Knicks-Related Trade "THOUGHTS" Thread

[Grover]

Two weeks for Stats to shine and pump up his value but he is a weak link that does not fit up front. For all of his warts, Josh Smith would be a considerable upgrade defensively and vastly improves the Heat-Knick matchup. The fact that Harris and Morrow could be included to save the Hawks more money at least provides the possibility.

Gasol and Artest for Stats where Novak is rerouted to Milwaukee and Dunleavy heads to the Lakers with somebody like Copeland might get some play if D'Antoni still has Buss' ear.

Someone mentioned Okafor and Ariza for Stats and the Knicks could include Smith and Copeland as Washington has an open roster spot. It's not sexy but both players would join the rotation and lift our team defense.

I am in agreement with an earlier poster that you improve the roster if possible with an eye toward a Heat matchup and hope you don't have to go through the Bulls. Felton is the other weak link as we saw last night but I think he more than likely backs up Kidd come playoff time with Shumpert and JR glued to Wade.

[ORANGEandBLUE]

Two weeks for Stats to shine and pump up his value but he is a weak link that does not fit up front. For all of his warts, Josh Smith would be a considerable upgrade defensively and vastly improves the Heat-Knick matchup. The fact that Harris and Morrow could be included to save the Hawks more money at least provides the possibility.

Gasol and Artest for Stats where Novak is rerouted to Milwaukee and Dunleavy heads to the Lakers with somebody like Copeland might get some play if D'Antoni still has Buss' ear.

Someone mentioned Okafor and Ariza for Stats and the Knicks could include Smith and Copeland as Washington has an open roster spot. It's not sexy but both players would join the rotation and lift our team defense.

I am in agreement with an earlier poster that you improve the roster if possible with an eye toward a Heat matchup and hope you don't have to go through the Bulls. Felton is the other weak link as we saw last night but I think he more than likely backs up Kidd come playoff time with Shumpert and JR glued to Wade.

Even assuming we can get Smooth for Shump and fringe rotation players (including Shump would be an absolute must), where does that get us? We'd be better at guarding Lebron, but worse at guarding Wade and Rose. And we'd be significantly worse offensively, as Smooth cannot dominate in the post like Stat has been doing, and would have to take a lot of his minutes.

And please stop with this Okafor and Ariza crap. Ariza is not the same player any more; his J is gone. Okafor cannot be on the floor with Chandler.

[GONYK]

People need to look and see how hard it was to unload an expiring like Calderon, and then understand that STAT isn't going anywhere.

[Johnny Hoops]

Good debate in this thread on Jennings & others.

I personally -- would kill for us to get Kyle Lowry ----- I just think he is built for tough playoff games in the garden and he would/could be our energizer bunny.

In terms of Jennings - I think some of you guys are being quite harsh on this kid.

I think Jenning's would be a great fit with us because he would be a complete handful in the pick & roll --- also given our propensity to iso Melo --- the ball wouldn't always be in Jennings hands.

The one thing Jennings bring is an ability to get his own shot and to make tough shots. When you get into the playoffs -- you need guys that can get their own shots at the end of games. I just think Jennings would take our offense to another level -- he would give us 3 legit scorers in Melo/Stat/Jennings along with JR.

I would do a deal of Felton/Shump/KT for Jennings/Mbah a Moute.

I think JR/Kidd cover us at the SG position for this year and next.

I think adding Jennings would be huge offensive boost and I think Mbah a Moute would be great defensive player for us.

[seren]

People need to look and see how hard it was to unload an expiring like Calderon, and then understand that STAT isn't going anywhere.

Teams mostly adjusted theirs rosters already. You go after an expiring only under certain conditions: You are in danger for paying tax and you don't want to. This is not the case for any of the teams now. Tax teams are all competing. You are going for a free agent in the summer and need the cap space. Again, this is not the case anymore. Add the new CBA allowing amnesties for pre-2011 signings, stretch provisions for new contracts, and shorter contracts for everyone, it became much easier to unload unwanted contracts other than trading them for expirings.

Finally, I am wondering what is the next move for Detroit. Who will be the next CV or Gordon? Those were the two guys Dumars got them last time they had the cap space.

[ORANGEandBLUE]

People need to look and see how hard it was to unload an expiring like Calderon, and then understand that STAT isn't going anywhere.

Teams mostly adjusted theirs rosters already. You go after an expiring only under certain conditions: You are in danger for paying tax and you don't want to. This is not the case for any of the teams now. Tax teams are all competing. You are going for a free agent in the summer and need the cap space. Again, this is not the case anymore. Add the new CBA allowing amnesties for pre-2011 signings, stretch provisions for new contracts, and shorter contracts for everyone, it became much easier to unload unwanted contracts other than trading them for expirings.

Finally, I am wondering what is the next move for Detroit. Who will be the next CV or Gordon? Those were the two guys Dumars got them last time they had the cap space.

Maybe they'll offer JR the max.

[Johnny Hoops]

They basically have 4 PG's right now....

Knight
Stuckey (combo)
Bynum
Calderone

I'd think (1) or (2) of those guys will be put in some type of deal at the deadline.

[irish2u2]

At this juncture all the Knicks need to do is "fine tune" their roster.

We can do that two ways. One way is little moves. I read somewhere a proposed Ronnie Brewer to Minnesota for Lou Amundson trade. It makes sense. The Knicks have Iman Shumpert back plus JR Smith so SG is covered. The Knicks have Steve Novak and Chris Copeland so SF is covered plus they have James White to fill in as a swingman. White's defense is good and his offense is far better than Brew's. Amundson is a high energy Chris "Birdman" Anderson type minus the tats, rep and home grown crazy. He rebounds and he defends. He is 6'9 and very long and athletic. The trade makes sense because Minnesota has gone from being the Land of the Point Guard to being the Land of the Power Forward. Even with Kevin Love out the Wolves still have 3 PFs ahead of Amundson (Williams, Cunningham and Johnson) and Lou is plainly 4th in that rotation. Amundson gives the Knicks a transitional big who plays defense behind Amar'e Stoudemire's offense while Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby heal up. As a bonus Amundson is signed only through this season.

A bigger move that solidifies the Knicks and adds much needed defense and rebounding is trading Chris Copeland and either Brewer or White to New Orleans for Al-Farouq Aminu. Chris Copeland is actually our most valuable commodity because his offense is off the charts (his per 48 minute scoring is second on the Knicks only to Melo) and because he is cheap and signed only for this year. New Orleans has trouble scoring (they are 25th in the NBA in offense) and Aminu is most definitely NOT a scorer. He is a great wing defender though, a very, very good rebounder and extremely athletic. Aminu's per 40 rebound total is the highest of all NBA players who actually play SF and better than names like Al Horford, Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo, Marcin Gortat and Paul Millsapp. Aminu is also an unrestricted free agent this summer and the pockets in New Orleans are not as deep as the pockets of Cablevision.

In making this trade (Aminu) the Knicks get a starter who helps them on the boards when paired with Anthony and Chandler. We have Amar'e Stoudemire and JR Smith as primary scorers off the bench so Copeland won't be missed. Aminu's ability to defend the wing is very much like Chicago's Luol Deng minus the offense. The Knicks don't need offense. They need the 8 rebounds Aminu would grab a game while locking down the league's better small forwards.

Make this trade.

[N8Knick12]

How about Novak for Telfair and O'Neal?

Knicks gets two role players
Suns gets a shooter (2nd worst 3PT shooting team in league)

[DowNY]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=anqe37o

HUUH!!

[iHeartKNicks]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=anqe37o

HUUH!!

So we basically get Josh Smith & Brandon Jennings for only Amare?... Sign me up.

[Johnny Hoops]

How about Novak for Telfair and O'Neal?

Knicks gets two role players
Suns gets a shooter (2nd worst 3PT shooting team in league)

The Knicks over-paid (rather severly) for Novak in terms of $ and length (4-years).

He is not someone that other teams are going to be clamoring for or giving away expiring contracts for.

I would like that deal --- but don't see it happening.

[ORANGEandBLUE]

How about Novak for Telfair and O'Neal?

Knicks gets two role players
Suns gets a shooter (2nd worst 3PT shooting team in league)

I like the Telfair-Jermaine package a lot, and I think the Suns would trade them for cheap, but they aren't going to take Novak's contract.

If we send them KT for those two, they save about a half mil.

If that's not enough for Phoenix, we'd have to take back Shannon Brown's 2-year deal. That makes it a little tricky. We'd definitely have to throw in Brewer and Copeland to make salaries work. We could throw in White but I'm not sure Phoenix wants his 2-year deal. We could also throw in Sheed to make it work. Or we could just leave Jermaine out of it.

But Telfair would be a very cheap way of addressing an important need, as he's blossomed into one of the better defensive PG's in the league and he'll knock down open 3's.

[sol537]

If Lakers call tomorrow offering Pau and Artest for Amare/Novak.... what do you say especially in light of Amare's recent play?

The bottom line is: would that swap put us in a better position to "win now" or not?

[ORANGEandBLUE]

If Lakers call tomorrow offering Pau and Artest for Amare/Novak.... what do you say especially in light of Amare's recent play?

The bottom line is: would that swap put us in a better position to "win now" or not?

I'd probably pull the trigger cause I think MWP is a huge upgrade over Novak.

But it's a moot point cause LA is not taking back Amare's contract.

[Thugger HBC]

If Lakers call tomorrow offering Pau and Artest for Amare/Novak.... what do you say especially in light of Amare's recent play?

The bottom line is: would that swap put us in a better position to "win now" or not?

Yes, wouldn't even think twice....too bad it's an "if".

[K_ick_God]

If Lakers call tomorrow offering Pau and Artest for Amare/Novak.... what do you say especially in light of Amare's recent play?

The bottom line is: would that swap put us in a better position to "win now" or not?

I wouldn't deal Amar'e for Pau now. That'd be bad. Pau is 75% over the hill and Amar'e looks sharp as a knife. Granted Amar'e feels like he could go at any time, but as long as he's actually on the court and producing like he is producing, he's the old Amar'e.

[sol537]

The only reason I think LA would entertain such a trade (or any team for that matter) for Amare is because of how sharp he's looked lately and that's the exact reason why we may now be hesitant to move him lol

Every trade is a gamble, anyway. I like Amare, but I think that 4-player swap would increase our chances to win a bit and, in that sense, it's worth it.

[Knicker23]

Stat's value probably won't get any higher than it currently is.. So if you're going to trade him, may as well do it now while he's looking healthy, putting up points etc.. I'm hopeful, but I'm not going to act like I expect him to continue to look this 'sharp' or stay 'healthy' for very long; just wouldn't be very Stat-like..

I do think there's enough value behind him at this moment to get something of worth though, and not just do a deal for sake of getting out of the contract... Pau/Artest for Amare means getting out of all that money a year sooner.. While getting what I think would be two pretty solid pieces back.. Considering Pau is only on books for this year and next, I think you get more out of him than Stat for another two years.

The way Stat is looking though, I wouldn't be too too desperate.. because fact is there would likely be few options that would have more potential than holding onto Stat and hoping he continues to play well..Unless the goal is to get out of that final year to be able to make a signing earlier than 2015.. And considering this team has shown it can win without Stat, it may be worth it if it means being able to sign another free agent earlier

[ORANGEandBLUE]

If a team is willing to take Stat's contract, it'll be because they're giving up less talent for him. And it doesn't make sense for us to take less talent to get out of his contract, given that we're in cap hell regardless.