Give Utah the #1 pick…

(1) Keep Jon Wall out of Brooklyn i.e. our competitor for Free Agents and a team within the division. If I’m LeBron I’d be tempted, if I’m open to leaving Cleveland, to join Wall, Lopez, Harris, CDR, and some cap room and build the franchise in BROOKLYN, NY from the ground up myself. If that building can realistically go up in 2011, LBJ will just have to stick it out in Newark (which is what? 20 mins outside of Manhattan) for one season.

(2) Send Wall to cold-ass Utah w/ no fun nor media attention. They’re already good, are out West, and have the least use for a great PG out of almost any team in the league.

It will hurt knowing we could’ve had Wall, but the pick is gone and we’d be better off w/ Wall in Utah. And I know the Nets are going to finish w/ a worse record anyway but we can help our chances. Finally, some may say we’ll look better to FA’s this summer if we win 30 games instead of 25. To that I say… do you really think so???

D-Mar
I’m guessing it’s going to take at least $55 million to sign JJ, Gay, and Bosh, so no the Knicks don’t have the space except if they can dump Curry outright.

Do we have enough cap room to sign Johnson, Bosh and Gay? I guess it depends on how much $$ the first 2 are going to ask for, but that would a pretty nice fallback if Wade and LeBron stay put. Not sure if I understand the anti-Joe Johnson sentiment on this board, someone referred to him as the 3rd best player on the Hawks?? I wouldn’t want him to be my only star, but it’s hard to argue with his production, and he’s got a toughness about him that I like also.

Much more fun to dream about next year.

At this point, who knows if LeBron, Wade or Bosh wants to play in NY.. I don’t think they’ll spend much time comparing which team is better for 2010-2011… they’re signing 5-year deals. They’re young, or young-ish. They just want a good, committed organization. New York, Chicago, Miami, all qualify. Cleveland, too! (Sorry, Toronto – bogged down in bad deals, and crappy personnel decisions for 2 years running).

The main thing is just – don’t screw yourself. If you can’t get the guys you want, you don’t HAVE to spend the money – don’t give $70 million to Joe JOhnson. Spend it on short-term deals, bring back McGrady for $3-4 million per on a one or two year deal, find bargains, keep the cap space for a trade or 2011 — Carmelo Anthony’s on the market. Chris Paul and Deron Williams could opt out. Tyson Chandler, Sam Dalembert, Joel Przybilla – you could get a center!

In the meantime, I’d rather re-sign Lee than either Amare (injuries, prima donna) or Joe Johnson, i.e. the 3rd-best player on the Hawks, about to enter the downslope of his career. Nothing against Joe, but it looks like he’s going to be offered a max deal (by someone). Meanwhile, you could probably sign Ginobili, a better (if more fragile) guy, for under $10 million… or heck, Josh Childress for $5-6 million and have enough left over for David Lee AND LeBron or Bosh.

Not getting LeBron doesn’t mean we’re doomed to oblivion, or even salary cap hell. There isn’t a core player on the Knicks (except McGrady, if he counts) who is declining; everyone’s still on the upside of their career. Not that this should be Plan A or Plan B, but if they re-sign everyone – at decent prices – and add one or two even average starters, I think they’d crack .500 for the first time in a decade.