the Chandler decision if they had it to do over again.

Don't get me wrong, Tyson Chandler is a great player and was really the only consistent contributor the team had this season, but I'm not sure the Knicks foresaw the effect his arrival was going to have on Amare. He struggled as a 4 this year, and Chandler's presence only intensified the spacing issues that Carmelo and Amare cause when they're on the floor together. Incidentally, Carmelo struggled as a 3 this year. So the addition of Chandler forced the franchise's two most valuable (or at least expensive) pieces into roles in which they're less effective.

But again, I think the Knicks front office genuinely felt that Chandler was a piece that made them contenders, and as such felt that roster flexibility wasn't particularly important. I think they felt like he was the final piece in the building process, and now that that's turned out to be incorrect, have--in typical Knicks fashion--hamstrung themselves pretty badly.

As much as I love Tyson Chandler, I think I'd much prefer to be in a position where Billups, J.R. Smith, Fields, Novak, Jeffries, etc. were expiring AND they still had the amnesty in their back pocket as insurance for Amare. There's a certain point guard across the East River that I'm pretty sure they'd like the cap space to go after right now, and failing that, I'm sure they'd be happy to add New York City resident Steve Nash.

This offseason, they should try to do the following things:

1. Trade Amare. Which is to say, give him away to anybody that will take him. There will be teams with cap space that could afford to take him on and the sheer stupidity of half of the league's GM's provides a glimmer of hope that it's possible. And if they somehow do find a taker, they need to bring in a 3 who defends well to mask Carmelo's deficiency, and make Anthony a full time 4. His PER is substantially better as a 4 than as a 3, and that's just what he is now.

2. Find a real coach. Injuries or not, that Miami series was the most pathetically coached series I've ever seen. Woodson failed to make any adjustments, couldn't get Amare or the leagues best three point shooter shots, and reverted back to his old Atlanta ways of ISO after ISO. It's simply not a winning strategy in the NBA.

3. Try to trade Amare again.

But realistically, this is probably the team they're stuck with. Which is why I think the only real avenue of change involves a new coach.

Edited by Grin&MartyBarret, 10 May 2012 - 10:29 AM.

[jon abbey]

BigSoxFan, on 10 May 2012 - 08:54 AM, said:

Billups was an asset before he got hurt - was averaging 15/2.5/4.0. Maybe his injury would have occurred with the Knicks, maybe not.

He got hurt to end the previous year too, not a lot of 35 year old PGs getting big minutes in the league.

The Amare deal they should try to make is with the Nets, once Williams and Wallace opt out, for Humphries and sign and trades with JR Smith (yes, JR Smith) and Novak.

If NY really valued the cap space over Chandler, one would think they could move the reigning DPOY and open up space.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

jon abbey, on 10 May 2012 - 10:53 AM, said:

If NY really valued the cap space over Chandler, one would think they could move the reigning DPOY and open up space.

It's not Chandler's cap space they value, it's Amare's cap space they value.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

The Players Union has officially asked the league to clarify the rules pertaining to Bird Rights in the new CBA. The union is challenging the league's interpretation of the rules which states that a player loses his Bird Rights when he switches teams after being waived. It's unlikely that the league will alter the rule, but if they did it would make this off-season much simpler for the Knicks. They would then be allowed to re-sign Lin and Novak using Bird Rights which would preserve their mid-level exception.