Rose’s deal is off the books after next season, so here’s how the trade breaks down in my eyes:

David Lee for 5th Pick
1 yr., 7.5 million for 2 yrs., 13 million

I’m not sold.

We’re gearing towards cap flexibility in 2010-11, so saving $7.5 mil in a year isn’t going to mean much. I love David Lee. He’s damn exciting and lord knows he’s the only one trying out there, but personally I think the Knicks should pull the trigger on this one. In my mind, having two potentially franchise-changing picks instead of one outweighs the money issue and positives D. Lee brings to the team.

Seth, first going with Westbrook over Bayless and now this? I appreciate your passion, but don’t you think maybe you’re thinking with your heart more than your head?

Lee is a fan-favorite, but let’s face it, there are a lot of players that can come in and do what he does.

the object is to get under the cap for 2010. if they add contracts for this season, it really doesn’t matter as long as they come off the books by that summer.

all of that being said, i have no idea what the knicks should do with those picks. i would say take bayless or mayo at #5 (should one of them fall) and westbrook at #6. if two of those three are gone by the time the knicks pick, then maybe westbrook at #5, and take a flier on gordon at #6? i’m going to have trouble sleeping tonight…

never. I’ll skip all the analysis and reasoning and keep it simple.

DON’T TRADE DAVID LEE!

I’m fine with trading David Lee since he’s a player that mostly relies on his athleticism and it doesn’t seem that he has yet, or will, fully recover from that ankle injury two years ago.

That said, getting the no. 5 pick for Lee is nice, but the hardest (and most important) thing for Walsh to do is find someone to take Z Randolph off our hands. Might as well save Lee for that task.

As much as it pains me to say it, you’ve got to make this deal.

Cardinal’s contract means nothing to us. I LOVE David Lee with all of my heart, but he simply is not the same value as the number 5 pick.

I’m hearing we’d get Westbrook and Gallinari with those picks. I’m not sold on Gallinari, but this a trade you have to make. It makes me like nervous to think about losing Lee, but such is life…

-Riise (formerly b.schac)

I just took a shower and thought about it a little, and I think I’ve now overcome by fanatical bias. Since, as Starkstastic pointed out, money isn’t really a problem in this deal, I think the trade is fair. Two lottery picks in a talented draft class is a sweet deal that just can’t be turned down. If it were up to me, the two picks would be Bayless/Westbrook and Joe Alexander. Gallinari is unappealing and I think two guards might be overkill when we’re weak at the 3.

When Gallinari is getting burned every night and Lee is putting up 20 and 10 in Memphis, though, remember that I was the one who hesitated.

With Lee, you guys know that he’s a good player and he’s getting better. But we’re banking our future on TWO rookies and both of them are relatively young, so the bust potential is that much greater. We should be concentrated on getting rid of Randolph and Curry to free up minutes for Lee because he can be the perfect big man in D’Antoni’s system. Here’s what I think we could do:

Trade Zach Randolph to the Bucks for Michael Redd (with a few throw-ins here and there)
Release Stephon Marbury
Draft Joe Alexander
Do a lineup of:

PG: Crawford / Collins
SG: Redd / Robinson / Q
SF: Chandler / Balkman / Q
PF: Alexander / Jeffries
C: Lee / Curry / Morris

Have Curry as backup if we aren’t able to move him.

Now you guys may think that starting Lee at center and Crawford at point guard is silly, but that is something that could work in D’Antoni’s system. Crawford is a guy who can push the ball down the floor and hit the jumper, while Lee is a mobile big-man who can rebound as well as any center and play well both inside and outside. Our second unit is a good mix of offensive potency (Nate and Eddy) and defensive-mindedness (Mardy, Balk, JJ), and Q can come in for spot minutes because his time as a main guy is done IMO. And Redd is also a good fit for Mike because we need a consistent outside shooter which he is.

Randolph for Redd? That would absolutely never happen. Sorry, man.

Also, Lee isn’t the perfect big man for D’Antoni’s system. Yeah, he can run the floor and finish but he has no jumper. Mike likes big men who can score from all over (Amare, Boris) and who can pass. At the moment, Lee has neither of those things.

If he develops those things…well then he’s an extremely valuable player and should not be traded…

imo, u gotta do it. Like someone above mentioned, his ceiling is 6th man extraordinaire. His scoring is efficient because he knows his limits, and doesn’t take shots that are difficult for him, not because he’s some offensive machine. And i don’t think anyone mentioned it, so i’ll say what some people, mostly SML, have been saying for years:

as good as Lee is, he’s coming back from injury, his trade value on the knicks is only going down, and…he sucks at D. (keep in mind it doesnt SEEM like he sucks, because he plays with the bad at D allstars in Crawford, curry, and Zbo).

at this point, the knicks arent going to be good for a bit, so why not stockpile picks ala Seattle, and gamble it out on the draft? and if you get mayo or whoever they want most with the 5th pick, you can always try to move one of our bad contracts with the 6th pick and renaldo or some shit too.

if no one else mentioned,

alexander = more athletic D Lee, with better everything…except of course the undeniable D Lee Charisma, but come on…