Plenty of Good Free Agents Out There

by Chris Alvino on July 24th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld did a good job of summing up the free agents still hunting for spots next year. Among the big names, Raskin listed Odom, Lee, Nate, Sessions, Miller, Marvin Williams, Ray Felton, Allen Iverson, Drew Gooden, Glen Davis, and Leinas Kleiza.

I have said it for a while, and I will say it again, Lamar Odom will end up in LA. He likes it out there. His teammates (Kobe Bryant!) like him. He is a part of a championship front-line. Enough said.

I have no idea where Lee will play. I still think he comes back, but that is no guarantee. If he is back here, it will be at Donnie price, presumably around $8 million per season.

As for the rest, both Kleiza and Marvin Williams are interesting names. The Knicks are pretty much stocked at the SF spot with Gallo and Wilson Chandler, but as plenty of people have stated here, the SG and SF spots are almost interchangeable for us. While I expect Williams to stay in Atlanta, Kleiza has flown under the radar. However, I expect the Nuggets to match any deal less than the MLE.

We have talked about the remaining PGs. Felton is probably looking for a deal beyond the MLE. I think he will stay in Charlotte anyway.

As for other forwards, Drew Gooden is a name that has surprised me. He is a decent shooter, a good rebounder, and is a tough defender on the block. At 6’10, 250 lbs., Gooden is a good complementary piece to have. He can fill in at either the PF or C spots. He will have a job soon I think. Why not Portland?

As for the SG spot, this appears to be the weakest crop of proven players (aside from center). This list is headlined by A.I., Von Wafer, Carlos Delfino, Rashad McCants, Rodney Carney, Gerald Green, Ime Udoka, Luther Head and Nate Robinson. We have talked about Wafer. Players like McCants, Green, and Carney might be decent names if they are interested in the minimum.

If we lose Nate and his other offers run dry, would Iverson play here for the bi-annual exception? Can’t beat him for $2 million, can you? Just a thought.

The Knicks need to bring in another PG and a SG. The point here is that we should not pencil in Morris Almond as a Knick for next season. I am glad that Walsh has not signed him to a deal yet. He made that mistake last year with Anthony Roberson. He should leave his options open and maybe, just maybe, an interesting option will shake out in August. McCants averaged 15 ppg two seasons ago. I am not saying he is the answer at SG, but is he a better option than Almond? The same can be said of Carney and Green.

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 →
  • IDunnoMyName

    Miller to the Blazers. Lee has nowhere to go and neither do we

    76ers point guard Andre Miller is in the process of finalizing a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Miller’s agent, Andy Miller.

    Andy Miller said the deal with Portland should be official “within 24 hours.”

    One source close to the situation said Miller’s deal with Portland will be “an improvement” over the deal offered by Sixers General Manager Ed Stefanski, which was reportedly for one year and about $6 million. Yesterday, Stefanski removed that deal from the table, which appeared to officially end Andre Miller’s 2 1/2 year tenure as a Sixer.

    Miller came to the Sixers from the Denver Nuggets in 2006 in a mid-season trade involving Allen Iverson. Since then, Miller hasn’t missed a game. Last season, he averaged 16.3 points and 6.5 assists a game.

  • bmathews77

    Not to mention there are some guys like Brevin Knight and Carlos Arroyo with no contract obligations where they can rent for a year if they want the one year rental.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Best deal for Donnie with Lee right now is for Lee to take a year at 6 mil.

    This way we retain his Bird rights and since his $$ is above the mid level the cap hold is 6 for next year.

    If Lee can do better than 6 mil somewhere else let him bring the contract to DW.

  • Bart

    Hes going for S&T’s now guarantee it, he has to assume he wont put up the same numbers with the loaded front court he wants to get paid he wont risk his production dropping.

  • Bart

    Dan Dantoni on the play of PG Ramon Sessions

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu0daPM_QpU

  • IDunnoMyName

    Agreed Biggie, that would be the best case scenario. Sadly though I don’t think Bartlestein will let it happen.

  • Kid Tarheel

    Interesting post biggie. Been thinking that for awhile. For arguments sake, lets go out on a huge limb and say we sign Lebron at max next season. Then sign a second free agent that takes up much of the remaining salary cap. Since we have Lee’s Bird rights, could we then sign him for a salary that would exceed the salary cap? Isn’t that part of what the Bird rights is? I’m somewhat familiar with the CBA, but not so sure when it comes to that. Anyone have an answer

  • IDunnoMyName

    Yes Kid, we can go over the salary cap if we retain Lee’s bird rights. Bird rights allow teams to go over the salary cap to resign their own free agents up to a maximum contract if the player was with the team for three consecutive years with a signle team.

    There is also the regular exception, which allows you to bump up salary 120% every year. I have no idea how this one works or if there is another qualifier.

  • joetheknick

    Agreed Biggie. And i don’t think Bartelstein can not let it happen. What is Lee going to do sit out. If Bartlestein was right about Lee being worth 10-12 million in this market he would have found a deal. The cap money teams have all made their deals. Lee needs the Knicks and we need a happy Lee.