Post#1039 » by TheDavinciCHODE » Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:23 am
I'm not sure why anyone is talking about making trades to bring in overpaid veterans. That is not the kind of direction this team needs to go in.
Perhaps our decent start has gotten into people's heads. This is the first year of a rebuild and we are not a good team. we should not be making deals to try and make ourselves a playoff team. We need to be doing the opposite. We actually have some assets
CLee
KOQ
Beasley
Kanter might even be an asset, too. Though I think it's better to keep him and see if he opts in at the end of the year. Then his expiring deal will be a major asset.
We should either A) be taking on some bad contracts for bad players and acquiring picks for doing so or B) selling off our veterans for any assets we can. If that's a pick, so be it. If it's a prospect that fits our timeline, then so be it.
The only trade we should make that brings in a good player would be one that brings in a legit superstar that fits KP's timeline, and that player or trade really doesn't exist.
Bringing in Batum would be terrible for this franchise. He's 30 and getting worse by the day. He's still a good player, but not the kind of guy we need. Bringing him in
A) straps our books for the next 3 years completely
B) makes us slightly better not still not good
C) short-circuits our rebuild
We need young players and draft picks. Sure, bringing in veterans here or there on good deals is fine, but trading for a guy on a near max deal that will also cap us out completely for the next 3 seasons without producing major results will tank this franchise and keep us on the treadmill. The right plan for the Knicks is
A) sell off veterans for any assets and clear some extra space
B) win 32 games, pick 8-10th or finagle something on draft day to move up (maybe our pick + chicago's pick + WHG for #5-6?)
C) trade Kanter's expiring deal for something or try to convince him to opt out and sign for a smaller amount to be the backup center
Roll forward with a core of KP/Frank/THJ/Top 10 pick/
KP has already played above expectations despite his dip recently, and a lot of that can be attributed to the load he has to carry on offense and of course that weird ankle tweek he had earlier. The good news is that Frank has shown he has all the tools to be a very good player and THJ has performed above expectations. I honestly think he is going to average 20ppg next season. Add in someone like Collin Sexton and we have something really good cooking.
in the 18-19 season, the only bad long-term money on our books will be Noah.
Great teams are not built overnight. This is year 1. We should not be trading for ANY long-term, max-deal guys.
If you told me that in 18-19 we would be going into the season with KP/THJ/Frank/top 10 pick + future assets intact and cap space coming in 19-20, then I'd be happy. If we make some small vet signing or deal here and there like bringing back McBuckets on the cheap, that's fine. We're a borderline playoff team now and barely have any talent. We need be aiming to be good in 19-20.
If the right deal comes along for a star, we can pounce. Nobody expected PG to be where he is now. Same with Butler. You never know what's going to happen.
The last thing we need is to bring in guys who will get us right back on the treadmill.