If You Were GM...

Breaking News in the NBA; Isiah Thomas has just been fired and Dolan is leaving you in charge of bringing the Knicks back to where they used to be in the 90's. List some of the moves you would make to help the Knicks from being a lottery team to a championship team.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Breaking News in the NBA; Isiah Thomas has just been fired and Dolan is leaving you in charge of bringing the Knicks back to where they used to be in the 90's. List some of the moves you would make to help the Knicks from being a lottery team to a championship team.</div>
Um... there's no real fast way to do it. You have to get lucky sometimes in finding the right trade opportunities with other teams at the right time. You also have to draft talent and then develop them. You kind of have to be patient in letting the team develop some cohesion, some identity and surround them with good veterans and coaches that can help them learn the game and keep their heads up. Then you also need some franchise level talent or coaching so you have direction to build from. And if the team keeps improving and is in good financial situation, you can lure free agents that would want to play for your team or would want to play under the coach's system.

That's about it. If you make bad trades, bad drafts, and keep futzing around with the lineup before you can see what they can do and so you can't undo it, you're asking for a world of hurt. I think that's what makes Isiah a bad GM. He has no sense of reality with the team he had and there's only so many moves he can make before he runs out of trading chips. I mean he's been pumping Kurt Thomas for the longest time, but he ain't getting a superstar for him unless he's an expiring contract or comes with a high lotto pick. Also he was the one that gave up all the young talent and decided to take on both Marbury and Penny's humongous contracts and decided to add another guard. Also the Tim Thomas trade wasn't too great and the Nazr Mohammed trade was just horrible. Mike Sweetney was a decent draft, but he also lost a lot of young promising guys like Maciej Lampe and Leandro Barbosa, who could have been something. I think having two old overpaid shooting guards and another overpaid shooting guard kind of made it difficult to get bigger up front, something the Knicks haven't taken care of since... forever.

 

I would pick a center with our first pick, maybe Taft or Spliter.
Second: I wouldn?t trade Kurt Thomas, he and rose are the only knicks who can play a tought defense.
Third: I would try to trade Tim Thomas and penny Hardaway for a player with a big contract and maybe some role players. The important thing here for me is to get ridded off both of this players
Third: I would give Herb Williams the chance to ride this team.

This is a starting lineup I would love to see next season:
PG: Marbury
SC: Jamal Craford or Alan Houston (if healthy)
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: Kurt Thomas
C: Taft

Bench
- C: Andriukevisius (trade both other picks and a player tim Tomas, hardaway or Mo Taylor for a veteran player and a higher pick to choose Martynas)
PF: Sweetney and Malic Rose
SF: Jerome Williams
SC: Houston or crawford
PG: Jackson and other
Coach: HErb

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Um... there's no real fast way to do it. You have to get lucky sometimes in finding the right trade opportunities with other teams at the right time. You also have to draft talent and then develop them. You kind of have to be patient in letting the team develop some cohesion, some identity and surround them with good veterans and coaches that can help them learn the game and keep their heads up. Then you also need some franchise level talent or coaching so you have direction to build from. And if the team keeps improving and is in good financial situation, you can lure free agents that would want to play for your team or would want to play under the coach's system.

That's about it. If you make bad trades, bad drafts, and keep futzing around with the lineup before you can see what they can do and so you can't undo it, you're asking for a world of hurt. I think that's what makes Isiah a bad GM. He has no sense of reality with the team he had and there's only so many moves he can make before he runs out of trading chips. I mean he's been pumping Kurt Thomas for the longest time, but he ain't getting a superstar for him unless he's an expiring contract or comes with a high lotto pick. Also he was the one that gave up all the young talent and decided to take on both Marbury and Penny's humongous contracts and decided to add another guard. Also the Tim Thomas trade wasn't too great and the Nazr Mohammed trade was just horrible. Mike Sweetney was a decent draft, but he also lost a lot of young promising guys like Maciej Lampe and Leandro Barbosa, who could have been something. I think having two old overpaid shooting guards and another overpaid shooting guard kind of made it difficult to get bigger up front, something the Knicks haven't taken care of since... forever.</div>
I know, I just wanted to get an idea of everyone's next couple of moves that they do for instance I'm sure some would say I would let the contracts expire and draft (Enter Name). Others might say I would trade this expiring contract and get a Webber like player. The Knicks as you know are the most uniwue teams in the problems they have. I just wanted to hear different perspectives about the direction people feel the Knicks should be going in. That's all.

 

The 2006-2007 Offseason doesn't have many free agents. With the largest payroll in the league, I might as well throw some money around this offseason with major trades. Since I can take back some bad contracts, I'm hoping I can get some good players by trading NY talent for those good players plus bad contracts to even it out.

1. Hire a new coach.
Candidate #1: Flip Saunders. Most veteran name available after Jackson. Jackson costs too much and may not even want to come to NY. Making Saunders the top choice makes it easy because of less competition.
Candidate #2: Eric Musselman. Young fiery coach has a surprisingly good command of veterans, having years of getting disinterested CBA veterans to listen to him.

1. Draft: draft best player available, regardless of position, in consultation with new coach. Few of the players are instant impact and thus might as well draft for the future.

2. Signings: attempt to offer MLE to Marko Jaric, or if he rejects, Donyell Marshall; or if he rejects, Dan Gadzuric and Luke Walton if any leftover. PG nor SF are not current "needs" but most of the big men are out of the MLE price range, and NY needs guys who can share the ball anyway.

3. Trade #1: Let's move some of the PFs
Try to arrange a trade to give up a power forward to Dallas. They seem to need a tough defender behind Nowitzki. I'll offer Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose or Jerome Williams for Michael Finley. They probably will reject it without adding in a draft pick and/or substituting Kurt Thomas rather than Rose/Williams, but Dallas needs to open a spot for Daniels/Howard, and Finley is on the decline despite a hefty contract (3 years, $50 million) so they at least won't hang up the phone. If they ask for a draft pick or Thomas, I will give it to them, begrudgingly. If they refuse to give up Finley, I'll try to go after Stackhouse.

4. Trade #2: Let's Move Expiring Contracts
Hardaway and Thomas are both expiring. If I let them expire, I get nothing. Thus, I need to find teams trying to rebuild.
4.1: Call up Portland. They want to get rid of a few players. Offer Hardaway for Derek Anderson and Ruben Patterson. Probably a no-brainer for Portland to give up an aging, injured Anderson and a volatile Patterson.
4.2: Call up Memphis. They need to get rid of Jason Williams. They're also not being fiscally responsible (bad Jerry West.. bad!) And I can take advantage of that, by offering them a serviceable player with an expiring contract and offering to take Jason Williams off their hands - by offering Tim Thomas and either Rose or Williams (assuming the Dallas trade went through) in a sign-and-trade for Bonzi Wells along with Lorenzen Wright and Jason Williams.

5. Trade #3: Let's Move Marbury or Crawford
Crawford and Marbury, despite being both spectacularly talented, aren't the best backcourt combination. Both play best dominating the ball. Denver needs a point guard for their future. Can Marbury and Carmelo co-exist? Will they give up Kenyon Martin (and filler, perhaps a sign and trade for Andre Miller?) Doubtful, but it's worth a call. If I can't get that done, they would probably love Crawford, because they have a serious depth problem at shooting guard. If they don't want Marbury for Martin, I'll consider trading Crawford for Nene plus filler and draft picks.

End result? No way that this many trades get made, but in an ideal world, at least some of them would.

Coach: Saunders or Musselman

C: Lorenzen Wright or Dan Gadzuric or Nene
PF: Kenyon Martin or Kurt Thomas or Michael Sweetney or Donyell Marshall or Nene or Malik Rose/Jerome Williams
SF: Michael Finley or Bonzi Wells or Jerry Stackhouse or Ruben Patterson or Luke Jackson
SG: Jamal Crawford or Michael Finley or Bonzi Wells or Allan Houston or Marko Jaric or Derek Anderson
PG: Stephon Marbury or Jason Williams or Andre Miller or Marko Jaric

Still weak up front in most cases, unfortunately. Obviously as was stated a lot of these trades will get rejected, though all are at least somewhat plausible. Just some considerations for your confusion.

 

Here's what I would do. Let me know about any scenarios you think are unrealistic.

<u>1. Sign the best coach availabale:</u>
There are tons of good coaches on the radar for us. At least one of them is bound to sign with us. Even if we don't get anyone new, Herb Williams is decent and is a nice low profile coach. The players have a lot of respect for him and hopefully he can get the most out of them.

<u>2. Trade Scenario</u>:
A)
Stephon Marbury
Kurt Thomas
54th pick

to L.A. Lakers for

Brian Grant
Chucky Atkins
Luke Walton
10th Pick
--------------------------------------

Jamal Crawford

to Portland TrailBlazers for

Ruben Patterson
A Futre 1st round pick
_____________________________________

<u>4. NBA Draft</u>
8th Pick: Chris Taft
10th Pick: Raymond Felton
30th Pick: Julius Hodge

<u>Reasons Behind It:</u> The Knicks will be getting rid of two big contracts and while doing so they get another lottery pick in the draft to help them out. Also it clears up the Knicks backcourt so they can start a fresh.

<u>4. Expiring Contracts:</u>
Let them expire. It won't make any sense just consistently patching up wholes with long term contracts. Just be patient and let them expire. That's it. If the Laker and Blazer trades go down than it will look like this:

2006:
Penny Hardaway 16 Million
Tim Thomas 14 Million
Chucky Atkins 4.5 Million
Total: 34.5 Million Expired
In this year, we make no trades or anything like that. Just keep waiting for the contracts to come off the books as our young players get better.

2007:
Brian Grant 15 Million
Allan Houston 20 Million
Mairice Taylor 10 Million
Shandon Anderson 7 Million
Ruben Patterson 7 Million
Total: 59 Million Expired
So in these two years in total the Knicks lost 93 Million off the cap! Resign Sweetney and Ariza and if they decide to walk, the Knicks will have more than enough space to sign one of the great free agents in 2007 such as James, Wade, Darko, Hinrich, Josh Howard, Chris Kaman, Carmelo Anthony etc.

Let's say the Knicks find a way to sign Josh Howard to a nice long term deal. The depth chart will look like this:

PG: Felton
SG: Hodge
SF: Ariza/Howard
PF: Sweetney/Williams/Rose
C: Taft/Butler

The available spaces will be occupied by draft picks free agents and other throw-ins. That's just the core of them and a team I think that can go far.

 

Your plan seems pretty sensible, but it almost seems like you give up a lot more than you get back in your trades with Portland and L.A. Portland definitely needs a shooting guard, so you could get quite a lot from them, or at least more than that. Then again, it does make sense under your "massive rebuilding" plan to take back other contracts. But, if you do rebuild, because New York is so over the cap, it'll take at least 4 years if to get back into playoff contention if you follow through, but it's likely that the long-term gains will be much better because you'll be fiscally responsible with flexibility.

You'd end up tanking 2006 with that lineup, which makes sense if you want to try to grab a good draft pick, maybe even the top one, Greg Oden (assuming no age limit is in place). Still, I'd be worried about my fan base and reputation in New York for doing those trades. And, the top free agents are in 2007, so your timing is pretty good. I'd say it could work, but wiping out all those contracts is risky because New York has the interesting ability to take on the big contracts without problems. I just think that New York can get to the playoffs without much problem if it takes on players whose contracts are slightly inflated (players such as Finley, Eddie Jones, Martin, Gasol, etc.), rather than restarting anew.

 

Ed is the greatest GM of all time.

Coach:
I would consider 3 guys: Doug Collins, Flip Saunders, and Paul Silas. I like Flip the most outta all of them, so he would be my choice to coach the team.

Trades, trades, trades:
<u>Trade #1:</u>
(NYK/LAL)
Stephon Marbury
#30 Pick

for

Lamar Odom
Brian Cook
Jumaine Jones
Reasons (NY) - NY needs an upgrade over Tim Thomas. They add the upgrade and a few quality players.
Reasons (LAL) - Their pointguard situation is not very stable with Chucky Atkins, and Caron Butler seems to fit better with Kobe than Odom. (That would be one freakin' exciting fast break, eh?)

<u>Trade #2:</u>
(NY/NO)
Jamal Crawford
Mike Sweetney

for

Jamaal Magloire
33rd? Pick - ( Is the 2nd round determined by the lottery or record?)

Reasons: (NY) - While Crawford is one of the most talented guards in the league, he is also one of the most inconsistent. Those kinds of players hurt the team more than they help. While losing Sweetney is tough, getting an All-Star center and a decent pick makes up for the loss of those two.
Reasons: (NO) - Plain and simple, they need to upgrade talent. If they can get Bogut or Taft in the draft, which they will if getting a top 3 pick, then the trade is a success for them.
Draft:
And with the 8th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks select... Raymond Felton!

Perfect replacement for Stephon. He's a very very talented guard who is not only a good scorer, one who can distribute. He knows how to get a team running and can control the tempo of a game.

And with the 33rd pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks select... Angelo Gigli!

Gigli may have the name of one of the worst movies ever, he got game. He is athletic, runs the floor (which fits perfect with this team i'm building), is an extremely mature and smart basketball player, and is not a project at the age of 21. He will be able to come in immediately and contribute. He also has a nice stroke from around 20 feet. Very good player. I've also heard rumors the Bulls are pursuing him, but that's another story .

Signings:
With the MLE, I sign: Bonzi Wells. Memphis isn't gonna pick up his option, so here I come to get my grubby hands on him. He-he-he.

Depth Chart:
C- Jamaal Magloire / Brian Cook / Angelo Gigli
PF- Kurt Thomas / Angelo Gigli / Brian Cook
SF- Lamar Odom / Trevor Ariza / Tim Thomas
SG- Bonzi Wells / Trevor Ariza* / Jumaine Jones
PG- Raymond Felton / Jermaine Jackson / Penny Hardaway

*- I haven't seen much of Ariza, I don't know if he can play the 2. If he can't, I'd just move Penny to the backup 2.

There's my team.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ObieCent:</div><div class="quote_post">Signings:
With the MLE, I sign: Bonzi Wells. Memphis isn't gonna pick up his option, so here I come to get my grubby hands on him. He-he-he.</div>

Can they do that and keep Trevor Ariza though? I thought Ariza was going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and that they'd have to use part of the MLE to resign him, since they don't have his Bird rights yet. I could be wrong, since I don't really know how the cap works.

 

^ Hmm, now that you mention it, I don't know. I forgot he doesnt have bird rights. Well, I could draft a replacement. It's not a big blow if he leaves to this team however, because of Lamar Odom.

 

I thought really hard about this but at first all the ideas I came up with were either too farfetched or not good at all. Until finally I hit upon a plan that was possible, would make the Knicks competitive now and make the Knicks a great team a few years from now. Let me know if you disagree with something.

Trade#1: Trade Marbury(you all had to know this was coming). I liked a scenario I saw in another thread. Trade Marbury to the Hornets for Magloire and PJ Brown. This gives us more size, rebounding and another low post threat to play alongside Sweetney. This would also let us move Sweetney to the powerforward spot where he'll have easier competition. We'll have more depth at the big positions as well. Throw in Renaissance TT(TT post All Star break) and we'll have a big frontline capable of posting and toasting a good deal of opposing frontlines.

Trade#2: Malik Rose to the Suns for Chicago's pick. I know it seems unlikely at first but think about it. The Suns will be looking to make another championship push next season so they wouldnt be put off by Rose's contract. He addresses three concerns people have about the Suns: Depth, rebounding and defense. Rose will give them a quality bench player, a strong rebounder and a good defender. As a bonus he has alot of experience from playing with the Spurs.

Trade#3: Taylor and the draft pick we got from the Suns to any team that picks up Johan Petro for us and is looking to get better right away(like the T wolves, Nets and Magic). Petro is extremely raw and is years away from contributing while Taylor gives the team a good low post scorer off the bench. And they'd still be able to pick up a good player with Chicago's pick considering the depth of this draft. This is probably the least likely trade to go down. But it probably could happen.

Trade#4: Sign a player like Gadzuric or Pachulia with some of the MLE and pack them up along with our first rounder for next year for a lottery team's 2006 first rounder. A team like the Bobcats who want cheap, young, hard working players. They'll get a nice young promising player and still have a good pick. If that doesnt get it done I'd throw in the 2007 first rounder as well. Actually now that I think about it...this should probably be the first move otherwise the other team wont agree to trade their first rounder.

Move#5: Sign Frank Williams. He isnt getting any play time now but he's still worth taking a look at. He was a good defender and good playmaker when he was with the Knicks. With Marbury gone he'll have a chance to get his starting job back which could motivate him. He'll come cheap since noone really wants him. It's possible he can still live up to his potential.

Draft#1: Draft Tiago Splitter with our pick.
Draft#2: Draft Erazem Lorbek(Ronny Turiaf is also a possibility)with Pheonix's pick.
Draft#3: Draft Marcelo Huertas with Houston's pick.

Then we leave Splitter in Europe for one maybe even two years. Leave Lorbek there for one more year as well as Huertas. And leave Petro in Europe for three years. After all these moves we would have cleared up a good deal of capspace. Especially considering Magloire's and Brown's contracts are only for another two years compared to Marbury's four.

For the upcoming season we'd have this line up:
PG- F.Williams, J.Crawford, J.Jackson
SG- A.Houston, A.Hardaway
SF- T.Thomas, T.Ariza, J. Williams
PF- M.Sweetney, K.Thomas
C- J.Magloire, PJ.Brown

Now before you all laugh hear me out. This is not a star studded line up obviously. And that's the idea. This is the kind of team that will have to play like a team instead of rely on one player. This team wont run and gun it's going to walk the ball up and throw the ball into the post. It's a return to the good old days when we played inside-out. Magloire is probably an All Star in the East and Sweetney will be able to overwhelm most of the power forwards he'll face. Even Renaissance TT enjoys a good deal of success against alot of small forwards. We'll have the outside shooter in Houston(if he's healthy) and Renaissance TT shot 40% from behind the arc so we'll be able to spread the floor so the frontline can go to work. If anyone tries to double team, either Houston or even Renaissance TT will make them pay. And we wont have to worry about opposing point guards constantly getting into the paint since Frank is a good defender. The game plan will simply be throw the ball into the low post, kick it out, hit a three, run back, play defense, walk the ball up the court and repeat.

PJ Brown is an underrated player. He's just like Kurt except Kurt's slightly better at shooting and defense but Brown is two inches taller. Both are good defenders and good shooters so our interior defense will be fine. Ariza needs minutes which is why he's the back up small forward and not JYD. He'll give the second unit even more defense, rebounding and hustle. If he works on his game this summer he could be a good slasher and a better shooter. Penny and Crawford gives the second unit size in the backcourt and good scorers off the bench. I dont think I have to go on about what they can do since you guys probably already know. Like I said not a star studded line up but it is deep and has some sort of direction and identity. If the team is healthy and well coached they could be a playoff team capable of advancing to the second round.

As for the coach...I dont really care. As long as they stress defense, slow tempo game, throwing the ball into the low post and get the team to play hard.

But four or five years down the line...if all goes well this is the team we will have:
PG- F.Williams, M.Huertas
SG- J.Crawford, U.Tripkovich
SF- M.Souza, T.Ariza
PF- M.Sweetney, T.Splitter
C- E.Lorbek, J.Petro

I would tell you guys what's so special about this team and stuff but I've already typed alot and I'm kind of tired. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll talk about this hypothetical team later on. Anyway this is my vision. Let me know if you disagree with anything(in a polite way please!).


Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.

 

All of you guys have great ideas. I'm really happy the way this thread has turned out.

Tribute - that team is real deep I just think Petro should be starting over Lorbek. It seems you want a team like the Grizzlies in the depth department which is good. The only thing is I haven't heard of a lot of those international players. Just wondering, why do you like international players so much?

 

I like the idea of resigning Frank Williams!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Seems like most people all agree Stephon Marbury is the common denominator to get shipped out. If I were Knick fans I would be rooting for the Suns to win the Finals this year. Why? If the Suns win then a lot of teams in the NBA are going to try and copy their style, which should increase Marbury's value.</div>
But can it also mean that when Marbury leaves your team, you will go far!