Bayless/Mayo/Gordon/Westbrook - Who Should the Knicks Take?

#1KnicksFan · Post #1 » by **#1KnicksFan** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:36 am

Out of those 4, who would be best for NY and why?

Thanks.

cdash · Post #2 » by **cdash** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:01 am

Of those four, for the Knicks, I'd probably say Bayless. That team is chock full of shoot first type of guys who need shots to stay happy, so Mayo and his ego wouldnt be that good of a fit there. I think the Knicks are crossing their fingers for D Rose.

#1KnicksFan · Post #3 » by **#1KnicksFan** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:05 am

^ Yea but Bayless is a scoring PG too.

SoHo · Post #4 » by **SoHo** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:00 pm

#1KnicksFan wrote:^ Yea but Bayless is a scoring PG too.

Exactly, I think Bayless being a scoring point makes him a worse fit than Mayo who tried to defer to teammates at USC but learned that he didn't really have any teammates that were worth deferring to. If you put some players around him that can score I think he's a much better point guard than Bayless.

I'm really not sure that any of these guys are the best fit for NY because of where NY will be picking. I'd just take the best one available and I think that order is Mayo, Bayless, Gordon, Westbrook. As far as a skill set to fit on that team Westbrook might be the best fit because he's aggressive and plays the best defense out of those four. Unfortunately he's also really raw compared to the other three and with your current PG situation that might be a pretty big problem.

AnSweR07 · Post #5 » by **AnSweR07** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:42 pm

bpa--------->Jerryd Bayless

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN make it happen

corwin · Post #6 » by **corwin** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:13 pm

NY needs a PG since you already have Crawford at SG. That means Bayless or Westbrook if your GM projects them as PGs. If not, the Knicks need to go in another direction.

CableKC · Post #7 » by **CableKC** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:23 pm

Bayless.....he appears to be more of a PG then Westbrook.

longfellow44 · Post #8 » by **longfellow44** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:47 pm

I'm going to have to go with Mayo the Knicks just lack overall talent and should invest in the Highest reward candidate. You may already have a lot of offensive weapons like Crawford and Robinson but Mayo is a rebuilding block.

New Yorks plan.
Draft Mayo
Trade Crawford for a decent PG pass first variety. You won't get too much but It's more about finding some Chemistry than anything else.
Move one of Curry or Randolph for shorter contracts.
Trade Marbury and D.Lee for an upgrade at SF and a couple slightly longer contracts set to expire in 2010.

Hopefully if everything works out right the Knicks will be largley rebuilt by 2010 and Mayo will be the Dwayne Wade of New York. Your cap won't be completely crippling, and you should accumulate a couple decent picks over the next 2 years.

zike_42 · Post #9 » by **zike_42** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 11:44 am

Mayo would be the first choice, Crawford is suited to coming off the bench as a supersub and as longfellow (hehe) said, we need talent and Mayo is the best talent there. What happens from there is up to Walsh, but for the draft its Mayo.

BRIGGS · Post #10 » by **BRIGGS** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:53 pm

#1KnicksFan wrote:Out of those 4, who would be best for NY and why?

Thanks.

Anthony Randolph or Javale Mcgee

PowerBull · Post #11 » by **PowerBull** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:06 pm

BRIGGS wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Anthony Randolph or Javale Mcgee

Mcgee might be the worst post defender in the last few years...exactly what NY needs, right?

DanTown8587 · Post #12 » by **DanTown8587** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:34 pm

Gonna have to say Mayo. He has the superstar potential, can play in NY (something you can't underrate) and then you trade Crawford (not a long term answer there) for Eric Snow/Clevleand First and take BPA there too.

Vlade4life · Post #13 » by **Vlade4life** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:47 pm

It's true Bayless is a scoring guard, but he's not unwilling to pass or make the right decision; I don't think he's a chucker like every player on the knicks roster. However Mayo is a potential franchise player and they need a franchise guy who they can build around, I'm sure they have no intention of keeping Curry, Randolph, Crawford, and Marbury around long term so it really doesn't matter who fits best with them only that they're getting a player who can help them win. I think Mayo would be risky because of his attitude and so far seemingly selfish play, he could end up being another Steve Francis/Stephon Marbury type stat stuffer with no substance, but then again he could also end up being a D-Wade who can be a primary facilitator and scorer. I think Bayless is the safer pick while Mayo is the upside pick, do the knicks have the luxury of being risk takers? I don't think so, they have to make a good pick here and if they draft Steve Francis part II; they're screwed.

#1KnicksFan · Post #14 » by **#1KnicksFan** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:42 am

^ Funny, Bayless reminds me of Steve Francis.

I think O.J. is too much of a gamer to be in the parlants of Stephon Marbury or Steve Francis.

What I mean is I think he's a greater cerebral talent than either of those 2, who mostly got away with great athleticism and hops...

cdash · Post #15 » by **cdash** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:56 am

The problem with Mayo is his ego. I am not against him in general, but that New York team is chock full of people who need shots and love themselves. I dont think Donnie Walsh is too anxious to add another big ego to that mix there. I think if they were in a position to draft Mayo, Donnie might entertain packaging the pick with an unfriendly contract (Randolph, Curry, Jeffries, James, etc.) to get a young player/cap space/defensive minded big. I'm not sure how great Walsh's relationship with Bird is, but say the Knicks have the 4th or 5th pick in the draft...I could see those two discussing a Marbury/4th pick for O'Neal/11th pick/Diogu package or something. That particular trade probably wouldnt happen, but I wouldnt be surprised to see Walsh think outside the box a little bit there.

Twith · Post #16 » by **Twith** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:43 am

I think the whole "Mayo has a huge ego" line is getting pretty old. People were expecting him to be a ballhog showoff in college, and I was totally ready to dismiss him as another Marbury, but as a fan of an opposing team, I actually liked him, the last thing I would have expected.

I didn't see one incident of a me-first attitude I thought I would.

cdash · Post #17 » by **cdash** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:20 pm

It might be old, but anyone who sends letters to college coaches claiming to be the best player in the country and "allowing" them to recruit him has a big ego as far as I'm concerned...call me crazy. Besides that wasnt the point I was making. The Knicks have so many guys who need the ball to be happy (Curry, Randolph, Crawford, Marbury, etc.), they dont really need another one, and believe me, Mayo needs the ball and needs shots to be happy. Its not a knock on him, its just the way it is. The guy has a big personality, and I am just not sure that the Knicks need anymore big personalities on their roster.

Vlade4life · Post #18 » by **Vlade4life** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:51 pm

cdash wrote:It might be old, but anyone who sends letters to college coaches claiming to be the best player in the country and "allowing" them to recruit him has a big ego as far as I'm concerned...call me crazy. Besides that wasnt the point I was making. The Knicks have so many guys who need the ball to be happy (Curry, Randolph, Crawford, Marbury, etc.), they dont really need another one, and believe me, Mayo needs the ball and needs shots to be happy. Its not a knock on him, its just the way it is. The guy has a big personality, and I am just not sure that the Knicks need anymore big personalities on their roster.

Well the knicks definitely don't need any more shot happy black holes, but the problem is that all these players are one on one "me" players and while Mayo may be a volume scorer, it's really unknown whether he's a selfish scorer who ignores what the team is trying to do and just go 1 on 5 whenever he feels like it. Players like Marbury and Francis are like that IMO, that's why they can fill up the stat sheet and yet not help their teams win, because they shut out their teammates and make the offense all about them.

As far as the knicks not needing anymore shot happy players, well that's not necessarily true. Like I said before, I highly doubt that Marbury, Randolph, and Crawford are in the knicks future plans that's why they've all been rumored to be on the trade block or a potential buyout. So they shouldn't be thinking about what helps them the most right now, but rather what helps them rebuild their franchise the most for the future. Lets not kid ourselves here, there is no player in this draft that can turn around the knicks right off the bat; Rose may be the closest since he's a consumate PG and a great 2 way player, along with the east being so weak it's possible, but nothing is going to bring them into contention and their defense is going to suck big time. So they should be picking the player they think will help a team win the most, they should be picking with a clean slate in their mind.

cdash · Post #19 » by **cdash** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:32 am

I have no doubt that they are on the trade block, the problem is: Who is going to trade for them? Crawford is the only one with any value. They need some role players, some defenders, some team players...just my opinion. Dont think I am alone there though.

Kiki4KnicksGM · Post #20 » by **Kiki4KnicksGM** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:54 pm

Bayless has been very underrated in this draft in part due to the national exposure that D Rose and Mayo have gotten.

Bayless has an extremely high Bball IQ and solid jumper for a 19 yr old and a strong first step.

I think Bayless has strong similarities to Tony Parker and Terrell Brandon, two small stature guards who are/were more of scorers than distributors, but very strong team ball players.

I would not be surprised if Bayless made a couple of All-Stars teams in his prime.

While Bayless doesn't have the foreseeable upside of Rose or Mayo, he arguably is the best fit for the Knicks because the pressure to produce will be much lower.

To me Bayless also seems like a Walsh kind of guy. Walsh loves drafting the guy other people overlook.