Quite simply, this years playoffs have hammered home 2 very important lessons...

1) Building a team around 3 max contracts is a huuuuge gamble that will rarely, if ever, pay the dividends it does on paper. Miami, with it's 3 stars, is always one injury (Bosh) away from mediocrity. Because depth will ALWAYS be compromised, an injury to one of the stars and the team is screwed and scrapping.

2) A great coach with a great system (Popovich and the Spurs) can enhance talents and overcome talent deficiencies all while consistently staying in the championship hunt. The Spurs have been starting T. Parker (under-rated all-star), Tim Duncan (under-rated, and limited, all-star), and Kawhi Leanord (rookie), Danny Green (young journeyman) and Boris Diaw (washed up, but intelligent and versatile big). Yeah, they have Manu (old, but still super-competitive), but they also have a roster of other really young guys who have drank the coach cool-aid. A team about "team"... that doesn't just pay lip service to the word team.

My point is that we'd be foolish to stay locked into our 3 star roster... and that we'd be smart to refocus our attention on converting our "assets" and bringing in pieces that contribute to a balanced inside/outside game who have the character to fully buy into the coaches system... even Woody's system.

Here is how it will work, lets gather 2012 offseaon trade proposals, take the best ten or so and then post for voting.

Put together together your proposal, please try to keep it reasonable, concise, fairly realistic and free of hate.

Also provide, in 1 sentence, the value or reason for the trade. If you cannot explain it in 1 sentence then it likely is not a good proposal. Remeber, the other team would have to have a legitimate reason to make the deal.

This isn't a Lin love fest or a bashing, so the Kool-Aid drinkers... please chill or move on. This is simply a forum to take the many suggestions, throw them against the wall and see what sticks.

Myself, I am staying away from proposed deals with bottom barrel teams because there is little to no realistic reason why the Deliberately Bad & Cheap Owners would want any of NY's Big Fish, other than Lin; but Lin would not agree to a Sign & Trade (S&T) with them. The cheapest team in the universe isn't going to magically take Amare's contract. They are the cheapest team in the universe for a reason.

Let me get things started, (all deals below are within the 150% +/- NBA trade match (like the ones below).

#1. Amare-$19.9m to Atlanta for JJ-$19.8m + Marvin-$8.3m
Reason- Win/Win BFD(Big Fish Distribution) for NY, cap relief for Atlanta who may feel it is time to divorce JJ

#2. Amare-$19.9m to Dallas for Marion-$8.7m + Haywood-$8.4m + Odom-$8.2m (with team option buyout $2.4m)
Reason- Possible Plan B if Dallas whiffs but still want another Big Fish alongside Dirk & possibly DWill

#3. Amare-$19.9m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to Houston for Scola-$9.5m + Dalembert-$6.7 + Lowry-$5.8m + 1st rd
Reason- Houston desperately searching for a) a headline big and b) try to keep and regain the popularity from its Yao days

#4. Amare-$19.9m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to LA Clippers for CP3-$17.8m + Foye(S&T)-$4m
Reason- Not a likely scenario; only possible if CP3 says he will not extend with LAC, will only agree to a trade to NY and only if Melo stays a Knick

#5. Amare-$19.9m + Chandler-$13.7m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to Orlando for DHoward-$19.3m + Hedo-$11.4m + Jameer$7.9m
Reason- Not a likely scenario and I do not think a good deal for NY either

#6. Amare-$19.9m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to Boston for Rondo-$11m + KG(S&T) or Allen (S&T) + 1st rd pick
Reason- Ainge doesnt seemed sold long term on Rondo and may take a flyer; to me Rondo is job 1 if NY wants a title in the next 2 years

#7. Lin(S&T)-$5m + TD-$2.07m to Portlandfor Shawne-$3.2m + Batum(S&T)-$5m + two 1st rd picks
Reason- Portland wants Lin, make them pay for him

#8. Amare-$19.9m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to GSW for Curry $4m + Lee-$12.8m + poss 1st rd pick
Reason- Marketing gold for GSW and Lee is a better fit with Melo than Amare

#9. Lin(S&T)-$5m to GSW for Curry-$4m
Reason- Not likely, concerns about Curry's durability; would rather have Lin

#10. Amare-$19.9m + Lin(S&T)-$5m to HHB&F for DWade-$17.01m + Haslem-$4.01m
Reason- More title ready lineup for NY (Tyson/Haslem/Melo/DWade). Better BFD for HHB&F

#11. Melo-$19.5m to HHB&F for DWade-$17.01m
Reason- Another strong BFD helping both teams that Melo would agree to

#12. Move nobody and let the guys on the team have a full season together with a training camp and one coach (a tip of the cap to Moose for suggesting).

Hey guys, I'm a long time reader, first time poster, die hard fan like the rest of you. Like some of you, I'm also a numbers guy (if you haven't seen Aaron Barzilai's work over at Basketballvalue.com I strongly suggest you check it out). Anyway, here are some crazy trades with different degrees of Linsanity. All involve trading Stat or Melo. Let's take a look:

1) Most Insane - http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bpmwm6x

(For the Lazy) =

Knicks get: Dwight Howard, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, Hedo Turkoglu, & CJ Watson

Bulls get: Carmelo Anthony

Magic Get: Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Kyle Korver.

Knicks 2012:

C: Howard

PF: Gibson

SF: Deng

SG: Shumpert

PG: Lin

Bulls 2012:

C: Noah

PF: Boozer

SF: Anthony

SG: Hamilton

PG: Lucas

In all likelihood, Bulls either go hard in free agency or flip Melo for a PG and more. Draft a SG and are back in the top 4 in the East without any problem.

Magic 2012:

C: Chandler

PF: Stoudemire

SF: Richardson

SG: Reddick

PG: Nelson

Great lineup no doubt, Anderson or Big Baby could be flipped to make it even better. In addition to the free agent splash.

2) Medium Insane - http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=dy688nr

(For the Lazy) -

Knicks get: Rudy Gay

Grizzlies Get: Monta Ellis & Drew Gooden

Bucks Get: Amare Stoudemire & Grizzlies 2nd round pick.

Why this works for everyone: In this scenario, Melo moves to the 4 and Gay becomes that swingman we always needed. (haha) In return, the Grizzlies get the scorer they always needed in Ellis while Gooden becomes a dominant 6th man behind Gasol and Z-Bo. The Bucks clear up their offense which was dysfunctional under the Jennings/Ellis system. Also, they get their strong and scoring big man which They Have Been Needing Forever. I have no problem having the Knicks trade a future 2nd rounder to the Bucks as well if it feels one sided.

I'm going to see about the feedback I get for these 2 so far before posting the rest. Let me know what you think!

ADDED!

3) Kind of Similar to Insane (http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7km9d5a%20)

(For the Lazy)

Knicks get Joe Johnson

Bucks get Amare Stoudemire

Hawks get Monta Ellis and Drew Gooden.

Same Story, except swap the Hawks with the Grizzlies and Gay with JJ. This is for if you think we need a SG more than a SF. Personally with this deal I'd either pass on Landry and look to FA for a PF. Or, Sign and trade Landry packaged with our 2nd for a 1st rounder and draft a PF.

More creative ones than this on the way...

Ok, so I decided to make this fanpost so that we all have a place to scout and discuss who the Knicks should pick with their second round draft pick this year.

This is important because given the salary cap situation this player may be vital to our team next year. They may even swing a playoff game for all we know. I think a number of people on here probably believe we would have performed better this year if we had Jae Crowder instead of JR Smith.

Also, this year's draft is stacked and there are definitely legit rotation players to be found in the second round.

So this pick is important.

I'm not a college basketball fan so I can't claim to be familiar enough with these guys to truly come to any sort of decision about these guys. All I can do is read online scouting reports, view highlights, and trust my gut. So, I wanted to put my two cents out there and then hear what people who have actually watched the players play have to say about the potential players we could draft with our pick.

Right now I'm down to 4 or 5 guys I'm really high on (and I think could contribute to the Knicks immediately): Jae Crowder, Henry Sims, JaMychal Green, and Kim English ... maybe Tu Holloway if we have to go PG.

Jae Crowder - One of the better defenders in college basketball. Can hit the three ball. Can do some other things on the offensive end as well. Don't know why his stock his so low. Seems like a legit NBA player to me. Would be nice to have him to back up Melo. Pairing him with shump would be lockdown defense, but also allows us to survive defensively when Shump isn't on the court.

Henry Sims - Smart big man. Can always use those. I'd like to see us have someone who can spell Tyson a bit and give us some legit minutes at the 5. Although, I guess Amar'e can do that. I guess I don't trust Jorts to handle more than 10 minutes and I don't trust Jerome, much as I love him, to make the leap, so it'd be nice to have some front court depth that can actually play down low.

JaMychal Green - super athletic. could be the steal of the draft or could be a bust. Kinda raw, but can you really say no to super athletic front court depth? For what it's worth, NBA draftnet compares him to JJ Hickson. If that's true, I'd take that.

Kim English - Kim English may be my favorite. He kind of reminds me of Shump mixed with the opposite of Shump. He's known as a tenacious defender. He lacks athleticism, but is great at knocking down jumpers. Sounds like a roleplayer who would do quite nicely on our team here. Would allow Landry to shift to backup 3 full time (or at least most of the time probably).

And if we obviously need PG help. There are a lot of interesting free agents out there, but if we can't solve it that way ... well, we have a second rounder and I like Tu Holloway.

That said, all this is gleamed from things I've read. I have no real knowledge of these players' capabilities. P&T, please school me.

If anyone knows how this could be accomplished, please post here, and I will start a friggin' online petition or something to make this happen!

Especially if the prospect of getting Lin & Nash through the arbitration of "The Linsanity Rule", I think Woodson would be the wrong fit for such an offense.

Woodson is cool and all, but I just don't think he would make the best use of them. Then again, I am counting my chickens before they've hatched (as the arbitration ruling for the NBAPA is still in the air).

As per Marc Berman at the New York Post, the NBA Players Association is entering arbitration negotiations with the NBA on the matter of "The Linsanity Rule."

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/union_suit_may_help_knicks_lin_bid_iaaLEsnqhFQtyhOSIgjqZM

Basically if a team can have Bird rights to a player they got ahold of via Waiver vs Trade.

Essentially under Bird rights, a team can go above their salary cap to retain their own player. When a player is traded those Bird rights get traded with the player.

So if Lin was traded to us, we could use the Bird right to pay above our salary cap to retain him for next year.

But we got Lin via a Waiver, not a trade. Same goes for Novak as well.

So if the NBAPA wins the arbitration and gets the legal ruling that players acquired via Waiver should also have the same Bird rights as a player that's been traded, that means the Knicks can use Bird rights to pay over their salary cap to retain Lin and Novak...WITHOUT TOUCHING THEIR MID-LEVEL EXCEPTION.

This means that we can use the mid-level to woo Nash, or Dragon, or any other player we can get with 5 Million!

This is being dubbed the "The Linsanity Rule" by the press ala New York Post, but the question then becomes...

If we get Lin & Novak, then who do we want to get with our mid-level exception????

Suggestions please! :)

Hello Knick fans!

This will be my first post, hopefully you guys go easy on me...haha

So first of all, I am not a true Knicks fan. I am not a diehard, hardcore, or super fan....but I did love watching this team during the season! I loved their attitude, effort (for most of the season anyway), and the flair they played with. Seeing this team evolve from a broken, unwatchable team to a cohesive, exciting team during the course of the season was truly amazing to watch.

Anyway, since things are kind of slow right now, I thought I'd share my grades for the Knicks' roster....

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One of my European scout friends talked to a scout from the NBA at the Euroleague Final Four. The Knicks own the NBA draft rights to Georgios Printezis. Printezis hit the game winning shot to clinch the Euroleague championship.

The European scout said that they talked about both Spanoulis and Printezis and said that NBA teams definitely have interest, especially in Spanoulis. This is what was said,

NBA scout:

On Georgios Printezis:

"After how he played at the final four and hitting that game winning shot, it was really great to see how well he played. He's a free agent, but he would like to sign a long term extension with Olympiacos. But he would also like to take a shot at playing in the NBA.

On Vassilis Spanoulis:

He's a very impressive player. His basketball IQ is extremely high and the way he runs his team as a point guard is really impressive. The way he plays in big games and big moments was quite impressive. He was so calm and so composed out there. He's incredibly clutch and a terrific decision maker. There is no doubt in my mind that he can really help a lot of NBA teams.

Spanoulis to Printezis, to win the Euroleague 2012 championship:

Vassilis Spanoulis 2012 Euroleague Final Four MVP:

Vassilis Spanoulis has joined a select group of players to be chosen as Final Four MVPs multiple times!

Spanoulis became just the 4th player in Euroleague history to win more than one Final Four MVP, the most prestigious award in European club basketball.

Toni Kukoc - 3x (1990, 1991, 1993)

Dejan Bodiroga - 2x (2002, 2003)

Dimitris Diamantidis - 2x (2007, 2011)

Vassilis Spanoulis - 2x (2009, 2012)

I just noticed that Josh Harrellson has the lowest possible ratings in vertical, speed, and quickness, with a 25 in each category.

Anyone else notice any strange/amusing ratings out there?

I'd also be curious in hearing who y'all think is the most fun Knicks player to play as on there. Personally, I like Shump the most. High steal rating + ridiculous athleticism = fast break dunks all day. Guy's shooting like 75% from the field because I don't let him take jumpers (except, of course, from his kill spots).

Also, do you guys actually play as the Knicks? For years, I was in the habit of playing as other teams because the Knicks were dreadful. I started playing as them again in the D'Antoni era.

Well, one question that I've been hearing a lot lately as a Knicks fan is: "Since your team got eliminated, who will you be rooting for to win the NBA Championship?"

Well, when your team gets eliminated, and when certain teams, and certain players, and certain situations align in certain ways, you might find yourself rooting for an unlikely team.

At the end of this fanpost, I would like people to use the comment section to say which team they are rooting for to win in the Finals this year and why.

Take the jump for my unusual pick...

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