I know this isn't a basketball forum, but...
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Originally Posted by RangerBoy
The Knicks now have 2 stars,an aging PG,no draft picks and no cap space. Now what?
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This is so true... Very few Knick fans realize it because most of us are no brighter than James Dolan. We're so starstruck by Carmelo that we cannot see the big picture. Walsh was playing it shrewdly, trying to make a smart deal for Carmelo. Then Dolan flew out to Denver and forced him to agree to give the Nuggets everything they asked for (except Landry Fields). This left the Knicks with very little flexibility for the next several years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by I Love Rebecca Black
Knicks will have about 20 mill in cap space after this coming season.
From that point we can sign some players because it will be like a Miami Heat situation where a bunch of players will want to sign because they think it will be a chance to win a championship.
There is no debating the fact that the Knicks are a million times better off now then a couple years ago.
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The current cap is $58 million. We don't know what the next CBA will be, but by most accounts, the NBA is aiming to cut costs by implementing a hard cap and eliminationg exemptions. NBA revenues are down, and the cap may go down as well. But let's give the Knicks the benifit of the doubt and assume it remains as it is.
The Knicks already have 7 players under contract for 2011-12 for $59.7 million. Ronny Turiaf will almost certainly pick up his player option for $4.36 million (no other team will pay him this much), and the Knicks will pick up Bill Walker's team option for $0.92 million (a bargain, even for a bench player). Their 1st rounder will make a little more than $1 million, so their payroll for 10 players next season will be over $65 million. This excludes current free agents Jared Jeffries, Shelden Williams, Shawne Williams, Derrick Brown, Roger Mason & Anthony Carter, some of whom logged key minutes last year. The Knicks will be $7 million over the cap with nothing to trade except expiring contracts. Those would only have value to teams looking to dump unwanted longer term deals because the Knicks have little left to enhance any trade. So unless the Knicks take on long term salary dumps, Isaiah-style, by trading Billups or Turiaf, the 2011-12 Knicks will have no choice but to to fill out their roster with 4 or 5 D-league players making minimum salary.
The situation is not much better for 2012-13. We dream of adding Dwight Howard or Chris Paul, but there isn't cap room unless they're willing to play with the Knicks for half of what they may get elsewhere. The Knicks will have 4 players under contract (Anthony, Stoudamire, Balkman & their 2011 1st rounder) for about $42.5 million, or 5 players for just over $44.5 million if they pick up Toney Douglas' option. Turiaf, Walker, Fields, Billups & Rautins will be off the books as free agents then. Let's assume the Knicks let Douglas go as well, so they can have maximum cap space. They'll need to sign 9-10 D-league players making minimum salary to fill out the roster for about $5 million. This adds up to $47.5 million leaving approximately $10 million to sign the third superstar we're all craving. But would such a star be willing to come to the Knicks, a team with 9 or 10 D-leaguers, and play for half of what Carmelo & Stat get?
The reason the Heat were able to sign their 3 stars was because they were all free agents at once, and they each took about $5 million less to be able to fit under the cap and allow the team to sign role players such as they did. Down the line, their salaries will go up, and the 3 of them alone will be making more than the cap, so Miami will have cap problems also. But they did manage to get the 3 of them signed to equitable contracts and on the roster when they had the opportunity. The Knicks won't have that option.
The Knicks traded away draft picks (both 1st & 2nd rounders) & players in the Carmelo deal, such that they will have virtually no tradeable assets for the next 3-5 years. They will have very little cap space. I don't see how Carmelo & Stat can carry them much further than they went this year because they will have even less supporting talent around them in the future.
I don't necessarily blame Donnie Walsh for this predicament. I think Dolan forced the Carmelo trade. If you think Carmelo & Stoudamire plus $10 million to sign another player in 2012-13 (assuming the rest of the roster is made up of D-leaguers) is enough to make the Knicks contenders, then you have a lot more faith than I do. Say what you will about Sather, but the Rangers have not squandered their flexibility & their assets quite the way the Knicks have.