Looks to me like the team has 9 bodies it can use in games for a while. You can't bring in a new player without cutting someone on the roster, who would that be? Maybe Howard, if you can somehow come up with a C from somewhere. I don't see a trade makes sense. You can't trade 2 for 1 without further hurting depth, and I don't see that anyone is going to trade for an injured player. So here's the list of the healthy: Roy, Blake, Aldridge, Webster, Miller, Joel, Bayless, Howard, Cunningham. (anyone remember Howard Cunningham from Happy Days?). All I can see is you have to go small a lot. Lineups like: Roy, Blake (or Bayless), Miller, LMA, Cunningham LMA is going to need some bench time/rest: Roy, Blake (or Bayless), Miller, Webster, Joel Or you can try to play a straight up lineup: Roy, Blake/Miller/or Bayless, Webster, Howard, Joel You can play 9 guys, it's a decent length for a rotation. The lack of a 10th guy will hurt when there's a need for a guy to miss a game or foul trouble.
You cut Mills. That guy was signed for no reason, is injured, and we could really use that roster space.
Scoring from our frontcourt is going to be hard to watch. With inconsistent play at SF and Joel's non-existent offense. That's why I'm in favor of moving LMA to Center and trading for a scoring/rebounding PF (please, no Z-Bo jokes)
I can see this team simply going back to how it played last season. Roy with the ball in his hands a lot, him and LA the focus, while Joel does the dirty work again. And back to being 'scrappy'.
That's fine. You might cut him and Howard. Who are you going to bring in? If you were in KP's shoes, who would you bring in?
I look at the team and still see a decent big 3. Miller may have only shown flashes of what he's good for, but now he's got to be the #3 guy, at least. B-Roy... What kind of 2 for 3 can you see with the Knicks?
DISABLED PLAYER EXCEPTION -- This exception allows a team which is over the cap to acquire a replacement for a disabled player who will be out for the remainder of that season (if the player is disabled between July 1 and November 30) or the following season (if the player is disabled after November 30). This exception can also be granted in the event of a player's death. This exception can only be used to acquire one player. The maximum salary for the replacement player is 50% of the injured player's salary, or the average salary, whichever is less (see question number 24 for the definition of "average salary"). Approval from the league (based on a determination by an NBA-designated physician) is required for this exception to be used. This exception can be used to sign a free agent, or to create room to accept a salary in trade. When used for trade, the team may acquire a player whose salary (including any trade bonus) is up to 100% of this exception plus $100,000 (not 125%). Also see question number 20 for more information on the availability and use of this exception. If a player is disabled between July 1 and November 30, the team must acquire the replacement player within 45 days. If the player is disabled between December 1 and June 30, then the team has until October 1 to sign a replacement. If the disabled player comes back sooner than expected, then he may be activated immediately, and the replacement player is not affected. However, if the disabled player comes back before the exception is used, then the exception is lost. Teams sometimes have had difficulty getting the NBA to approve an injury exception. For example, Danny Manning tore an ACL toward the end of the 1997-98 season, yet the NBA did not approve the Suns for this exception. More recently, the Magic did not receive this exception in 2003 for Grant Hill. However, this exception was granted in the 1999 offseason to San Antonio, so they could replace Sean Elliott, who was disabled due to kidney problems. This exception was also granted to Charlotte soon after Bobby Phills was killed. Don't confuse this exception with the salary cap relief teams can apply for a year after losing a player to a career-ending injury or death (see question number 53). This exception allows a team to acquire a replacement player. The salary cap relief removes a contract from the books.
thanks for the info on injured player exception; I don't have any 2 for 1 trades but I think we need more bigs so one trade that would work after Dec 15 is Steve Blake for Brandon Bass.
^^^ Yeah, I think if the exception is granted you still have to cut a guy, and clearly you can't do a 1 for 2 kind of trade. If you go the waivers route, it was tough enough to find a backup backup PF - Howard's pretty old and mostly washed up. Who else is there? Luke Schensher still playing somewhere?
This is what I'm talking about. I may not have the proper terminology, but I do seem to recall the ability to exceed the 15 player roster limit because of injuries with a couple of 10 day contracts.