Melo said it would be ‘selfish’ to think about opting out after next season. Says he doesn’t want to ‘jump the gun.’

We can see where this is going. The Knicks’ resurgence this season was led by (arguably) Carmelo Anthony’s best season. He led the NBA in scoring for the first time in his year, defended with vigor, and trusted his teammates more, willingly passing out of double teams or making smart plays in the pick-and-roll. That the Indiana Pacers were able to bottle up Anthony so well in the playoffs and send the Knicks packing is likely to undermine the progress Anthony made as player this season.

Anthony is right in some aspects: the Knicks are still coming off a good season and could potentially grow even more next year. His contract status in the next year isn’t really relevant when the Knicks still have work to do.

However, Anthony being mum on the situation has potential to become a media circus. Should Anthony or the Knicks struggle during the 2013-14 season, questions about Anthony’s ability to opt out of his contract and become a free agent could overtake the entire New York media. This was Anthony’s first real taste of success with the Knicks, and it was moderate. A disappointing year would be seen as a continuation of his first lackluster year-and-a-half with the Knicks, with 2012-13 being the brief interruption.

It’s still so early and inappropriate to speculate, but comments like Anthony’s today has the potential to be the spark that ignites the flame. I think we’d all like to pass on “Melodrama 2.0.”

“I want to retire a Knick,” Smith said when asked about his future following the team’s season-ending loss to the Pacers on Saturday night. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. I love it. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. I was sitting in the locker room looking at my jersey after the game just knowing I don’t want to be anywhere else except for in the orange and blue. So we’ll see.”

Smith is expected to opt out of his $2,9 million player option next season and become an unrestricted free agent. Smith had limited options last season and signed a fairly small offer with the Knicks. However, given Smith’s mostly productive season, he is due for a pay raise, especially as he hits the prime of his career.

The Knicks cannot pay Smith as much as other teams with cap space, but they do have a few advantages. They can offer him a decent contract, around the average league salary of about $5 million with small increases each season. If Smith is willing to sacrifice a big pay day for one more year, however, the Knicks will own his Bird Rights (they currently have his Early Bird Rights) and could sign him for whatever they/he pleases and for however long they want.

The Knicks obviously have the advantage of being the Knicks, too. Smith is from the New Jersey and loves the city. Likewise, he’s become very close to the organization, namely Carmelo Anthony, who he’s spent nearly his entire career playing with. And, of course, there’s Mike Woodson, whose trust and love of J.R. Smith surely outweighs any other coach Smith could play for in the NBA.

There’s almost no doubt that the Knicks will try to keep J.R. Smith around. However, there’s a legitimate argument about how much he’s worth. Yes, J.R. just had the best season of his career, averaging career-highs in points (18.1 per game) and rebounds (5.3). He had moments where he looked like a legitimate All-Star, like this past April where he averaged 33 minutes per game, 22 points on 48.3% FG and 40% 3FG, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Smith’s best moments were a big part of the Knicks’ regular season success.

Mar 29, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith (8) dunks during the third quarter against the Charlotte Bobcats at Madison Square Garden. Knicks won 111-102. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

However, for the second straight year, Smith’s game and focus waned in the postseason. During the past two postseasons, his combined stats come out to 13.2 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Most alarming, however, is that he’s been attempting 15 shots per game and shooting a combined 32.3% FG and 22.6% 3FG. Smith’s contributions drop radically in the playoffs in nearly every category. And this year, Smith’s focus took a sour turn with an intentional elbow to Jason Terry’s face in Game 3 of the first round, earning Smith a suspension; talks of going golfing while in the midst of a series; and going clubbing at night.

Smith’s regular season contributions are great and needed. However, for a team that has higher aspirations than the second round, the Knicks need Smith to be better than those lowly numbers above.

Personally, I welcome Smith back. However, I would prefer it to be in one of the aforementioned $5-million per year contracts that the Knicks can offer this season. This would keep New York from overpaying Smith, and it would also likely be for a shorter time, thereby retaining cap space for 2015.

The Knicks have decided to let Jeremy Lin sign his offer sheet with Houston, which was a 3-year deal for 25 million dollars. The biggest reason that the Knicks did not match it was due to their reluctance to take the “poison pill,” or the heavily back ended last year of the contract. The 3rd year, which was worth over 14 million dollars, would have cost the Knicks even more in luxury taxes.

At first, all signs pointed to the Knicks keeping Lin this offseason no matter what deal was offered to him. Things changed, however, when Marcus Camby and Jason Kidd signed on to the team for the next three years leaving even less space before reaching the luxury tax threshold. The real issue came about when the Rockets changed their deal from being a four-year, 28 million dollar deal into the one that was eventually signed by Lin.

Theories began to trickle out that The Knicks may not be keeping Lin when seemingly out of nowhere Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas were traded to the team in exchange for Jared Jefferies, Dan Gadzuric, and the draft rights to two of our players. Felton, who played arguably his best season with The Knicks in 2010, is coming off a down season where he was accused of being out of shape. Amar’e Stoudemire and Felton developed a great pick-and-roll chemistry very early on in the season.

Credit: Getty Images

It seems like the Knicks front office wanted to save money by signing Felton to a 3-year, 10 million dollar deal rather than the astronomical deal Lin will receive from the Rockets. Felton is not a bad player by any means, in fact he was playing at a near all-star level less than 2 years ago. He averaged 17.1 ppg, 9 apg, and 1.8 spg in 54 games with The Knicks. Felton has always played consistent defense never averaging less than one steal in his 8 NBA seasons.

Felton has proved himself capable of being a solid starting point guard in this league, who can shoot and defend well. My issue with the decision to choose him over Lin is not that I necessarily think he is not a good enough player to start on a championship contending team, but that Lin has too much upside to let slip away.

Jeremy Lin has a lot going for him. He is only 23-years-old, he is an instant marketing tool, his shooting and passing skills will only improve, and he has the ability to be a franchise player. The image I have kept in my mind since the dawn of Linsanity was always that when Carmelo and Amar’e are at the ends of their careers, Lin would be right in the middle of his prime continuing to lead the Knicks.

Jeremy Lin will always be faster and more athletic than Raymond Felton, but Felton has the experience and defense that is needed when trying to win championships. He also will save the team a lot of money without making the team too old (he’s only 28 years old), and he may be able to get STAT out of his post-’Melo funk.

I wanted Lin back, and I was enthused about having another player on the floor who can create his own shot, but its time to move on. Knicks’ fans must turn back the clock to when they were enamored with Felton. I don’t know about you, but I think its time to begin hoping that Linsanity was all a fluke, and that the Rockets may have just made one of the worst free agent signings in history.

Camby formerly played for The Knicks from 1999 – 2002. The 6-11 Center won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2007, and has consistently been one of the best defensive centers in the league. Last season, he averaged 4.9 PPG, 1.4 BPG, and 9 RPG in only 22.9 minutes for the Portland Trailblazers and Houston Rockets. He also is coming off a contract where he was making a whopping 11.2 million dollars.

Camby would be a great addition to The Knicks as the backup center to reigning DPOY Tyson Chandler. There were many times last season that when Chandler was out of the game there was a huge drop off in defending the paint. Camby would fill that hole very well, and would help with our only average rebounding.

There is one huge problem in my eyes however: Camby wants more than the veteran’s minimum, and may not even be content with the 3 million dollar mini-mid level exception. I am not convinced that Camby is the best player to invest our exception in, especially due to his age. We need more help in the backcourt than upfront. Not to mention that centers have been getting overpaid throughout the league in the past few years, and Camby could probably get far more money resigning with The Rockets.

Marcus Camby lives in New York in the offseason, and loves the City. If Grunwald and Co. can convince him to sign for the veterans minimum than I am all for his return to The Knicks. Otherwise, I hope that he ends up with anyone who are not The Heat. My gut is he returns to the Rockets.

His rookie season was too good to dismiss. He was named to the All-Rookie team after posting averages of 9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and shooting 39.3% from 3-point territory. Fields led all guards in rebounding for much of his freshmen year.

He was a second round steal, and The Knicks actually put their foot down when The Nuggets wanted him to be included in the ‘Melo trade.

His production would never be the same after that trade, because Fields had difficulty finding his role in the offense now that ‘Melo was taking over.

He faded slightly towards the end of the season, and then made a giant mistake in the offseason. Landry Fields came back having reworked his jumpshot, or as Walt Frazier continously pointed out: he completely took the arc out of it.

Landry Fields began this season as the starting shooting guard for Mike D’antoni’s team. He finished it backing up Iman Shumpert on Mike Woodson’s team.

His stat line for this season consisted of 8.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 25.6% 3pt shooting percentage.

Those numbers are only even that good because the emergence of Jeremy Lin helped to revert him back to his former self. The faster offense that came with Lin helped Fields use his off ball skills to become more productive.

The 3-point shooting numbers are the most alarming. Fields went from an above average long range scorer to a far below average shooter. The worst part was that he was succesful when driving to the lane, but it took him almost the entire season to figure out to not take the 3-pointer, and instead dribble into the paint.

Photo By: Francois Mori/Associated Press

The good news is that his defensive awareness improved this season, and he was able to hold his own against some of the league’s better shooting guards.

I have faith that Fields will make the neccesary adjustments in the offseason to come back ready to contribute to this team. He can fix his shot, and work on other playmaking skills in order to improve in his third year.

Fields may have actually done The Knicks a favor by underperforming the way he did. There was a time when I thought that The Knicks may not be able to afford him because of how valuable he could be. However, he brought his stock down considerably this past season, and The Knicks may be able to sign him for much less than he is worth.

Landry Fields has a definite role in our rotation as a solid role player off the bench backing up Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert (when he returns from injury). Now that J.R. Smith has opted out of his contract (although he is said to be resigning), Fields could play an even more important role as the possible starting shooting guard at the beginning of the year.

There is no doubt a lot of work to do in order to get his career back on track, but I am excited for The Knicks to resign him, and for Fields to provide a needed spark off the bench.

That would essentially let us sign Steve Novak and Jeremy Lin without using any of our exceptions, and because of that give us the freedom to acquire better talent to play with ‘Melo and Amar’e.

Photo cred: Rob Carr/Getty Images

Some unrestricted free agents would include: Lamar Odom, Raymond Felton, Shannon Brown, Grant Hill, Kenyon Martin, and our very own J.R. Smith. All of the players listed are in our price range for the MLE, and could be courted to come play in the “Mecca of Basketball” for less than they are worth.

I would put Lamar Odom and Raymond Felton at the top of my personal list as they have roles to play on this team.

It is unclear so far if Jeremy Lin is a lock to start, and even if he does it is important to have a solid back up point guard. Felton damaged his value this past season which puts us in a perfect spot to pick him up for less than market value.

Same goes for Odom contract wise, but he serves an even more important purpose on this team. He can defend, rebound, and most importantly make his own shot. He would be leading our second unit, and as we saw in Los Angeles he does a pretty good job in that capacity.

As far as the beloved/hate J.R. Smith, he wants more than his current player option according to sources around the league. I think he can help this team for his current paycheck, but it may not be worth giving up a chance at one of the players listed above. He can shoot you in and out of games, and this season played with quick hands that tend to lead to deflections and steals.

There are a few bigger names out there that will be hard to convince to sign for the around 5.2 million dollar exception we could have available if Jeremy Lin gets to use early bird rights. Some include Aaron Brooks (restricted) , Steve Nash, Ray Allen, O.J. Mayo (restricted), and Marcus Camby.

Ray Allen and Marcus Camby stick out huge for me.

Allen has long been rumored to be considering leaving the Celtics due to his diminished role after the rise of Avery Bradley. He is the perfect fit for this team. He does not need many touches to be effective, he can defend well enough, and can fill the need of starting shooting guard.

Camby has played for the Knicks before, and it would be fantastic if he did it again. He is a former defensive player of the year, and would pair up amazingly with our own current defensive player of the year, Tyson Chandler. Camby could come in when Chandler or STAT need a rest, and defend the paint. This past season when Chandler took a breather there was often a large hole defensively.

This is all speculation, but it might as well be worthless if the arbitrator rules against the union. Jeremy Lin would eat up our entire MLE, and Steve Novak might go elsewhere for more money. This would put us in a tough postion in terms of adding talent.

If you have any spare time between today and June 13th, I would advise you to spend that time praying that the Players’ Union wins, because a win for them is a win for the New York Knicks.

Apr 7, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Raymond Felton (5) during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center. The Bucks defeated the Trail Blazers 116-94. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Though Felton had been little more than a solid, if not unspectacular point guard through the first five years of his career with the Charlotte Bobcats, I just saw something in him that I liked. He routinely had his best games against the Knicks, posting averages of 19 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds per game against them in the 2009-10 season. I enjoyed his ability to briefly take over a game. I enjoyed watching a short man with a pudgy physique bolt in and out of the lane. And when he came to the Knicks, though he struggled at first, Felton was arguably the best point guard in a New York uniform in quite some time.

Let me remind you of how awesome Raymond Felton was:

Amar’e Stoudemire was not supposed to survive without Steve Nash; once chemistry developed, Stoudemire and Felton became the NBA’s hottest pick-and-roll duo as Stoudemire cruised to a streak of nine straight 30-point games.

Felton manned a ship of underdogs that became one of the league’s most efficient offenses.

Through the first two months of the season, when those Knicks were red hot, Felton averaged 18 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals per game – nearly elite-level stats.

With rumors of the Knicks pursuing Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Felton squashed them by out-playing Paul (17 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds in a win), posting a triple-double in a win over the Suns, and out-playing Williams, as well (23 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds).

Raymond Felton once claimed he wanted to be a New Yorker for life.

But the past season-and-a-half hasn’t been kind to Felton. He was shipped to Denver where he came off the bench behind Ty Lawson and struggled with his shot. On 2011 Draft Night, Felton was traded to Portland where he initially did well, but struggled with conditioning, and his season became disastrous.

Now, with Felton entering free agency (as the Blazers almost surely will not pick up his option), there have been rumors of Felton returning to New York. Much of this depends on how the arbitrator rules the hearing for the Bird Rights case for Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak – if the Knicks have to use their mid-level excpetion to retain Lin, then Felton is most likely not an option. However, if the Knicks’ MLE remains, then Felton may be a realistic option. But would he be a good fit?

The natural response would be yes. Any time you can acquire a PG as talented as Felton (even in his worst seasons, he’s hovered around an average starting point guard), to be a backup, it’s almost a must. But this New York Knicks team is a vastly different Knicks team Felton played so well with originally.

Gone is Mike D’Antoni’s fast-paced offense, that let Felton dash around the court with free will. Gone are the shooters like Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, the jumpshots of Landry Fields and Toney Douglas (RIP, jumpshots, respectively).

The Knicks under Mike Woodson play at a slower pace, which has never been a good fit for Felton’s game. Felton’s Bobcats usually played somewhere between a league average and slowest pace in the NBA, and this past season, the Trailblazers played at exactly 15th in the NBA in pace – about 94 possessions per game. Felton’s best season – his 54 games with the Knicks – came with Mike D’Antoni, where the Knicks were around the top five in pace. Likewise, the Knicks lack the spacing that Felton likes to utilize to drive into the lane and run the pick-and-roll with the big men. That space will especially be lost if the Knicks don’t bring back Steve Novak and J.R. Smith.

My love for Raymond Felton would swoon if he returned to the Knicks, but in complete honesty, there may be better fits.

Odom played last year for The Dallas Mavericks, which did not turn out well. He asked for a trade out of L.A. after hearing that he was involved in the nullified Chris Paul to the Lakers trade. Dallas got him for pretty much nothing, and ironically that’s about all he brought to the team. He averaged career lows in scoring (6.6 ppg) and rebounding (4.1 rpg).

That is Lamar Odom at his worst. But, what could he bring at his best?

With the Lakers, Odom won two championships, and the sixth man of the year award in 2011. That season he averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Those are numbers I can absolutely get on board with.

Due to his overall disappointing performance with the Mavs, they chose to put him on their inactive list for the last 9 games of the season. Ideally they would trade him before June 29th, in order to avoid having to pay him the portion of his salary that is guaranteed. If they fail to trade him then they will almost certainly release him, which would allow Odom to choose his future team.

Lamar Odom #7 of the Dallas Mavericks puts up the lay up against Jeremy Lin #17 of the New York Knicks on March 6, 2012 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

Odom reportedly puts New York at the top of his list. He grew up in Queens, New York, and according to the source, “New York is somewhere he can be comfortable.”

But. Can the Knicks afford him?

Odom has a significant pay cut coming his way due to his poor performance last season. He is positioned to make 8.2 million, but if released he could sign for the mid level, mini mid level, or even the veterans minimum.

I doubt he would take the minimum, because he would desire a longer deal than a one year contract. If we operate using the logic that the arbitrator dealing with the case about Bird rights transferring even when a player is released rules in favor of the players, then Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak will be able to sign without using either of our exceptions. This would allow for the Knicks to have some options.

If the Knicks fail to resign J.R. Smith, who has displayed mixed signals about whether he will stay or go, then Odom would be the best sixth man on the market. He can rebound, shoot three pointers, and most importantly create his own shot.

The Knicks offense fails to execute when they can only rely on the skills of Carmelo Anthony. With Odom, we would be able to have Jeremy Lin, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Lamar Odom as our secondary scorers.

Odom is a low risk, high reward idea that may prove to be the missing piece in the Knicks Offense. By all means, if your reading this, Glen Grunwald, you have my blessing.

There are some legitimate reasons that people could vote for Nash against Lin.

He is a proven point guard that has been one of the leaders in assists for the past several seasons. He can spread the floor with his 3-point shooting. He has worked with a pick-and-roll player (Stoudemire) and a scorer (Joe Johnson) before, and has the skill set to possibly be the answer to the ‘Melo/STAT chemistry issues.

I get that he is one of the best point guards of the last 10 years, probably up there with the best ever, but I see his age as what makes him undesirable for this team. He is 38 years old, which in basketball years is more like 50. Nash has logged a ton of minutes on his knees, and is not the point guard of the future for any team, even if he thinks he can go for three more years. The future Hall of Fame point guard is simply not the right fit for this Knick team.

As for Jeremy Lin, there are no MVP awards in his trophy case, and there are no assist-leading seasons under his belt. What Lin has is an abundance of potential.

http://www.channelapa.com/2012/02/jeremy-lin-at-2012-nba-all-star-weekend.html

The 23-year-old Harvard graduate is capable of anything at this point in his young career. Is it likely he will be the next Steve Nash? I doubt it, but it is possible. That is where Lin excels. There is nothing we can rule Lin out of being capable of. He can lead this team as our starting point guard for the next 10, or even 15 years.

During Linsanity that is what America fell in love with. There was nothing that people didn’t think he could do.

During that run, we saw that he has a knack for using his 6-3 frame to drive into the paint, and convert tough plays while absorbing contact. He has a decent and developing court vision that will only improve with experience. His 3-point shot, while needing improvement, is not awful, and can be turned into a consistent weapon for him.

Of course, when you are going with a high risk-high reward type player, there are always potential drawbacks.

We could sign Lin to full or part of our mid-level exception, and he could turn out to be a flop. He could turn into a Toney Douglas, who showed promise, but was unable to perform when the team put the ball into his hands. There is a chance that he fails as a starting point guard, and that Linsanity was a statistical anomale.

But. I don’t think that will happen. I think Lin makes players around him better, and I think he makes the Knicks as a whole better.

Is Nash still great at his age? Yes. Will he still be a year from now? Will he be effective when his desired three-year deal runs its course? The odds are against him. Jeremy Lin on the other hand has no where to go but up.

He needs to get his shooting percentages up, and his turnovers down, but I believe that Jeremy Lin can be the point guard for this team for many years to come.

With much of the Knicks roster heading towards free agency this summer, questions linger as to where the team is headed in the future. The core of Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler is locked up for the next few years, but thus far that trio has proven to be incomplete, needing assistance to efficiently function on the offensive end. For many people, that answer lies at the point guard position.

In an interview with ESPN New York radio, Jared Jeffries echoed these sentiments:

“We gotta have a point guard. I think that a point guard that demands the respect of [Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire] will do a lot better. I think you had some of that with Chauncey [Billups]… he was able to get them in the right spots, and able to kind of distribute shots for both of them. So, I think the big key is for Jeremy [Lin] to take the next step as a point guard, he has to command the ball, have control of the offense, and get guys in the right spots.”

While Jeffries expressed full confidence in Lin, he also wouldn’t go as far as to say the Knicks shouldn’t sign Lin at the expense of getting a player like Steve Nash, who will be a free agent this summer. Jeffries cited that he couldn’t see someone like Nash taking the veteran’s minimum to play in New York, but the Knicks also have the mid-level exception (MLE) which has been assumed will go to Lin.

While Mike Woodson (who might have his interim title taken off soon) seemed to express little doubt that Lin would be back next season, Lin didn’t sound so sure. Lin admitted that he’d like to be back with the Knicks, but also said that “it’s a business” and “crazy things happen”.

To some, Jeremy’s brief, but exciting stint as starting point guard (25 games) is inconclusive. Though his stats are impressive – 18.2 points, 7.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2 steals per game – there is a worry that locking up Lin long term with such a small sample size (surely somewhat fueled by adrenaline) could be a mistake. Especially when spending money will be so tight for the Knicks. Take into account that free agents like J.R. Smith, Steve Novak, and Jared Jeffries all can earn bigger contracts from other teams, there is a worry that utilizing the largest chunk of spending money on Lin would be investing in a somewhat unknown product.

There are multiple options regarding Lin, though, some of which Alan Hahn outlined in his latest Fix. The most conceivable would be to convince Lin to take part of the MLE (which is about $5 million in total) and use the remainder to sign one of the above-mentioned free agents. Marc Berman of the New York Post recently mentioned names such as Raymond Felton, Kirk Hinrich, Ramon Sessions, Jonny Flynn, among others, as point guards the Knicks would try to steal this offseason. In a perfect world, the Knicks could convince Lin to take his qualifying offer (just over $1 million) and use the full MLE to lure Nash into New York.

The Knicks hold the right to match any offers that Lin receives from other teams, due to the Gilbert Arenas provision. However, the most devastating prospect would be that the Knicks would be forced to match a big offer from a spiteful team (I’m looking at you, New Jersey Brooklyn Nets!) and end up overpaying Lin or losing him.

So, much of the offseason represents a gamble. Can the Knicks trust what they saw from Lin in February and March and invest in him for the future? Or do they go into “win-now” mode and shoot for the shiny, attractive toy, Steve Nash? Either way, Jeremy Lin and the point guard position will dictate the future of the Knicks.

Well, its official: Tyson Chandler is a member of the New York Knicks. Ronny Turiaf and Any Rautins no longer are.

The Knicks acquired Tyson Chandler in a 3 team trade that sent Andy Rautins to the Mavericks as well as Ronny Turiaf and cash to Washington.  This move had been rumored for days, but was officially completed yesterday afternoon.

Landing the 7’1 Center is a big score for a team that has lacked the defensive presence necessary to compete for a championship. Chandler was the anchor of the Dallas Mavericks defense that was a key part of their championship run.Putting Chandler next to Stoudemire should shore of the interior defense, and hide some of Amar’e’s deficiencies on that end of the floor. (more…)

Since Free agency talk began about a week ago, there have been a few teams that have been talked about as having interest in Tyson Chandler, and the Knicks were not one of them. Not until today.

According to multiple outlets, the Knicks are now chasing Chandler, presumably under the premise that landing Chandler will give them a better chance at getting Chris Paul.  The Knicks could make some moves in order to free the space to land Chandler; this would probably mean either amnestying Chauncey Billups or including him in a sign and trade with the Mavs. (more…)