RealGM

I know, I know...The season hasn't even started yet, but there is plenty of reason for us to be optimistic about next offseason, even though we dont have our draft pick (was worth it for all that Bargnani did for us).

Here's a breakdown of our cap situation for next year according to Spotrac (the leader in salary info in sports imo).
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/cap/2016/

On Contract:
Melo - 24.5 m
Lopez - 13.2 m
Afflalo - 8 m (player option)
Calderon - 7.7 m
Williams - 4.4 (player option)
Porzingis - 4.1 m
O'Quinn - 3.9 m
Grant - 2.1 m
Total - 67.9 million

Cap Holds:
Galloway - 1.2 m
Early - 1.2 m
Total After Cap Hold - 69.3

Projected Salary Cap: 87-92

Projected Capspace: 17.7-36.5
The minimum number is if the cap is at its lowest and we keep our roster the same and the guys with player options (Afflalo and Williams) both opt in.

The maximum is if the guys with player options opt out, we renounce our cap holds, and the projected cap reaches 92 million.

The maximum contract we could give to sign someone from another team that is within 0-6 years of service is 21-23 million starting salary depending on where the cap lands.
For a player that has 7-9 years in the league a max will be between 24-26 million.
For a player that has over 10 years or more in the league a max will be between 30-33 million per year.

This means we COULD make enough room for a maximum salary. Even if the guys with PO's opt in, we could move Calderon and create that space.

Top Free Agents in 2016 Offseason:
max players
Kevin Durant
Al Horford
---------
near max players
Mike Conley
Dwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Al Jefferson
Nic Batum
----------
guys that may or may not get big deals depending on how they play this year, still will be pretty big
Joakim Noah
Roy Hibbert
Luol Deng
Ryan Anderson
Harrison Barnes*
Bradley Beal*
Timofey Mozgov
Rajon Rondo
Terrance Jones
Hassan Whiteside
Eric Gordon
Tristan Thompson*
------------
guys that could be more affordable/complimentary pieces
Evan Turner
David Lee
Nene
Josh Smith
Ersan Ilyasova
Mo Speights
Dewayne Dedmon
Evan Fournier
-------------
* RFA
http://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/2016/

In 2017 that will be year 3 for Porzingis and Grant and the cap will rise above 100 (projected to be around 108), which will give us another 15-20 to play with to add another piece, plus we will have our own draft pick again! The year after that we will have Melo and Lopez both expiring...

While I am not as optimistic about immediate success this year as some of you, I still see some foundational pieces here. I think we can compete with teams... we may not win a ton of games, but there will be guys to root for that are a part of our future and we will start to see the team grow within the PHILosophy. Next year, we are going to be able to add 1 or 2 more bigger pieces to the puzzle, and then the same after that.

Hopefully this gives some people some perspective on how this team is being built for the future. We aren't the only team with cap space next year (about half the league will have around 20 million to play with), but I think we will be one of the brighter situations to go to with a foundation and a leader already in place and the New York/MSG appeal.

I for one feel relieved that we have a system and PHILosophy in place, a clear cut vision, and were not just throwing players with talent together and hope they play nice like we have in the past and I can see something building here, not just suck and hope we get a great draft pick a few years straight or that players will come here if we have the money "because we're NY". We know guys that we want, what guys would fit, and we wont be targeting the guys that dont.

Who are some guys you envision Phil targeting with our space?

Which direction would you like to go?

Stretching Calderon saves about 5mil dollars.
D-will will end up opting out to get paid.
Knicks sign Durant for $25mil a year and backup pg behind Grant.
Easy

they're going hard after durant. after that who knows. i have no idea if phil would want horford or conley. he might just add pieces again.

Durant obviously has to be explored but Im not gonna lose sleep over it. The guys I wanna target are Bradley Beal in that minimax range and then Evan Turner.

Beal falls in line with my thinking that we should invest in highly talented players who are closer to the age of our two rookies. At 22 Beall is a great age while still giving you solid production.

Turner is sorta the left over money signing. The guy is talented but just hasn't put it all together in terms of his draft status but he is what he is now and someone I would like to have for some wing depth. Could backup either wing spot.

Durant would be incredible and I think we do have just as legit a shot as anyone if he's leaving.

1) Were in the East
2) we can sign him outright without having to get rid of any pieces (maybe stretching Calderon), most other teams would have to.
3) we have an established superstar level player for him to play with and young guys to develop with.
4) big market appeal and the chance to be a star and champion in NY.

Lopez/Porzingis
Melo/OQuinn
Durant/Early
Afflalo/Vuc
Grant/Galloway

My problem is I dont really see why he would leave the Thunder. They have a stacked roster and can give him more money. The more years thing isn't a huge deal because I think some of the star players are going to be signing shorter deals with opt outs until the cap levels out. Still that lineup is an instant contender if Porzingis could develop into even a 3rd fiddle.

Grant/Gallo
Batum/AA
Melo/Williams
KP6/OQuinn
Lopez/Seraphin

we gotta be a good team this year in order to get durant

1. Durant
2. Conley
3. Beal
3. Horford
4. Batum

our biggest needs should be at sg. hopefully grant will be starting at point, idk whats going on with afflalo, melo at sf, porzi at pf then lopez at center. the only sf/pf i would go after is durant. beal might be our next target if durant doesnt work out. if not beal then batum i guess. im just hoping we get one of those 2 and i think we'll be ready to contend in the east

I have a tough time going through these types of exercises when we still have a whole season and a ton of questions marks to be answered before anything is cleared up so know who to target.

We have needs at SG & SF.

We're good IMO at PF with Kyle & Williams and we're good at C with Kristaps.

get Horford, trade rolo

stuporman wrote:I have a tough time going through these types of exercises when we still have a whole season and a ton of questions marks to be answered before anything is cleared up so know who to target.

I feel ya. It was mainly a thread I made to point out the position we are in to continue putting pieces together. If only we still had our pick so it wasn't so meaningful to make the playoffs but even without it. We are in a pretty good position for the future.

If Durant wants to come here, you never say no. But I think Horford or Conley would be way better fits for the talent and the system.

If we get Horford, I'd move RoLo to the bench. Then we undoubtedly have the best 4/5 rotation in the NBA.

If we get Conley, I'd either move Grant to the 2 or make him the unquestioned 6th man.

That's based of right now. Don't know what will happen this year.

Who is the KOQ of this FA? A two way player who has shown flashes of potential but is really misused by a franchise or just cant crack the rotation. A player we can get on an extremely favorable contract.

Some nominees:

Dwight Powell - DAL
Miles Plumlee - MIL
Dion Waiters - OKC
Andrew Nicholson - ORL
Allan Crabbe - POR
Mo Harkless - POR
Terrence Ross - TOR

dakomish23 wrote:Who is the KOQ of this FA? A two way player who has shown flashes of potential but is really misused by a franchise or just cant crack the rotation. A player we can get on an extremely favorable contract.

Some nominees:

Dwight Powell - DAL
Miles Plumlee - MIL
Dion Waiters - OKC
Andrew Nicholson - ORL
Allan Crabbe - POR
Mo Harkless - POR
Terrence Ross - TOR

If we are talking about a unheralded guy, I think he is the one for us. Good size with a knack for shooting the ball.

Also think a guy like OJ Mayo would not be a bad option, a combo guard that can shoot the ball. Has playmaking ability and could give us a nice scoring punch. With him, it's about consistency and maybe the triangle can provide that.

Pjax4Prez wrote:

dakomish23 wrote:Who is the KOQ of this FA? A two way player who has shown flashes of potential but is really misused by a franchise or just cant crack the rotation. A player we can get on an extremely favorable contract.

Some nominees:

Dwight Powell - DAL
Miles Plumlee - MIL
Dion Waiters - OKC
Andrew Nicholson - ORL
Allan Crabbe - POR
Mo Harkless - POR
Terrence Ross - TOR

If we are talking about a unheralded guy, I think he is the one for us. Good size with a knack for shooting the ball.

Also think a guy like OJ Mayo would not be a bad option, a combo guard that can shoot the ball. Has playmaking ability and could give us a nice scoring punch. With him, it's about consistency and maybe the triangle can provide that.

Mayo is supposedly in phenomenal shape right now after wearing that Raymond Felton costume two years ago like Will wore the fat suit in FPOBA

Calderon for him would work. They just traded a pick for Vazquez though. Doubt they double down on euro PGs who don't play defense.

I'm going to start looking into Crabbe

dakomish23 wrote:If Durant wants to come here, you never say no. But I think Horford or Conley would be way better fits for the talent and the system.

If we get Horford, I'd move RoLo to the bench. Then we undoubtedly have the best 4/5 rotation in the NBA.

If we get Conley, I'd either move Grant to the 2 or make him the unquestioned 6th man.

That's based of right now. Don't know what will happen this year.

Duncan/Diaw
Aldridge/West

Its pretty tough for anyone to really top that.

Also:
Noah/Gibson
Gasol/Mirotic/Portis

If Porzingis, at 21, can be at the same level as Gasol was at 21, as in 16-18 ppg, 8-10 rpg, 1.5-2.5 bpg, then yeah, we would be up there with those guys, especially considering we'd still have OQuinn and Melo plays a bunch there too.

Obviously Durant would be better, but something about having a big front court similar to the Grizzlies to beat on this teams going small sounds so much more satisfying.

dakomish23 wrote:Who is the KOQ of this FA? A two way player who has shown flashes of potential but is really misused by a franchise or just cant crack the rotation. A player we can get on an extremely favorable contract.

Some nominees:

Dwight Powell - DAL
Miles Plumlee - MIL
Dion Waiters - OKC
Andrew Nicholson - ORL
Allan Crabbe - POR
Mo Harkless - POR
Terrence Ross - TOR

I been saying forever I'd go hard after Harkless. He fits this system like a glove. I'd also throw money at Noah and bring Roll off the bench. They can split the mins at C in half (24/24) and it would keep them both fresh.

PG: Grant / Galloway
SG: Afflalo / Harkless
SF: Anthony / Williams
PF: Porzingis / O'Quinn
C: Noah / Lopez

That squad has a blend of youth and veterans with the ability to play great defense with enough scoring to get by. Also the length and toughness of this squad would be off the charts.

Pjax4Prez wrote:

dakomish23 wrote:Who is the KOQ of this FA? A two way player who has shown flashes of potential but is really misused by a franchise or just cant crack the rotation. A player we can get on an extremely favorable contract.

Some nominees:

Dwight Powell - DAL
Miles Plumlee - MIL
Dion Waiters - OKC
Andrew Nicholson - ORL
Allan Crabbe - POR
Mo Harkless - POR
Terrence Ross - TOR

If we are talking about a unheralded guy, I think he is the one for us. Good size with a knack for shooting the ball.

Also think a guy like OJ Mayo would not be a bad option, a combo guard that can shoot the ball. Has playmaking ability and could give us a nice scoring punch. With him, it's about consistency and maybe the triangle can provide that.

Can Allan Crabbe defend, or is he just a shooter with good length?