Here's what I'd like to see. Move KT to a late lottery team or mid-1st round team for their 1st round pick and a mildly bad contract--take a two guard/point like Ben Gordon (currently projected to Seattle at #12) or Devin Harris if he falls that far. Otherwise take a flyer on big Euro like Perovic (projected to Utah at #14) or Puerto Rico's Ramos. OR, take Telfair and trade Fwill and Othella/Mutumbo (to Chicago maybe?). Go after Okur and Rasheed with the midlevel to at least put pressure on the Pistons on the slight chance that they can't sign both at above the MLE. Resign Baker at a LOW salary bc he's a serviceable backup at PF/C and wants to be here--the risk is minimal if he backslides as long as the salary is low. Sign a 3pt specialist in the Kerr mode (Voshon et al.) for the vet minimum. DO NOT go after Camby. who probably wouldn't come back anyway, was performing in a walk year, and is still to be rated highly injury-prone. Consider Qrich with the MLE if we can't get Sheed/Okur or try hard to orchestrate a trade for Al Harrington (good luck!). I don't want Crawford--he's a head case with an erratic shot and yet is too good to be a backup to Houston and so would be even more of a headcase. Basically i want to see a zone-spreading backup SG (either an acquired 1st rounder like Gordon/Harris or a vet minimum guy) and an athletic versatile big or tough rebounding SG/SF come in next year. I think any and all of this has to be done with hard-nose defense as one of top evaluation criteria. Before i get flamed, let me say that none of what I've outlined looks likely to me. The most likely thing I can see out there is Dampier for KT/Fwill and as I said in another post, that worries me,despite his great season--Damp is historically an unmotivated, injury-prone player with very limited offense and defensive lapses. Were that to be what IT does we'd be looking at a lineup like this: PG Marbury/Norris SG Houston/Anderson SF Thomas/Hardaway PF Thomas/Sweetney/Baker C Mohammed/Mutumbo I realize Mutumbo is probably gone and could be part of a Damp package instead of Fwill, depending on how much NYK would resign Damp at. But, for the sake of argument, the lineup above, assuming full health and a full training camp, is not better than Detroit, Indiana, or New Jersey; it's possibly not even as good as Charlotte; and Cleveland, if not Toronto and Boston and Milwaukee, will be improved. I think the Knicks are looking at the #4 seed at the very best if everything falls right and therefore, at best, a 2nd round exit. I'd like to see reasonable, cap-workable offseason gameplans for our team (no pipedreams please!) that could produce a better lineup than what I sketched out, i.e., hope of going father in the East. Fire away....
