Neddy wrote:that's because Dolan recognized getting fleeced by Ujiri in Melo deal. Carmelo made it public that he wanted to go to NY anyway upon the closure of his existing contract with the denver, but Dolan didn't have patience to sit back and wait, that he had to give up a huge asset to get Melo in New York a few months early. imagine if the knicks did keep all of their assets and signed Melo. that team would have been stacked that they could have made any deal with any team to make it a true contender. instead, they lost Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timothy Mozgov, 2014 first round pick, two second round picks, and a right to swap 2016 first rounder, and gave up anthony randolph to Minnesota. yes losing eddy curry didn't hurt, and they got raymond felton back eventually, but if they had all their pieces and signed Melo, they could have traded all of those assets to fill the need, have all their picks intact, and have a bench that is deep and capable.
Glad with all of his faults, Donald didn't have to be fleeced to learn his lesson.
That's all true. I know Melo wanted his deal under the old CBA, but it would have been better to wait. Another mistake was how Billups was handled. He wasn't fully guaranteed for the final year of his deal. They guaranteed it only to use the amnesty on him so that they could sign Chandler. If they don't guarantee him and just let him become a free-agent then they could have still went after Chandler and would have had the amnesty at their disposal to use on Stoudemire. Amar'e made not have had the exact concerns that they have with him now, but they would have that in their back pocket if issues arose.