TKB.tv: Lang Whitaker Chats with TD

by Tommy Dee on January 30th, 2010 at 12:54 am

Click on the media player to the right to check out my conversation with the great Lang Whitaker, executive editor of SLAM Magazine and slamonline.com and the man who handles “The Beat” for NBA.TV.

Lang and I chatted about the Hawks, the snubbing of David Lee in favor of Al Horford and, amongst other things, Jamal Crawford’s impact on the Hawks.

Click here to check out the video on sny.tv.
  • jgilch82

    how much money do u think Camby will get in free agency?
    worst case scenario if we cant move JJ or Curry .. is Lebron+Camby a reality?
    Camby can run the floor .. rebounds, block shots, plays defense …
    i think he makes this team MUCH better on the defensive end.
    I havent seen him play much myself.. so i took a look at this numbers to see if hes tailed off … almost 10points,11 boards, 2 assists , 2 blocks per game.
    We know hes unfazed by NY ….
    my real pipe dream is move JJ by feb 18th .. and be able to do Lebron+Lee+camby and move David back to the 4….
    PG – any veteran DECENT ballhandler who can hit open 3′s
    SG- LeBron
    SF- Gallo
    PF- Lee
    C – Camby

    donnie really has to make a decision very very soon … no way Lee and JJ are both on this roster Feb 19th

  • BluEandOrange

    I’d take Brendan Haywood over Camby anyday of the week. This Knicks team needs some defense. Camby is a solid blocker, but he cannot defend the likes of Gasol, Bynum, or Dwight Howard. Yes, I am expecting the Knicks to contend for a championship and the Knicks will need a center that can go up against the elite bigs in a 7 game series.

    and jgil, you must be in a pipedream if you think the Knicks can resign Lee, Camby, AND LeBron. the Knicks will have approximately $9 MM committed to Douglas, Hill, Gallo, and Wil in 2010. If the Knicks do not move Jeffries and Curry, thats another $16.5 MM so now the Knicks would have $25.5 MM committed. Lets say the Knicks do move Jeffries commitment and renounce Lee ( Lee’s salary counts against the cap although he is a UFA unless he is renounced) to have only a $19.5 MM committment next season. If the salary cap is $54 MM, the Knicks would only have $34.5 MM in cap space.

    LeBron’s minimum salary that he can make next season is $15.9 MM, considering LeBron is generous enough to take the minimum salary to allow the Knicks to sign more players. That leaves the Knicks with $19.1 MM. Camby is making $9.1 MM this year so he cannot make less than 125% of $9.1 MM plus $100,000 in salary for next season unless he signs through the use of an exception such as the Mid-Level exception or the Bi-annual exception (that is if the Knicks did not use their bi-annual this season since you can only use the bi-annual exception every two years). It is very unlikely that Camby would except either the Mid-Level Exception, which amounts to a salary that is worth the average NBA salary, or the Bi-Annual, which was worth $1 MM in 1997-98 and is worth around $2 MM for this season.

    David Lee is obviously not talking less than $10 MM this offseason, and neither can Camby since his minimum salary requirement does not allow him to take less.

    Anyway, Brendan Haywood is a better investment. He is making $6 MM this season and would cost less than Lee or Camby.

  • italian stallion

    In a recent interview Reggie Miller said the Knicks are moving in the right direction and hopefully they’ll be able to sign a few free agents but “Lebron is not going to the Knicks”.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Eddy C and JJ actually add up to 18.1 mil (11.2+6.9)

    you missed the cap holds for minimum roster spots to get to 12
    (500k x 6 = 3 mm)

    so assuming we renounce EVERYONE we start free agency with

    9.1 — base year players
    18.1 — Curry/JJ
    3.0 — 6 min Cap holds

    30.2 mil committed on a (estimatd) 53 million dollar cap

    Camby will be an unrestricted free agent in July 2010 so he is not bound by any salary restrictions… I think he’ll take mid level money (6 mil)

    Max at 53 mil is 30% so allocate 15.9 for Lebron

    subtract 2 min cap holds for 1 mm (b/c you just added 2)

    and you got 51.1 mil committed. on a 53 mil cap.

    sorry to be a nit picker but the using the exact numbers makes a difference.

  • Mucha
  • http://www.theknicksblog.com/2010/01/30/johnson-to-chicago-okc-shopping-picks/ TheKnicksBlog.com – Johnson to Chicago?; OKC Shopping Picks

    [...] « TKB.tv: Lang Whitaker Chats with TD [...]

  • BluEandOrange

    I actually used their 2009-10 figures instead of next seasons erroneously. Therefore, the Knicks would actually have less cap room.

    And Biggie, what would lead you to believe that Camby would take the mid-level exception (probably between $5.5 MM to $6 MM)? He probably is going to get a much better offer than his $9.1 MM this year. The only way I see Camby taking the exception is if the Knicks add LeBron or Wade. I don’t think a Joe Johnson signing would be enough to convince Camby that the Knicks are a winning team.

    I’m giving Donnie the benefit of the doubt that he actually trades Lee in a package including Jeffries to give the Knicks that extra $6.8 MM for next year. Eddy Curry is a wash unless the Knicks are willing to trade Chandler/Gallinari and Hill/Douglas along with him to entice takers.

    Another move for Donnie would be to trade Curry with either Gallo/Wil/Douglas/Hill for another player that has a cheaper contract that expires after next season (in order to still allow the Knicks room to sign an UFA in 2011) such as a TJ Ford, Nick Collison, DeShawn Stevenson, etc.

    2010 will depend on what happens before February 18th.

  • BluEandOrange

    Hedo Turkoglu, man of few words that don’t make sense.

  • BiggieSmalls

    R: camby– the dude will be what ?? 35?

    I think players like that on the back side of their career usually opt for the mid level (posey/horrey etc) in the twilight in order to have a better chance at a chip

    he could get 8 or 9.. Don’t think much more than that