It was a one year deal, I think he would have considered coming to the Knicks had they offered the minimum but who knows? Anyways, although you have some good points about Novak’s advantages, you left out his weaknesses. He is easily the Knicks worst defender, and it is not close. That same height that makes him a mismatch on offense makes him a mismatch everywhere on defense. Delfino is at least an average defender.

One thing that’s also ignored far too often about Novak’s offensive skills is his complete lack of ability to do anything but shoot. It’s nice when all the looks are wide open, but if he has a defender closing out on him he doesn’t make the extra pass, or pump and make a dribble inside, or drive past his out of control defender, all things Delfino is capable of doing. Instead, Novak has to sit there and essentially wait and waste precious shot clock time waiting for someone to come rescue him and take the ball away. That’s a very underrated limitation for a 3 point specialist, in the playoffs especially those wide open looks tend to dry up and you have to be able to make a play other than shooting when the ball comes to you. Bonner, Korver, and even Novak last year were all useless in the playoffs, becoming black holes where a possession went to die, except for like once or twice a game in transition. If Amar’e and Shump come back healthy somebody is getting squeezed our of the rotation, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Novak

Juany8: Hell I think the Knicks overpayed Novak, Carlos Delfino was out there and I like him better as a gunner on the team, he can actually do stuff with the ball in his hands and a defender nearby, while providing average defense.

More than a few problems with your Delfino preference –
– While he was “out there,” the Knicks couldn’t have signed him. He’s making $3 million this year and the Knicks could have only offered him the vet minimum. They were able to pay Novak what they did because they had his Bird rights. They couldn’t just take that money and use it to pay Delfino.
– He’s 6’6″. Whose minutes do you want him to take — Kidd, Felton, Shumpert, Brewer, Prigioni or JR? If he took minutes from any of those guys, it would be a lateral move at best, not an improvement.
– A Delfino-Novak comparison is not apples to apples. Novak is 6’10″, which presents unique problems for the other team. They can put a guard on him, in which case he’ll shoot over him, or they can put a “big” on him, in which case he takes one of the big defenders/rebounders away from the lane. Other teams can put a guard on Delfino, which doesn’t space the floor as much as having a 6’10″ sharpshooter. Besides that, over the last two years, Novak has hit 46%v of his 3 pointers, while Delfino has hit 36%. That is a huge difference. A Delfino-JR comparison is much more apt, in which case you can say that, while Delfino is more consistent than JR, he is nowhere near as athletic and explosive. If you want to compare Novak to Ryan Anderson, that is a much more reasonable comparison and I would agree with you that Anderson is better, but the Knicks had no way to get him.

Overall, though, I’m totally fine with finishing out the season with what we have, and have so much faith in Glen G that I feel he would only pull the trigger on a no-brainer type of deal. The team is playing the best ball in the EC by any objective standard, and has an impressive road record as well. I guarantee that every team in the league is taking notice. This next stretch of games will really test us, though.

Juany8: I will say that I’m coming around to Pau Gasol not being the right guy, I will agree with you guys on that.

But why make any trade at all? We’re not playing fantasy basketball, where you can just plug guys in statistically — whether you’re talking old school ppg and rpg, or “advanced” stuff like wins produced or win shares or efficiency or plus/minus, etc., etc. Chemistry matters and right now the Knicks have great chemistry. Why mess with it when things are going well? Why not wait to see how Amare and Shump play out? It’s a loonnnngggg season. It might work out really well, especially since neither is physically going to be able to jump right in and play 35 minutes a night anyway. They will have to be slowly worked into the rotation. If it doesn’t work, then you think about a trade. The deadline is almost three months away.

I’d rather a legit piece and give up Shump and Novak than just bench guys like Prigs or even Brewer because there’s no minutes. Everyone risks injuries, if Wade just breaks down and Ray Allen tweaks his ankle in the playoffs, all of the sudden the Knicks would be the favorites to make the Finals. At this point, the Knicks aren’t trying to win a bunch of games and look cool in the standings, they’re looking straight at postseason strategy. Guys like Chandler, Kidd, and Sheed aren’t here to get excited about a 60 win season. Sacrificing 15 minute players for a key rotation player makes perfect sense to me.

I will say that I’m coming around to Pau Gasol not being the right guy, I will agree with you guys on that.

(Now health come playoff time, that’s a whole other story!)

Kidd is indispensable, he is the brains of this team. Even if he only plays 5-10 mpg, his calming presence in the huddle is huge. Players listen to him, even Melo, Felton and JR.