A lot of it might also come down to what they think of Jason Smith. A Evans/Smith platoon gives you some of what you get from Randolph (rebounding/a bigman who can shoot) at a fraction of the price and without the headaches.

Randolph + #6 for Evans + #16 + 2009 pick

Throw in Nate if they want him. Or, better yet, prodigal son Mardy Collins…

Think of it as Evans + #16 + 90% chance of being under the cap by 2010 vs. Randolph + #6 + 50% chance…

…and it makes more sense.

But I did say it was a steep price. You and Mike are probably right that it’s too steep — at least, for now.

People here hate Randolph so much — myself included — that it’s a hard to gauge his real value around the league. I suspect it is very low, that a straight Randolph-Evans trade would NOT play… but as others haven said, you only need to find one sucker. Maybe Isiah will get a job somewhere.

fwiw, I don’t think there’s a huge talent dropoff between 6 and 11, or even 6 and 16… but again, it comes down to specific players.

Randolph & 6 for Evans & 16… hard to say. Depends what we think of the players at #6 and 16. Probably a little steep. Maybe the Sixers could be swayed to throw in a future first, like in 2010.

Don’t worry about Reggie Evans — the point is to get his shorter contract, not his lumpy body. Even so — he’s been a solid player, one of the top 5 rebounders in the league, even if he doesn’t offer anything else. Not in the age bracket we’re looking for, but he has value and would be easy to re-route.

“The Indiana Pacers are trying to dangle the #11 pick in hopes of being able to package it with one of their ugly contracts (preferably Jermaine O’Neal). There is talk out of O’Neal’s camp that he anticipates being trade to Cleveland at some point this summer, possibly in a deal involving expiring contracts such as Wally Szczerbiak and Eric Snow. ”

We really should get into this — if healthy, Jermaine is exactly what we need inside, at least from a defensive perspective. AND he expires after 2010 if I remember correctly. If we can somehow pick him AND the #11 pick for Marbury and Rose or something like that, that would be fantastic.

“One team that is apparently looking to move up in this draft is Philadelphia, thanks to the plethora of cap space they will enjoy coming July 1st. The Sixers are reportedly realizing that there could be very few quality unrestricted free agents available that they could realistically sign, making their precious cap space essentially useless.

One trade that is making the rounds would involve the Knicks sending Zach Randolph and the rights to the #6 pick to Philadelphia for a smaller contract, such as Reggie Evans, and the rights to the #16 pick—after July 1st (when Philadelphia’s cap space kicks in). New York would move into position to have significant cap space in the summer of 2010 (possibly to make a run at LeBron James) by unloading the 17.3 million dollars owed to Randolph in 2010/11, and would still be able to keep David Lee around.”

That would be horrible. I want to get rid of Zach but not this badly. What would we do with Reggie Evans and David Lee in the frontcourt? Curry and Evans? yick.

Agreed, and even though I’m against most trades involving giving up the pick I’d definitely be in favor of moving from 6 to 11 to move Randolph for JO.

Donnie Walsh should be in a good position to know what Larry Bird thinks about various players as well as what Bird thinks the Pacers need. I would also assume Walsh is in as good a position as anyone to judge whether JO is over the hill or primed for a comeback year.

As far as the Pistons, Randolph seems to be the anti-Dumars guy but maybe Dumars takes the chance that bringing him into a strong team-first environment will help Zach reach his potential (may be a stretch, but so is any Randolph deal at this point).

“Also, we can still get a good point at 11, which is what we will need”

As much as they need a 1, I really think the Knicks need the best player available.

I agree with you. The only reason I thought to include the 6th (in exchange for the 11th) in the Indy deal is that they are taking on two extra tears of Randolph salary and they want to move up. Also, we can still get a good point at 11, which is what we will need after securing a defensive post guy like O’neal. I think we have to sweeten the pot in a deal to move Randolph that involves a shorter contract coming back. Other than the 6th, our most attractive sweeteners are Lee and the expiring deal of Rose. I dont want to trade Lee for a ? at 6, so include the 6th and ask Isiah to make the pick at 11. He is still on the payroll right?