NY/MN/HOU: TMAC/Curry/Gallo/Expirings

[younggunsmn]

MN Outgoing:
Blount 7,967,375
Cardinal 6,750,000
14,717,375
MN Incoming:
Curry 10,500,423
(2010) 11,276,863
Gallinari 3,089,040
(2010) 3,304,560
Cook 3,500,000
17,089,463
Net 2009: +2,372,088
Net 2010: +14,581,423
3 million cash from Houston
3 million cash from NY for PHX 2010 2nd rounder in a separate deal.

NY Outgoing:
Curry 10,500,423
(2010) 11,276,863
Gallinari 3,089,040
(2010) 3,304,560
Milicic 7,540,000
Total 2009: 21,129,463
NY Incoming:
McGrady 22,843,124
Net 2009: + 1,713,661
Net 2010: - 14,581,423

Hou Outgoing:
McGrady 22,843,124
Cook 3,500,000
Total 2009: 26,343,124

Hou Incoming
Blount 7,967,375
Cardinal 6,750,000
Milicic 7,540,000
Total 2009: 22,257,375
Net Savings: 4,085,749

Why for Min:
Uses up our 2010 cap room, but instead of the pipe dream of signing rudy gay or joe johnson to a cap killing 5 year max deal, we get 2 1/2 years of galinari at rookie scale plus a RFA year for taking curry's 2010 deal. Then we can reload for 2011 free agency if we want, buy out curry saving a couple million, or trade him for a disgruntled player at the 2010 deadline.
Galinari becomes the defense stretching SF we desperately need. We fill the SG hole in the draft to go along with a core of rubio,flynn,galinari,love,jefferson, and pekovic if we want to sign him, because now we can us our MLE on him because we didn't have to renounce it to use our cap room.

Why for NY: 2 max free agents. As it now stands they will have a cap figure of about 30 million heading into 2010 free agency (including phantom cap holds for open roster spots). Assuming a 53 million cap, that leaves them far short of having room for 2 max guys, one of which will take up 17+ million. Miami and NJ will have more room to offer and better players to play with. Moving 14 million off the cap will give them room for 2 max guys and perhaps enough wiggle room to re-sign david lee.

Why for Houston:
Get rid of T-Mac distraction, plus it puts them under the luxury tax (currently they're 2.9 mil over).
(unless i missed it and they can write off yao's salary in regards to the lux).
Anyway it still saves them money, and they move t-mac without adding long-term salary.

Why now?
NY wants to win this year, with their draft pick going to utah there is no incentive to tank.
We are one of the few teams that might be willing to facilitate a t-mac to NY deal by eating a contract.
The wolves make sure they get something with their 2010 cap room, lest we end up like memphis last year using it on zach randolph.
I'm sure NY would much rather wait until july to see if bosh, wade, or lebron is willing to sign there, but the lure of 2 max guys is going to have to be their primary draw if they want to compete with miami and new jersey, who can offer that plus good young players like harris, lopez, and beasley.


I guess this all hinges on gallinari and how good he can be. He's a 40% 3pt shooter on a high volume of shots. Pre-draft he was supposed to have pretty good dribbling and passing skills too. It's impossible to gauge a player's defense on a dantoni team, because there is none.

I don't think jordan hill is enough to move jeffries' deal, and certainly not curry's.
Ny fans may love gallinari, but if you want to move curry, he is probably about the only asset that can move him.

[cpfsf]

I've read the NYK board, they oppose trading Gallo and Curry or Jeffries for expirings.

[Esohny]

I've read the NYK board, they oppose trading Gallo and Curry or Jeffries for expirings.

I've read the NYK board as well. They think Gallo is a sure superstar, David Lee is as good as Amare, and Wilson Chandler is a rising star.

I guess my point would be that they may not know exactly what Donnie Walsh would do.

[post0115]

It would be hard to find a worst defensive front than Gallo/Love/Jefferson.

[slinky]

Gallo/Curry/Hollins...done

[shrink]

I agree with you -- it all comes down to whether eating $11 mil of Curry (using our cap space), is worth Gallinari. I think its a reasonable question, and I don't know enough about Gallinari to predict whether he'll be worth it. Maybe I can frame it better so people can decide for themselves.

If we assumed we'd get no production from Curry ( a bit of an over-statement), and threw his salary at Gallinari, if he worth $9 mil next year and $10 the following? I'm splitting Curry's dalary in half, and amortizing it over the next two years, when Gallinari is on his rookie scale deal. In three years he's a restricted free agent, and I think he'll get a contract at market value.

Anyway, if you think Gallinari is worth that, this seems like a smarter way to do the deal. If HOU gets $12 mil, it seems to me they should give MIN more than $3 mil. Also, I don't think you need to do a seperate deal for NYK's $3 mil -- I believe each team can offer $3 mil in cash in their package, but Larry Coon's great FAQ can be read either way.

Players can be traded for cash, and cash can be included in trade packages. The amount of cash is limited to $3 million.

So is a package what the sender sends, or the receiver receives? Anyone know?

[younggunsmn]

I think it is fair value, is Galinari the answer? worst case you waste 11 million on curry.
Worst case with rudy gay, you are locked in for like 5 yrs and 80 million for a guy who doesn't help us win. Or the most likely scenario, we end up with nothing for all our cap room than a place for other teams to dump salary for draft picks.

Galinari is a unique player who fits our system (at least offensively). he was drafted 6th overall. It is going to be very hard to find a similiar player in the draft at SF, or in FA with passing and shooting skills,

Gerald Wallace would be nice as a defensive option, but that is not looking likely, and he will require assets (peckovic+picks) plus expirings with the way he's been playing.

I'm starting to think more and more we will not be making a big FA splash. The last thing I want to see is us ending up with nothing but empty cap room. Once the FA's start signing, the dominoes start to fall as the teams with cap room either sign players or take on salary dumps from other teams for luxury tax or FA signing purposes, and the options we have now start disappearing one by one, like a game of musical chairs.

This is why being proactive at the deadline is so important.

First NY opens up space by dumping curry or jeffries on OKC or LAC, signs lebron, bosh. Boozer signs in Miami, Johnson stays put. NO dumps Mo Pete + future 1sts on NJ. Gay signs an offer sheet with NJ. What the heck do we do with our cap room? Nobody wants it anymore.

Or Lebron, Wade, and one of Johnson/Bosh stay put and NY has no need to dump salary.

Personally I would do this deal, then send Wilkins and Sasha to NO for Mo Pete and a future unprotected 1st.

[Ojmayo]

Gallo/Curry/Hollins...done

Gallo/Love/Jefferson is as bad as it gets man.

[younggunsmn]

If Jefferson and Love are not going anywhere we are going to have to be an offensive juggernaut to win, regardless of who defends the 3. I'd like to see Galinari's D outside of D'Antoni. He has the physical tools.

[King of Troy]

No way in hell.

Being that Gallo is seen as the key to help attract FAs this summer, it'd be counterproductive.

[shrink]

Being that Gallo is seen as the key to help attract FAs this summer ....

I just feel kind of sad. Sure, he's got potential, but your guy that's played like 40 games in his life is supposed to get elite free agents to want to come to NYK?

I don't think LeBron James is thinking, "Well, I was going to stay in CLE, but I'd miss the chance to play with Danny Ganilarr... Garrinall .. Garnilly .. what's that foreign kid's name again?"

[Krapinsky]

Being that Gallo is seen as the key to help attract FAs this summer ....

I just feel kind of sad. Sure, he's got potential, but your guy that's played like 40 games in his life is supposed to get elite free agents to want to come to NYK?

I don't think LeBron James is thinking, "Well, I was going to stay in CLE, but I'd miss the chance to play with Danny Ganilarr... Garrinall .. Garnilly .. what's that foreign kid's name again?"

It's like Knick fans have been brainwashed to believe this crap. I knew Donni Walsh was good, but I didn't know he had mind-control powers.

I do get one thing though-- If I'm Walsh/Mikey D I'm doing everything in my power to move Curry or Jeffries using anything but Gallinari, just because Gallinari would be a really good fit with Lebron. If it takes Chandler, Hill, AND Lee, then so be it.

a Lebron/Gallinari/Amare front court would be pretty awesome. At that point, who cares if Chandler and Hill aren't around to play spot back up minutes?

[Subway Token]

Gallinari is untouchable. If you've ever seen him play you'd know why.

[shrink]

I do get one thing though-- If I'm Walsh/Mikey D I'm doing everything in my power to move Curry or Jeffries using anything but Gallinari, just because Gallinari would be a really good fit with Lebron. If it takes Chandler, Hill, AND Lee, then so be it.

I agree 100%. Moreover, the brainwashing means fans would riot in the street if "Mr. Untouchable" was moved, because right now, he's the one player they've pinned all their hopes upon.

I think the problem is that most everyone outside of NY agrees that the Knicks just don't have enough assets on their team to move Curry (+ Jeffries) without him, and without the extra cap space to attract two free agents, they'll struggle to get one to join up and get slaughtered.

[Awoooga]

I do get one thing though-- If I'm Walsh/Mikey D I'm doing everything in my power to move Curry or Jeffries using anything but Gallinari, just because Gallinari would be a really good fit with Lebron. If it takes Chandler, Hill, AND Lee, then so be it.

I agree 100%. Moreover, the brainwashing means fans would riot in the street if "Mr. Untouchable" was moved, because right now, he's the one player they've pinned all their hopes upon.

I think the problem is that most everyone outside of NY agrees that the Knicks just don't have enough assets on their team to move Curry (+ Jeffries) without him, and without the extra cap space to attract two free agents, they'll struggle to get one to join up and get slaughtered.

I am not a Gallo worshiper but you do not move 21 year old 6"11 230 players with his skills set. If you saw him play you would see he shots the three beautifully, and also can drive and finish at the rim. But the reason I would not want to trade Gallo if that he also plays defense. He is good for a block a night and his length makes him very good at ball denial. I doubt any of the posters that attacked his defense have seen him play extensively.

If Gallo was the key to signing Lebron and Bosh, sure I would move him. Any sane fan would also. But I would not offer Gallo until I exhausted all other trade options.

If Lebron were willing to sign without another max f/a coming, I would prefer that to trading Gallo for cap space. That would enable us to 1) keep Gallo 2) make a very very competitive offer to David Lee and 3) have enough expiring contracts to sign another big free agent in the summer of 2011.

I think the last situation is the best one basketball wise for the team but of course, the question is would Lebron sign by himself?

[shrink]

My position has always been that I am willing to believe that the bright lights of New York have the power to attract free agents. However, the team is too bad-mediocre for LeBron to join. What if the "savior" doesn't have enough talent on his team to win? NY media will crucify him. I think NYC's best chance to get LeBron is if they can say that they have enough for a second max deal, to bring in an elite player to join him. In other words, NYK is far more likely to get two elite free agents than one -- one is a real long shot.

Unfortunately, as Larry Coon demonstrated, the knicks only chance at getting two max deal free agents is for NYK to move Curry for expirings. Financial flexibility in 2010 is at a premium, both from teams wanting free agents, to teams trying to get under the declining lux, to teams that are just getting killed on the balance sheet in the current economy. If the Kncisk are unwilling to trade a 2012 pick (and I don't blame them), they simply don't have enough assets on the team to move Curry without using Gallinari.

This is a huge gamble. What if they trade him, and come up with no elite free agents? Fans that were angry the promising player was traded would go nuts! On the other hand, getting a LeBron and a Bosh or Amare would launch a spectacular new era for the Knicks. you don't get players like that without taking risks. Do they truly believe they can attract those superstars -- enough to trade their most valuable player? Its a dangerous decision, but one that will define the future of the Knicks for years.

[TheBigBoss]

Well shrink, it's not like Eddy has 5 years left on his deal or anything, he becomes an expiring deal at seasons end. It would be silly to lose Gallo or Chandler at this point on a gamble in 2010. I mean what if the Cavs win the ship and he decides to stay? The best thing to do is wait to see if James would come if we sign Bosh, if yes then you offer a sign and trade of Curry's expiring, Jordan Hill, Wilson Chandler, and future picks. If the choice is lose Bosh to Miami for nothing or take the Knicks package, Colangelo would be an idiot not to accept the deal. So for me the biggest thing is moving Jeffries contract, as that would allow us the chance to sign 2 max deals and space to possibly sign Lee.

[shrink]

You may enjoy Larry Coon's three articles from October.

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... ee-agents/

[shrink]

OK, let's suppose NYK waits until summer. There are many people who believe it would be suicide to the CLE front office if they participated in a sign-and-trade of LeBron James. If he left, it would have to be on his own - not with CLE's help.

If that's the case, you're right back in the same boat - you need 2010 raw cap space. The unfortunate thing is that no one can give it to you any more through expirings. You can only get a Curry-sized amount of raw cap space from another team with raw cap space -- i.e., another potential suitor for LeBron James! Moreover, cap space in 2010 is going to be an incredibly valuable commodity, not just from teams that want it for free agents, but teams that are now desperate to climb under a lux that's just dropped an estimated $7 million. At a time when most owners are getting creamed financially at the NBA gate, and have lost some of their total fortunes in the market, immediate financial relief is going to be a very hot commodity. If you can find anyone to trade you that cap space, you'd have to pay through the nose to get it, particularly if they know you can get LeBron for it -- and maybe other teams can as well. Personally, I don't think you have the assets to outbid another team, particularly when you take Gallo off the board.


Anyway, if you don't get cap space before the trade deadline, you're gambling that LeBron is going to demand a trade to NYK, and hoping CLE is going to give it to him, and accept your bid of Curry, Chandler and a future pick, or you're gambling that one of the handful of teams who have raw cap space are going to reject their own plans, and decide to trade the cap space, and trade it to you because you're the highest bidder with Curry + Chandler + a future pick.... with LeBron still available for anyone.

[TheBigBoss]

Remember Shrink that we already have space for one max already, so we can just sign Lebron straight out. The issue we have is for the 2nd max, which is why I said we could offer that package to Toronto, who would be more likely to accept a sign and trade than Cleveland. Instead we could just put an opt out after three years on James contract and he would more than make up for any money lost from leaving Cleveland in endorsements. In any case, it is just too risky to send out Chandler or Gallo at this point and very unnecessary. We are also in contention for the playoffs, a trade like that would derail our chance to prove that we can win.