The Official What Would You Do This Off-Season Thread

[Greenie]

The off-season is almost here and I want to know what you guys would do if you were GM and overall what you would like to see done with this roster. Post all of those ideas hear for some feedback from other fans.

Knowing that Mike Woodson will be our coach moving forward, we can kind of know what kind of players to look for or suggest for the Knicks to go after in the off-season.

Some points I would like hit on are:
*Whats the overall plan this off-season for the team you would construct?
*What would we do with our current roster?(meaning who would we re-sign, and who would we trade)
*What should we do in the draft(trade up, down or out)?
* Who should we look at in Free Agency? We only have the Vet Min to work with so we can't have the big names(unless you plan on trading someone).
*What the roster would look like at the beginning of next season, and what would be the expected potential and why of said roster?



OK guys what are your plans for the Knicks?(Yes, I'm bored )

[Greenie]

I'll post mine a little later.

[Context]

It's hard to formulate a plan when ur not in the trenches. I would trade Stat but have no idea what I could really get. I would try to work a deal with a team that could use Amare as the #1 scoring option; netting me an extra pick in the draft and a young complementary player. If the arbitration ruling went against the Knicks I would ask Lin if he would help us keep Novak. If not, and nothing could be worked out with Novak I would move on. I would draft a point guard only if I felt he was ready to step in and be a back-up. I would also hire an up and coming innovative offensive coach to be Woodys assistant.

That's all for now...

[The Boss Speaks]

the knicks need to make a deal with golden state and/or portland to draft a swing man and a point guard (i would love to get Scoop) and I wouldn't mind drafting Sims outta GTown (We could use a good PF to spell Stat). On the Free agent front: Odom comes to mind....and if JR leaves look for the knicks to go after A. Parker out of Cleveland. So far I got two to three rookies and two free agents

[melo mvp 15]

Obviously the arbitration has a HUGE effect on whatever we do. Since I'm an optimist, let's say the union wins the case, this is what I do:

-Draft the best player available. It's simple, we don't have one specific need and the 2nd round is already a crap shoot- no need to limit our odds.
-Trade Douglas for any 2nd rounder, if possible.
-Re-sign Jeremy Lin. Obvious. However, I'm positive that it's gonna happen by us matching a deal for another team so he can get more money.
-Re-sgin Steve Novak. Nothing crazy but 3 years $8-9 mil sounds good.
-Assuming JR opts out, re-sign JR to one year $3 million. He might get a bigger offer elsewhere though.
-Since we won the arbitration in this scenario: Sign Andre Miller to the tax payer's MLE. If not Miller, then Odom, Martin or Kidd. (Assuming Lin and Novak get compensated generously we'll be into or near the luxury tax)
-Re-sign Landry to 3 years $12 million. Despite his poor play, he's shown great flashes with Lin and I think he's a great back up SF who could see a lot of time if we play Melo at the 4. Sign and trade for Dorrel Wright could be an option too.
-Sign Jared Jefferies to the minimum.
-Sign Johnny Flynn to the minimum.
-Try to convince Baron to stay with the team similar to Jeff Green in Boston this year. I love his positive impact on the team. Basically as a consultant/assistant coach whenever he's healthy enough to do so.


Leaves us with:

PG: Lin/ Miller/ Flynn
SG: Shumpert*/ JR/ Fields
SF: Carmelo/ Fields/ Novak
PF: Amar'e/ Novak/ Jefferies
C: Tyson/ Jorts/ Jefferies/ Jordan

*Obviously when Shumpert is healthy, until then start Landry or Miller at SG.
+2nd round draft pick (and possibly another gotten for TD)

This is basically the extremely optimistic yet grounded in reality approach. Bring back the same exact roster with one addition (Miller, Odom, or Martin) or two and the 2nd rounder.

We saw the success we had under Woodson with this team. People want to over-react and say this team needs major changes because of the Miami series, but don't forget how depleted we were against the worst possible match up. Sure if a good or decent Amar'e trade is possible, do it... but I don't see it happening and it's not worth getting rid of him just get rid of him (i.e. taking back complete crap).

[SonOfMars]

can someone explain to me how this arbitration would work?

[emo]

greenhughes

[Thugger HBC]

can someone explain to me how this arbitration would work?

Basically, one side (NBAPA), is claiming when players are waived and do not clear meaning someone picked up the player and his contract, thus avoiding free agency, early bird rights should carry with the player as well, since the contract wasn't broken, as like a trade.

The other side, (The NBA) doesn't agree with that, and cite this section below....


“Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agent” means a Veteran Free Agent who, prior to becoming a Veteran Free Agent, played under one or more Player Contracts covering some or all of each of the two (2) preceding Seasons, and who either exclusively played with his Prior Team during such two Seasons, or, if he played for more than one Team during such period, changed Teams only (i) by means of trade, or (ii) by signing with his Prior Team during the first of the two (2) Seasons

The only is the key.

The arbitrator hears both sides, may ask both parties what does the sections in question truly mean to them, then looks into the actual CBA, and normally comes out with a binding rendering.

[SonOfMars]

Understood.

Thanks for that!

[Thugger HBC]

Well first off I would have more than one contingency plan to build the roster, but the primary plan will cover the possibility that the arbitration case will be denied in favor of the league.

Immediately put my scouts to work, comb the d-league, int'l scene, and monitor the draft for guys who go undrafted.

Since I know I can't buy a draft pick, I would have to use my second round pick on a player that is two way inclined and mature enough to step right in, position is irrelevant.

Match Lin's offer he signs, use MLE if EBR not awarded.

Sign Novak using EBR if awarded, otherwise offer two year BAE, if he declines so be it....hold this exception for another sharpshooter, and tender same offer to them.

Sign Fields, Jeffries.

Hope JR Smith opts in.

Find one guy who can still play good minutes (20) in the backcourt who may come for vet min, such as Delonte West, Deshawn Stevenson, or Tmac.


My pretty much final lineup would be Amare, Melo, Tyson, Lin, Shump, Jeffries, 2012 2nd round pick, BAE player, Fields, Jorts, Jordan, vet min guy combo guard, vet min pg, scout player

[SonOfMars]

Ok, now i can answer this as well

DRAFT: Trade TD for a 2nd round...i'll assume its another late 2nd round pick..
Draft a PG: Machado, Casper Ware, Holloway, Wayns...whoevers available..in that order
With the pick we traded TD for..draft a big, i dont really like ANY that'll be available..but whatever..lets say Kevin Jones

OFFSEASON:
Hope JR opts IN
Let Novak walk...Kapono, Korver, Morrow...all these guys got big paydays after a great shooting season..and once the rest of the league knew about them...they disappeared. I love Novak..but cant help but to think he'll fall in that line
Jason Kidd or Andre Miller with the arbitration?! [lets say Kidd ]
Re-sign Lin, by any means
Re-sign Jeffries
Sign a young SG that'll be available, Cartier Martin? Alonzo Gee?

Ideal Lineup heading in:

PG: Lin/Kidd/Machado
SG: Shump*/Smith/Martin
SF: Melo/Landry
PF: STAT/Big Jorts/K. Jones
C: Tyson/Jeffries/Jorts

[lleepar]

can someone explain to me how this arbitration would work?

Basically, one side (NBAPA), is claiming when players are waived and do not clear meaning someone picked up the player and his contract, thus avoiding free agency, early bird rights should carry with the player as well, since the contract wasn't broken, as like a trade.

The other side, (The NBA) doesn't agree with that, and cite this section below....


“Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agent” means a Veteran Free Agent who, prior to becoming a Veteran Free Agent, played under one or more Player Contracts covering some or all of each of the two (2) preceding Seasons, and who either exclusively played with his Prior Team during such two Seasons, or, if he played for more than one Team during such period, changed Teams only (i) by means of trade, or (ii) by signing with his Prior Team during the first of the two (2) Seasons

The only is the key.

The arbitrator hears both sides, may ask both parties what does the sections in question truly mean to them, then looks into the actual CBA, and normally comes out with a binding rendering.

Frankly, it all looks pretty definitive when you look at the very limited section of one or two definitions. OTOH, I don't know if these arbitation proceedings would (or could) consider some sort of contractual jeopardy argument when a player is claimed off waivers. If the contract is assigned to another team and continues to be in force, the player still has all the obligations of that contract, and should, therefore, retain all the benefits of the same contract -- including those those benefits which confer certain levels of seniority status within the league.

In fact, there could be an argument made that the CBA's position could be construed to be in conflict with its own player contracts under certain provisions common contract law, which could cause all sorts of a unforeseen consequences if the League insists on going down that path. I don't suggest a favorable outcome from these proceedings, but there's got to be wiggle-room somewhere in these documents. A lot depends on the vigor in which the NBA might oppose the Union's position.

Also, as Spaceballer cautioned, we're looking at various interpretations of the CBA for our definitions, not the actual language. Even when definitions in a specific clause seem specific, we never know if later in the same subsection we've got some language about to the effect of saying nothing in the subsection shall be construed to be in conflict with ... whatever. So I continue to be personally frustrated about not having any sort of a handle on exactly what is being argued.
.

[melo mvp 15]

Ok, now i can answer this as well

DRAFT: Trade TD for a 2nd round...i'll assume its another late 2nd round pick..
Draft a PG: Machado, Casper Ware, Holloway, Wayns...whoevers available..in that order
With the pick we traded TD for..draft a big, i dont really like ANY that'll be available..but whatever..lets say Kevin Jones

OFFSEASON:
Hope JR opts IN
Let Novak walk...Kapono, Korver, Morrow...all these guys got big paydays after a great shooting season..and once the rest of the league knew about them...they disappeared. I love Novak..but cant help but to think he'll fall in that line
Jason Kidd or Andre Miller with the arbitration?! [lets say Kidd ]
Re-sign Lin, by any means
Re-sign Jeffries
Sign a young SG that'll be available, Cartier Martin? Alonzo Gee?

Ideal Lineup heading in:

PG: Lin/Kidd/Machado
SG: Shump*/Smith/Martin
SF: Melo/Landry
PF: STAT/Big Jorts/K. Jones
C: Tyson/Jeffries/Jorts

Korver and Morrow continued to be great shooters, which is exactly what they're paid to do. Neither of them didn't live up to their contracts. Kapono did fall off after his pay day, but he also left the perfect role and got a big pay day.

My only concern with Novak is opposing defense and scouting getting better. We saw Miami make him completely useless and if he gets a decent contract (which he will) and gets shut down like he did vs Miami... it'll be bad. I mean, I think any solid plays and PG could help avoid countering what happened vs Miami and it could also be useful because he basically requires a defenders attention at all time leaving other guys open to not be doubled.

[SonOfMars]

Yeah, i maybe exaggerated with the word "disappear"

But mainly because, they earned their payday based on 1 or 2 "BIG" seasons, and kinda just blended into the background as a good shooter after that. Basically, the payday he'll be getting, wont match his numbers next season

[Since89]

Trade Amare for Iggy

Lock Iggy in Gym for summer shooting only 3s

Scoop LO

Sign back up PG (anthony carter is fine)

Hope AR JR opts in

Lin / Iggy / Melo / Jorts / Ty Chandler

Carter / AR / Fields / LO / Jeffries

Close Games with Lin / Iggy / Melo / LO / Chandler

#TYBG

[CrazyKnicks]

Trade Fields, Amare and Melo, attempt to acquire picks.

Don't resign JR/Novak and find some young versatile role players that can be developed.

[aq_ua]

First thing I would do is announce publicly that neither Amar'e, Melo nor Chandler are being traded. Full stop. Not for Dwight, not for Deron, not for Kobe, not for Wade.

Once that gets through everyone's heads, then I would start addressing all the holes we have remaining.

Let's look at the existing inventory:

- Defensive stopper in the backcourt: Iman Shumpert - check
- Backup swing jack of all trades: Landry Fields - check - absolutely must resign
- Young point guard: Jeremy Lin - check - absolutely must resign
- Young brutish forward: Josh Harrellson - check

Needs:

- Veteran point guard with ability to penetrate:
- Candidates: Steve Nash, Raymond Felton, Sebastian Telfair, Ronnie Price

- Veteran backup center with strong defensive skills:
- Candidates: Tony Battie, Shelden Williams, Jeff Foster, Gadz, Aaron Gray

- Veteran backup power forward with good rebounding skills:
- Candidates: Lamar Odom, Reggie Evans, Troy Murphy, Boris Diaw

- Three point shooters at swing positions
- Steve Novak, Marco Bellinelli, Danny Green, Gary Neal, Vlad Radmanovic, Delonte West, Manny Harris, Michael Redd

We need to go strong after Steve Nash, Lamar Odom, and Novak in that order. After that, any of the remaining guys can fill the holes decently well to make a strong playoff push in a 4-5 seed terriority.

[Dr. Detfink]

Trade Fields, Amare and Melo, attempt to acquire picks.

Don't resign JR/Novak and find some young versatile role players that can be developed.

Completely blow up the team?

See, I would go with that, initially. Knicks have proven to be mediocre drafters.


GET a TOP PG. don't care who has to go. What it takes. GET ONE. End this farce.

Draft SIZE...and attitude. NO SOFT players.

KEEP Chandler.

[TwelvePac]

I would trade Amare for Gerald Wallace and filler (a trade exception would be great too). This would continue the trend toward becoming a defense oriented team.

I would gamble that Josh Harrelson can get a little better and hopefully he can be a reliable big minute guy of the bench at PF and C. The key would be to start Melo at PF and Wallace at SF and be able to rely on Harrelson to come in at the PF and then slide Melo to the SF slot, then Wallace to SG.

I am not going to try to convince people here that Wallace for Amare is a fair trade because that is not what I am aiming for (feel free to make suggestions or bash). All I know is that sometime trades that seem not to make sense end up working because of the different make-up of the teams involved.

I think from NY's point of view and after watching a season and a half and hearing the comentating at games is pretty obvious that the Amare/Melo combo is not a good fit. I rather see Melo become the focus of our offense. Amare also makes us worse in defense which is an area where we sowed at times (during the Woodson era) that we could dominate a game.

From NJ's point of view, I think they can be interested because high profile players in this era like to have other high profile players around to help carry the load (and someone to share the blame when needed). Amare might be the guy that helps the Nets keep Deron and that is why we can trade Amare to them.

Finally I would:

-Spend the MLE on keeping Lin.

-Spend the LLE on a backup Center or PG

-Draft a backup Center or PG

-Hope JR decides to pick his option to stay.

-Trade Tony Douglas for a true pass first PG.

-Find a 3 point shooter who is willing to come play for us for the minimun. I suspect Novak will get paid too much to keep him.

-Hope we can bring back Jeffries for the minimun.

-Try to get Anthony Carter back for the minimun.

-Pray that Shumpert can be fully healed by the last month and a half of next season. He is big key to our future.

[cgf]

NYK:
Earl Watson, PG

Utah:
Toney Douglas, G
Jerome Jordan, C

If JR opts in, trade him, try and use those picks and cap space to get a young center sitting on a bench like Mozgov. If he Opts out, sign a vet like Marcus Camby or see if Mahinmi is looking for a change and wants to follow Tyson to NY.

Chandler/Camby*Mozgov*Mahinmi/Stat/Jorts
Stat/Jorts/Melo/Jeffries
Melo/Novak/Fields
Shump/Fields/Lin
Lin/Watson/Bibby

Try and get a young C to groom or a wing to compete with Fields while Shump is out in the draft and call it a day.