Nov 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Mission Accomplished
I haven’t really had the chance I would like to focus on the NBA so far this season, and the deplorable state of the Wizards hasn’t given me a ton of incentive to change that. But lo and behold Donnie Walsh has actually succeeded in making the deals necessary to ensure that the Knicks will have the cap space necessary to make a max offer to LeBron James (or Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire) in 2012.
38 Responses to “Mission Accomplished”
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November 23rd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
You mean LeBron and Stoudamire/Bosh/Dwayne Wade in 2010, right? That’s the speculation in NY, that with all of the expiring contracts coming off the books after 2010 and Marbury’s deal expiring in a year, the Knicks should have enough cap space to offer two max deals to top-flight players.
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
And hopefully will have more once he buys out Marbury and moves Curry. I’m assuming he’ll have to attach David Lee to Curry to get rid of him, which is fine with me.
I’m also guessing he puts Dwyane Wade above Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire on his shopping list, if he can’t get James.
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
It wouldn’t kill them to get rid of Jared Jeffries too. But I don’t care too much about that either way.
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Igloo, it’s 2008, the Knicks have been in a perpetual state of “sorriness” since Allan Houston and Spree split up and you praise Walsh for maneuvering to MAYBE have a chance 3 seasons from now…MAYBE. Didn’t their ex-GM maneuver for this current “youth” roster 3-4 years ago with the plan that they would be “back” circa NOW. How’d that work out?
You’re obviously not a baller, but in my experience the guys from Harvard, even the athletic ones, never are. Seems like ever since you left McCardle and the Atlantics your hoops analysis has suffered…get it fixed!!!
k1
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Isn’t LeBron a free agent in 2010? Wouldn’t you really want to make sure you have the cap room to get him in 2010? Isn’t cap room in 2012 really meaningless for a player who will be a FA in 2010? Heck, isn’t cap room in 2012 really meaningless overall at this point.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
The Knicks won’t get any of them. The Kraus-led Bulls tried to do the same thing, and they were better positioned to succeed.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
k1, what’s your point? Isiah’s youth movement didn’t work out and put them over the cap so they couldn’t make improvements through free agency. Now they’re trying a different approach. It might not work, but what do you suggest they do?
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Isn’t LeBron a free agent in 2010? Wouldn’t you really want to make sure you have the cap room to get him in 2010? Isn’t cap room in 2012 really meaningless for a player who will be a FA in 2010? Heck, isn’t cap room in 2012 really meaningless overall at this point.
Matt just made a mistake with the date. The cap room does come in 2010.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Mr. Yglesias meant 2010, not 2012. In any case, I question whether these stars would be willing to join a team with no existing talent. Especially if Walsh trades David Lee to get rid of Curry, the only core players on the team in 2010-11 will be Gallinari, Jeffries, Wilson Chandler, and maybe Nate Robinson. Is that the base of a contender? LeBron actually has good players, including experienced veterans like Ilgauskas and Wallace, on his team now and it’s not clear that his team can win the championship.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
It’s great news. Ever since Ewing was on the verge of retirement, our GMs have consistently chosen to put the Knicks over the cap for years and years. Worse yet, the resulting teams were mediocre to bad.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Details aside, it’s a good move. It gives them needed flex, and frankly without giving up much.
Walsh is going to do well at this job. Just as you’d expect from a guy coached by Dean Smith.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
They get flexibility, allright, but at the cost of a really inviable roster. They will have Chandler, Robinson and very little else. Even IF they get two All-Stars (and it’s a big if) they’ll still need about four more good players to have a contending team. But hey, it also means that Walsh doesn’t has to show any improvements for a couple of years (he’s just waiting for Lebron, you know?)
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
The fact that people have faith that this cap space is definitely going to translate into Lebron two years from now, in the world we live in, is just incredible. Mission accomplished? Seriously?
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
The problem is that if they get a decently high draft pick or have to extend David Lee, they will lose that cap space. They are still one more deal away, and packaging Lee to move Curry would be stupid. You have to have talent on the roster to appeal to free agents. Regardless, they should be cutting bad contracts as quickly as they can since you can’t rebuild an NBA franchise with money locked up in worthless players.
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I should hasten to add: this is a good move, but they are still a long way off. It’s just the case that they will suck for the next couple years and can’t seriously contend for a title until 2012 or so at the best.
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Isiah:Bush- Walsh:Obama
I imagine when Walsh looks at the contracts Isiah left him, he just starts throwing shit- “Was that motherfucker trying to destroy the franchise?”
Has there ever been a worse GM? I think Isiah surpasses Matt Millen. I almost choked when Dolan gave him an extension because there was an outside chance the Knicks might make the playoffs that year.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Not true. The cap will probably be around $60 million in 2010, maybe a million or two more. The current roster will put the Knicks at $18.1 million total payroll in 2010. Even if they get the number one overall pick, that’s only $4.2 million in 2010, and how much are they really going to extend David Lee for? $6 million? Surely not more than $10 million. Meanwhile, I think a max salary player will make a bit more than $20 million in 2010.
They’re in even better shape if they dump Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries or both.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
SomeCallMeTim it spot on, what LBJ, Bosh, Wade, et al did in taking 3 year contracts was to force management to put the best talent around them or go to greener pastures. They don’t want to go back into a rebuilding situation again.
So the Knicks, or anybody else need to be close to a title and have the cap space.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
If I were a Knicks fan (I’m not) I would be relieved because it actually seems like there is 1) a plan and 2) the Knicks are executing it! Been a while.
After the Knicks’ front office moves this summer everyone speculated that the plan was to dump horrible contracts to get in the 2010 derby. Meanwhile, D’Antoni’s seven-seconds-or-less offense would keep the games interesting even if the team wasn’t any good. That seems to be exactly what the Knicks are doing.
Hey, even if it doesn’t work out at least it makes sense. A refreshing change from the Knicks.
As for the Wiz, I had the sinking feeling that the Arenas contract was one of those franchise-killers, but even I didn’t think it would happen so quickly…
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
The Cavs will also be sufficiently under the cap that they can resign LBJ AND sign another max contract. Plus, they will actually have talented players on the team already, unlike the Knickerbockers.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Only if they don’t extend Ilgauskas and Varejao. If they do, that cap space gets mostly eaten up.
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Lebron makes so much money from endorsements, he hardly needs a salary. I bet he and Shaq both sign for the league minimum to win a championship or two with the Lakers.
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:37 pm
The Cavs can still offer more money to Lebron than the Knicks in 2010 and they will likely be under the cap as well and able to sign a big name FA. This whole idea of Lebron going to the Knicks is a circle jerk for the NY media. Why would he go to a team that has zero chance of winning? It’s not like they are going to get any better in the next 18 months. Coming to the Knicks, even with the some other high profile players would be like starting over again, doesn’t really make sense. Only people in NY think anyone wants to play for the Knicks. If he wants to leave Cleveland, it will be for a talent loaded winner like LA or something similar. The Knicks are a horrible team now, and will be in 2010.
Ilgauskas will be retired by 2010, Varejao, come on…
November 24th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Cap space is an inherent good (not that it can’t be blown, but it is an asset. LeBron? Great. But if not LeBron, best available when the time rolls around.
Another good thing about D’antoni is that he can build a decent, interesting team out of not much, free agents, etc. How many of the non-Nash non-Amare Suns were really high on the NBA radar prior to his work with them?
They will be fun, and not bad, by next year. And yes, they will be under-cap loaded for bear then. You can only judge Walsh by how he reacted to the situation he was actually in, and he’s done well.
November 24th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Tim my point is that they need to start working with what they have to WIN NOW! This whole meme of setting ourselves up for the future, is how losers talk. There are only so many LBJs, Kobe’s or Tim Duncan’s you pick up in the draft and Ray Allen and KG aren’t coming as a package anytime soon.
My point is that strategizing so far out, with limited chance to actually pull it off is no way to build a team. If they position and fail, then what? Is your excuse that they tried and failed so try something else in 2015? I’m glad you’re not a director or manager and if you are tell me which firm so I can short your stock…you super strategist you!
k1
November 24th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
It doesn’t make any sense for the Knicks to preserve talent. Their only hope is to clear pretty much their entire payroll and buy an *entire team* in 2010. Three out of –
PG: Nash
SG: Wade
SF: Lebron
PF: Bosh
C: Amare
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 NY Knicks!
Bench is whatever lottery picks they get for sucking this year and next.
They sell it to the free agents not by the opportunity to play with their current roster, but by the opportunity to play with the other FAs.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I love how we all treat 2010 like it’s just around the corner. Like, how in 2006 we all knew for sure Boston would put together three superstars and win the title over the Lakers, who themselves received the Gasol-tax-deductible donation to aid the surprising emergence of Andrew Bynum.
And we all knew Shaq would be in Phoenix. AI in Detroit. Jermaine O’Neal in Toronto. Brand in Philly. Baron in LA.
And two years ago we all knew Miami would have the worst record last year. And that Atlanta would cease being a joke of a franchise. And that good players could not only consider Euro, but actually jump the Atlantic. And that CP3 would become arguably the best in the league. That Calderon would be frickin’ awesome. That Biedrins would be one of the top big men in the league. Ditto David West.
So the point is, shit changes fast in this leage. And two years is a long, long time from now.
And the point is also this: how many super-duper-stars actually sign with other teams as free agents? The big Garnett-style moves usually happen via trade. Now part of this is because teams worth the time of someone like KG never have cap space. But it’s also because the teams that do have the cap space really are not worth their time. Like, the Nets, for example. Or, let’s say, the Knicks. In the NBA, the Cavs don’t need a lick of cap space and can still give LeBron a bunch more cash money. Plus, they don’t suck. And over the next two years, for all we know, the Cavs very well could end up doing a whole bunch of not-sucking (they’re off to a great start thus far… check ‘em out Tuesday night).
December 9th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Asheville led 49-30 at the half and got double-digit points from Sean Smith (17, including 5 of 6 made 3-pointers), Reid Augst (13), John Williams (10) and Quinard Jackson (10). Seth Curry led Liberty (1-1) with 18 points on 6
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