No journalist in the country seems to have a working understanding of the NBA salary cap. Cannot believe these guys get paid.

He did add a caveat in the actual article to say that not all of those players could be signed, just that those would be the players that the Knicks would be looking at.

Melo can’t make anything happen, though. He has zero leverage. He’s under contract for next season. Denver has almost no commitments past this season and probably isn’t too worried.

@153

That’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever read. I really hope that’s a joke. Felton is maybe the worst starting PG in the NBA offensively…………….. Duhon type bad. At least he’s a very strong defender.
How do these hacks get jobs? The Knicks cannot sign Felton, Amare, Miller, AND Lee. Completely impossible financially. No journalist in the country seems to have a working understanding of the NBA salary cap. Cannot believe these guys get paid.

“The Knicks’ pursuit of Felton is a strong indication of a backup plan the team is ready to carry out if it doesn’t land James. Sources say team president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D’Antoni would then try to get a quick commitment from Felton and use a legit point guard as an enticement to one of the other free agents — Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire. Then, the Knicks could try to add one more piece — such as small forward Mike Miller — before going over the cap to retain Lee, assuming they didn’t have to renounce his rights to do it. If they did, the Knicks would probably have to forego one of the signings in order to fit Lee into their $34.1 million of salary-cap space.”

This should be good enough for at least 30 wins, and would probably lead the league in OPP PPG:

Felton
Miller
Gallo
Lee
Stoudemire

“The Nets think they did well.”

SHOCKING!

You could obviously run the same exact story for the Knicks (who also left their meeting optimistic), but nope, it doesn’t fit the narrative.

Ted – that’s the point: Melo knows next year not many teams will have the cap space they have this year, so this year is the year to make something happen. Otherwise, he’s at the mercy of a constricted market, hoping for at best a sign-and-trade. This year, he can say trade me or I walk and you get nothing – which puts the onus on Denver to get something for him before they can’t get much. Denver has more leverage with a trading partner now than they will mid-season.

That being said, yeah, they will probably get significantly better offers than Chandler + Curry. It’s not a terrible offer -Chandler is OK, and clearing Curry from their cap space still allows them to make some free agency moves. But they will probably get better. I hope we don’t let go of Gallo, though; the kid has shown flashes. I think it’s 50/50 he becomes a Top Twenty NBA player. In other words, about as good as Melo.

Could have honestly loved playing in NYC, but probably needs another team to bid up his services. Phoenix is so cheap that I doubt they offer Frye above market value, especially before they settle their Amare situation. They’re probably low-balling Frye, and telling him: “if you think you’re worth more than that, show us an offer.” Or his agent anticipates that’s what they’ll do and/or they just told him to take a seat until Amare is resolved.

Jay-Z is one of LeBron’s best friends. Maybe an idol of his in some ways. LeBron goes so far as to say Brooklyn is his favorite borough publicly. Jay-Z can say he’s not going to recruit LeBron, but his presence alone makes Brooklyn a contender.
Basketball wise, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez isn’t that far behind Rose/Noah if Harris recovers and Lopez develops (especially defensively). Favors has huge upside. They’ve got extra cap space.

@121 Brian

Depends… you could get one higher upside guy for Paul probably. Rubio + #4 (take Cousins) and maybe the rest of Minni’s picks might have been their best play if Kahn was interested. 4 rotation players and 1st rounder isn’t 1/2 bad, though. It’s a conservative trade, but a solid haul that keeps NO right about where it is as a playoff team. 2 of those rotation players with considerable upside (though Bayless is redundant with Thornton). 3 of them have very good defensive reputations. Miller to sheppard Collison. Miller, Bayless, Batum, West, Przybilla, Okafor, Collison, Peja, Julian Wright, Marcus Thornton, Craig Brackins, Quincy Pondexter, James Posey, #22 pick… that’s a REALLY deep team with some upside. Lots of assets.
Paul’s knees also have to be a question. If the Hornets traded him after last season they could name their price… he was maybe the #2 player in the whole NBA. This season was bad. If they think he’ll come back strong they are probably best off holding him till he proves it. If his knees are shot, now was the time to dump him.