In Case You Were Curious…

by Chris Alvino on November 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

In case you were curious who will fill out the free agent class of 2009 and the class of 2010 (beyond James, Wade, Bosh, etc.), ESPN offers a list the free agents and potential free agents.

You can pretty much let your imagination run wild with ideas for potential steals that Walsh can use to build a team around his 2010 star.  I don’t think that the Knicks will have any room under the cap, but they will be able to use parts of the mid-level exception to fill out the roster.

About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • Arputter

    The Knicks will only have Gallinari, Chandler, Curry and Jeffries under contract. That’s about 22 million in salary, which leaves probably around 35-40 million in cap space. I would think that would be enough to sign two top free agents. I certainly think they’ll be able to move Curry as well when his contract becomes more palatable. That would def allow them to sign two and possible a third guy. I won’t get greedy just yet, but why do you say just one?

    Also, let’s assume the Knicks sign two free agents, which puts them over the cap. Don’t the rules allow them to re-sign their own players after that point, even if it then puts them over the cap. Couldn’t they bring back Harrington and Duhon even though they’d be over, without using the midlevel. I don’t know where I got this from, but what is the ruling on this?

  • Chris Alvino

    Arputter- I think that you are right with that. When a team is over the cap, I am pretty sure that they can resign their own players. In fact, I am pretty sure that Allan Houston signed his huge contract to stay with the Knicks while the Knicks were over the cap.

    That free agent list that I posted was geared more towards the 2009 class. Think Walsh can convince Rasheed Wallace to sign for the mid-level? I doubt it, but I would not mind having him man the middle while LeBron and hopefully another star are taking care of their business.

  • Chris Alvino

    So yeah, the Knicks should be able to bring back their own players while bringing in outsiders as well. If Harrington and Duhon perform, then I can see them both in the Knicks future plans.

  • BiggieSmalls

    your 22 million dollar cap figure assumes the Knocks Do not resign David Lee or Nate Robinson or their 2009 first round draft pick.

    Assuming 8 mil for Lee and 5 for Nate and 4 for the 2009 First Rounder they are down to 26 mil available in 2010.

    Additionally, there is a “cap hold put on any free agents the Knicks have that they dont sign (ie Duhon and Harrington)

    So two marque free agents and a mid level in 2010 would take some more cap maneuvering and trades.

  • BluEandOrange

    This is the lineup right here…

    Chris Duhon
    Wilson Chandler
    Lebron James
    Al Harrington
    Dirk Nowitzki

    You have your three point shooters in Dirk, Harrington, Chandler, and Lebron. Defenders in Duhon, Chandler, James, and Harrington. Blockers with Chandler, James, Harrington, and Nowitzki.

  • Chris Alvino

    Big- Can you explain what the “cap hold” you refer to means. Does that mean that we cannot resign them while we are over the cap?

    Blue- Dirk is an interesting name. The FA class of 2010 runs deeper than Wade, Bosh, LeBron, and Amare. Dirk would be fun to watch in this system. Tracy McGrady is also a free agent too. There are plenty of options that Walsh will have.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Hey Chris – Sorry I missed that..

    A Cap hold means that unless we renounce the free agent his salary (I think its 110% of his last year of something like that) counts against our cap number.

    We can always match our own free agents assuming we do not renounce our rights.

    So for example. In 2010 we have 4 players under contract .. J Jeff, Eddy C, Gallo and Will C.

    Harrington has a player option in 2009 which he will exercise for 9 mil.. so .. if we want to keep him in the mix in 2010 10 mil counts against our cap number and we cannot use those funds to sign a free agent. Duhon counts as 6 mil or so in the same way

    That prevents teams from using all the cap money on free agents and then coming back and signing their own free agents.

    We could renounce Al and Duhon in 2010 but that means we can no longer go over the cap and resign them…

    So in essence we have 7 roster spots to fill (assuming 2009 first rounder) and have to account for those salaries under our 2010 cap as well.

  • BiggieSmalls

    No chance Dirk comes over.. Dallas has tons of room and can offer more money.

    Now Amar’e is another story.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Chris — I just looked it up .. The free agent cap hold for your own non-bird free agents is 120% of their last years contract.

    So Al comes in at a 12 milcap hold in 09-10 and Duhon 7.2 mil

    now we have:

    2010 Payroll (in mils)

    Under Contract
    Eddy C 11.2
    J Jeff 6.8
    Gallo 3.3
    Will 2.1
    09 1st 3.0

    2009 Signs (R.F.A)
    Nate 5.0
    D Lee 8.0

    F.A. Cap Holds
    Duhon 7.2
    Al H. 12.0
    Snacks 7.2
    Q Rich 11.1
    Cuttino 11.7
    T Thom 7.7

    Cap in 2010 will be around 65 mil.
    So before we sign Nate and D LEe we are committed for 26.4 mil.. add in Nate and D Lee for 13.0 gets you to 39.4

    Now you can renounce Snacks (duh) Q Rich, Cuttino and T Thom to free up those dollars.

    Adding back in the holds for Duhon and Al gets you to 58 mil ..unless you renounce and then you can offer ONE of them The Mid Level Exception of maybe 7 mil

    Which means you have to make AT LEAST one more move before the team is REALLY in a position to rock and roll in 2010.

    Im thinking that a move involving D Lee and Curry would make us cherry for 2010

  • BiggieSmalls

    last thing.. the max for 2010 is 30% of the cap of 105% of their last years contract whichever is higher.. So Bron Bron is going to cost something around 20 mil per…

    f you want to offer Amar’e or Wade a deal it will be around 18.5 .. so — as you can see this two max player scenario isnt a slam dunk given the current situation. Dirk’s max number is 22.5 (yikes)

  • Chris Alvino

    Good stuff big. Very well done. I appreciate it.

  • Chris Alvino

    By the way, he has an ETO after this year, and if he doesn’t use that, he will be a FA in 2010. That guy is Mehmet Okur. I would love to see him play with Coach Mike. He can be a mid-tier free agent to sign with hopefully two stars. Or if we can only get LeBron, then sign Okur and keep Harrington around.