So basically, it's possible but not realistic.

The one thing that I'm not sure about is what the deadline is to renounce a player. I.e. can the Knicks renounce Lee the minute before a big name FA puts ink to paper?

Quote: Originally Posted By deanod on 5/08/2010
That's not what he was saying- the Knicks can keep Lee's Bird Right's for a cap hit of 150% of his previous salary ($7M * 1.5 = $10.5M).

Of course, the issue here is that the Knicks are definitely renouncing Lee- no way they take the cap hit to keep their Plan D of JJ, Boozer, and Lee remotely possible while entirely blowing up Plan A of LeBron and Bosh.

thanks for explaining, I thought the cap hold was 133% (hence my 9 million or so) at 150% it is a little more difficult but still doable. Obviously my point was you just keep his cap hold until you sign the free agents and then use Bird rights to re-sign Lee at something greater then the cap hold.

Of course you are probably correct and the Knicks renounce Lee and go after plan A, but if they were smart about it, they wouldn't renounce Lee at all, go after plan A and if successful, I'm sure Toronto or Cleveland would be happy to take back Lee (and Gallinari) in a sign and trade for Bosh or Lebron. Hell they might even be willing to take Curry with some draft picks thrown in giving NY a shot a MLE type player or two.

I also don't know when they have to renounce players, I think it is before free agency starts, which is what my statement above is based off of, if it isn't, then the Knicks have no reason at all to renounce Lee until they get that second free agent to sign on the dotted line (afterall they can sign one big time player with Lee's cap hold on the books).

I'd would be flat out astonished if Lebron goes anywhere - my money is on the Knicks landing like 2 from the pu-pu platter that is the 2nd tier of bosh-boozer-jj-Amare

I would not be astonished if Bosh went to south beach

which leaves them giving maxes to Boozer and JJ and being very mediocre or Amare and JJ and being sort of interesting

Quote: Originally posted by felonius on 5/08/2010I'd would be flat out astonished if Lebron goes anywhere - my money is on the Knicks landing like 2 from the pu-pu platter that is the 2nd tier of bosh-boozer-jj-AmareI would not be astonished if Bosh went to south beachwhich leaves them giving maxes to Boozer and JJ and being very mediocre or Amare and JJ and being sort of interesting

FYI - Lee should be on that list (and he was definitely better than Boozer or JJ) and you should put Gay on there for potential.

And the difference between Boozer and Amare is insignificant - Amare just gets more pub because Phx is more fan friendly to the casual fan.

Quote: Originally posted by felonius on 5/08/2010I'd would be flat out astonished if Lebron goes anywhere - my money is on the Knicks landing like 2 from the pu-pu platter that is the 2nd tier of bosh-boozer-jj-AmareI would not be astonished if Bosh went to south beachwhich leaves them giving maxes to Boozer and JJ and being very mediocre or Amare and JJ and being sort of interesting

If Lebron and Wade don't bail on their current teams, our best hope is to use Lee's Bird exception and talk two of JJ/Gay/boozer/Amare/Bosh to working out an arrangement where they can all 3 play on the same team. My suspicion is that alot of the guys on that list want more recognition and marketing opportunities - NY would afford them that and teamed with Lee, you would have a legitimate contender.

I'd say Boozer and Amare are very different players - for one thing Boozer rebounds and has a more complete post game while Amare runs the floor better and is more of an athletic Shawn Kemp type

Amare would fit much better with Lee because Lee's board work complement's Amare's complete disinterest in the subject and they offer a better hi-lo dynamic

another significant difference is that with D'Antoni at the the Helm the Knicks have an inside angle on Amare because of their previous relationship

JJ lovers, did you see the game yesterday? Do you really think Joke Johnson is worthy of a max deal with max money? He utterly disappears in the playoffs and isn't even the best player on his team as firehawk pointed out (Josh Smith). He's a good, solid player....max money in this free agent class and economy...HA!...GTFO

Quote: Originally posted by felonius on 5/09/2010I'd say Boozer and Amare are very different players - for one thing Boozer rebounds and has a more complete post game while Amare runs the floor better and is more of an athletic Shawn Kemp type Amare would fit much better with Lee because Lee's board work complement's Amare's complete disinterest in the subject and they offer a better hi-lo dynamicanother significant difference is that with D'Antoni at the the Helm the Knicks have an inside angle on Amare because of their previous relationship

I meant in terms of quality, not stylistically.

Quote: Originally posted by colonels19 on 5/09/2010JJ lovers, did you see the game yesterday?  Do you really think Joke Johnson is worthy of a max deal with max money?  He utterly disappears in the playoffs and isn't even the best player on his team as firehawk pointed out (Josh Smith).  He's a good, solid player....max money in this free agent class and economy...HA!...GTFO

Joe Johnson looked like the second coming of Jesus against the Celtics two years ago.

Quote: Originally Posted By deanod on 5/09/2010

Quote: Originally posted by colonels19 on 5/09/2010 JJ lovers, did you see the game yesterday? Do you really think Joke Johnson is worthy of a max deal with max money? He utterly disappears in the playoffs and isn't even the best player on his team as firehawk pointed out (Josh Smith). He's a good, solid player....max money in this free agent class and economy...HA!...GTFO

Joe Johnson looked like the second coming of Jesus against the Celtics two years ago

Ok, but his contract is up when? His most recent and lasting memories will be made when? When talking about max money, I don't think people are going to give 2 ***** about what Joe Johnson did in the 07-08 playoffs...they got ANNIHILATED in game 7 of that Boston series, that game was literally over at halftime.

They weren't even supposed to be there though- he helped them exceed expectations to reach that point.

And if a contending team has the option of overpaying JJ or adding dick, JJ trumps dick.

Quote: Originally Posted By deanod on 5/09/2010They weren't even supposed to be there though- he helped them exceed expectations to reach that point.

And if a contending team has the option of overpaying JJ or adding dick, JJ trumps dick

Ok, so he "exceeds expectations" when there aren't expectations, but when people thought ATL was going to turn the corner last year and this year, what exactly has he done? Not a whole lot, when you consider the expectations.

True, but at least he was good enough to get him into the 2nd round.

He's no Rajon Rondo in the playoffs, but he still has value.

I just checked his playoff numbers- he's been crap ever since that Boston series. No wonder Atlanta has laid such eggs in the past two Round 2's.

You may be right- unless a team needs one more piece to get over the top, whoever overpays JJ this offseason may end up sincerely regretting it.