In a perfect world Novak could get you something. IDK what though. I would like to get Freddette and Patterson from the Kings but I don’t know how. Hopefully Freddette could work himself into a quality role player e.g., Redick, but they are different athletes. However I still think the Knicks need a wing player that moves off of screens. I thought Smith could be that person and Melo would do more of that but. He can’t be the main post up, run off screens, and PnR ball handler option all the time. Having a healthy Amar’e to start the season was key to having players settle into there roles but oh well.

Back to going forward. Donte Green, Martel Webster, Young Big, draft a pg, and trade Novak is where I would start.

max fisher-cohen: @Frank, We haven’t really been great even when healthy though. See: the months of January and February, when NY was 14-11 against a really easy schedule.

To be fair, Felton was out for all of January. Rasheed and Camby were basically non-entities for all of February. But you’re right – we did not play very well in February even when most of the bodies were healthy.

Grunwald is going to have to do some really impactful stuff this offseason. I actually don’t mind that much if we fall in the standings — it’d obviously be nice to win the division and get a top 4 seed, but at the very least, a fall in the standings will equal a better draft pick – which may be the most important draft pick this team has had in a few years. The difference between a 6 seed and a 3 seed is really just one game at home — and if that one home game really is that important in the first round, then this team was never meant to do anything significant anyway.

I’d say more like balanced relative to what my perspective is of what’s reasonable, so yeah, who’s to judge what’s balanced? I just often find that when I research your posts, you often leave out the details that would reflect unfavorably on the Knicks. The Dallas analogy is just one example. That’s why I perceive you to be unbalanced. But you’re right — who’s to judge?

As far as flags go, I’ve been pretty consistent this whole year in my view of the Knicks as a decent team in a bad conference with 47-52 wins as a likely outcome. I’d love for the evidence to convince me otherwise.

I approached the Melo trade with a relatively open mind, believing that if certain things broke right for New York (find a good PnR point, pick up a stretch four who could shoot and was a good help defender, have Melo do more spotting ups and slashing and less isolation), they could be very very good for as long as STAT’s body held up, and that if not, management would be responsive to chemistry issues rather than allowing Stoudemire to become the albatross that he is. When that didn’t happen, my view of this team changed. I began to see them as trapped distinctly in the 2nd tier of wannabe teams. Just as my opinion changed then, though, it could change again.

@Frank, We haven’t really been great even when healthy though. See: the months of January and February, when NY was 14-11 against a really easy schedule. The only time this team has been very good was early on, when the team was shooting 3s way better than could be expected. And I still believe that a core of Melo, JR at a his discount rate and Chandler is a really good place to start for a team looking to emulate Dallas as a long shot for a title. The problem is the rest of the roster is either just not very good or is very overpaid. 2010 Kidd and Marion are better by leaps and bounds than any of the complementary players New York has.

In terms of this losing streak? Obviously it matters in the standings, but is it any surprise at all that a team missing it’s TOP 4 frontcourt players can’t score and can’t win? Imagine Miami without Lebron, Bosh, Battier, and Haslem. Imagine Indiana without Hibbert, West, George, and Granger. SA without Duncan, Splitter, Blair, and Jackson. Clips without Griffin, Jordan, Butler, and Odom. To be honest, I’m almost impressed that we kept it that close with the Clippers yesterday.

@16 MWFC – I don’t think these Knicks are as good as Dallas was, but I don’t think they’re that much worse either. Other than Dirk, that team had amazingly good luck and health – and even Dirk played 73 games. Our team is obviously old, but our most important guys are not – and the most painful injuries have happened to guys in their prime – Felton, Melo, Chandler (who has not missed much time) and Amare. And remember, Amare’s current injury is to his good knee. For the most part this is just bad luck.

Robtachi:
I was able to trade Amar’e to the Rockets for Thomas Robinson in NBA 2K13 so frankly I dunno what the hell Grunwald’s problem is.

you should ask “what the hell Morey’s problem is” if he does this~

Balanced relative to the rest of the board, that’s how you should think of it.

It’s really easy to throw up the white flag and be negative right now.

Brian Cronin:
Harden’s years younger, so it’s not exactly a fair comp.

Based on current talent alone. So like disregard Hardens upside who would you say is the most talented player. Don’t judge based on who you will build around just on pure talent.

Look, you gather all the evidence in favor of a certain conclusion and pile it up on the table in front of you, it’s going to look impressive. I could make a case that McDonalds is good for you if I just looked at the factors that favor that conclusion (I’m sure McD’s pays many people to do just that). The same goes for the Knicks. You do a great job of researching reasons why the Knicks are better than they seem. Seriously, your posts are often very interesting and have sometimes influenced the way I think of the team. But balanced… no.

You want to compare them to Dallas, but 1st, they’re not as good as that Dallas team by a long shot. Those Mavs, while they lost a lot of games badly without Dirk, were also utterly dominant for large blocks of the season. The Knicks started 18-5? Those Mavs started 30-5. Dirk got hurt, and they lost a number of games by double digits, and when Dirk got 100% healthy, they went on another ridiculous run, winning 18 of 19 games in a far better conference than New York’s. Nowitzki was a +16.3 PPG that season. The argument that Dallas would be better in the playoffs when DIrk would play more minutes was pretty easy to make. Not only are the Knicks’ stars’ +/-s less impressive, but they’re all already playing heavy minutes. Dirk only played 34 MPG in 2010/11.

As far as going to the ECF goes, it’s certainly possible. But beat the Heat… Without the Heat suffering injuries, I’d put the odds of that at maybe 1/100. Unlike New York, they have actually proven they can win in the playoffs. Our recent near victory? Orlando and Philly were MIA’s next 2 opponents. Both had 2nd half leads vs. Miami and lost by a small margin. Are they going to beat the Heat in a 7 game series as well? If you’re going to dismiss a team’s performance, it should be the Knicks, who are three months removed from playing anything like they did in those two early season victories.