Green would be a solid pick up, but feel like he's gonna get overpaid this summer.
The really slimmed down Spark Notes version of my last post is that OF COURSE guys like Draymond Green will be overpaid this summer. That is what happens when you play the way he has during a contract year and the only way to even have a shot of having the Warriors not match is to overpay. The Knicks will likely have to overpay for any player they sign this summer. We will be extremely lucky to bring in even one tier 1 Free Agent. Maybe a guy like Milsap or Monroe or possibly even Kevin Love but we are far more likely to overpay for a couple of tier 2 and tier 3 guys who are role players.
And the underlying point of what I wrote is that normally I am very opposed to overpaying role players in free agency that played well in contract years. I am usually so against this strategy because usually a team is overvaluing a player after a fluke contract year and is paying that player to become something they are not. Classic example would be the Nets making big offers to Travis Outlaw and a couple of other bums in 2010 after striking out everywhere else.
The only reason that I am not completely against Phil using a team building strategy that I usually hate is because of Melo and because of the draft pick. THAT is what Phil is using to be the franchise centerpieces/all-stars for the New York Knicks for the next decade +. Phil isnt signing Draymond Green or Khris Middleton or Demarre Carroll or Robin Lopez or Pat Beverly or etc and etc to come in here and become an all-star. That would be stupid and that wouldnt work.
Beyond Carmelo and the PG or center we draft the Knicks will badly need another center or PG (whichever one of the 2 we dont draft). That becomes priority #1. We will likely have the cap to really splurge on a max level type of contract for one player and then a couple of high end but not max contracts after the one max contract. Also, we will be lucky to even get one max level player so the idea of throwing out more than one max contract is unrealistic in the sense that more than one max player isnt going to sign here this summer. That max level free agent will be the biggest splash of free agency for us and we should use it on a PG oer center, whichever one we dont draft. A possibile exception to this rule would be if Kevin Love wanted to come to NY as our big free agent splash, in which case hopefully we draft Karl Towns to protect the rim and look to adress PG elsewhere in free agency.
But once we adress PG and center through the draft and through one major contract the Knicks need ROLE PLAYERS. We need players to come here and play a specific role that contributes something special and unique to the Knicks and compensate for other players' weaknesses. This is how the Knicks will seperate themselves from being a winning basketball team instead of just a bumch of players. Because the Knicks will be in need for role players and spend most of the time and money looking for role players in free agency this summer, I wont have a huge problem overspending.
These players had good years in their contract years, whoever wants them is going to have to overspend to get them. That is just the way this thing works and we have the money to do so. What Phil really needs to do is determine WHAT we need beyond Melo and our draft pick and our major free agent splash and then determine WHO bebst fills those needs. It will likely be two or even three players, which lso makes it important to get rid of Calderon as I have stressed countless times. Once Phil Jackson determines the glue guys he needs on this team to take us to the next level and cover significant areas of weaknesses, I wont have a problem with the Knicks overspending.
copy & pasted that last GR8EST post into Word....3.5 pages, 1,712 words
(Shrugs) back at it.
Pray 4 COPE
(Shrugs) back at it.
