Can Danny?

The goal of the Knicks is to clear out space for 2010 when the class of LeBron, Wade, 'Melo, etc. hits the free agent market. Mike D'Antoni says he wants to win but I'm not sure if you can win and clear out cap space at the same time. 

1. Sort Out The Roster 
To be completely honest, there isn't one single person on the Knicks roster who looks like a bonafide keeper. Nate Robinson is fun to watch but is a bench player, Jamal Crawford scores and doesn't do much else, David Lee showed promise in his rookie season but didn't improve all that much and supposedly isn't a favorite of D'Antoni, and so on and so forth.

Even worse though is the fact that they have a few players that many people believe are untradeable. Stephon Marbury make 20+ million and has been the face of the putrid Knicks over the last few years. The Knicks would love to get rid of him but can they without taking on a contract that lasts past 2010? I wouldn't trade for Zach Randolph. Period. I'm sure someone will be dumb enough to repeat Isiah's mistake but the guy has a lousy attitude, is a black hole on offense, and doesn't play much defense. Eddy Curry doesn't even seem like he enjoys playing basketball. He is probably the most movable piece but even that will be tough to pull off.

2. The Draft
If the Knicks make the Marbury to Seattle deal to move up in the draft, they might just be able to end up with OJ Mayo. If not, Jerryd Bayless is a good second place prize. True, he might just be a newer version of Jamal Crawford, but I think he'll pan out better than Jamal. Without the trade, the Knicks have an outside shot at getting Bayless but they might end up choosing from the top big men or projects like Randolph. I just don't see Galinari being the pick, even if it would make Little Italy happy. When looking at the big picture, I think it might make sense for Donnie Walsh to bite the bullet and make an Ainge-like #6 and Zach for scraps with short term contracts (ala the Raef/Roy deal). The current rumor is Philly making the deal but I don't think you could ask for a worse combo for a young team than Zach Randolph alongside Andre Miller during a contract year.

Another rumor had Golden State pushing hard for Yi Jianlian so a three team deal would work with New York dealing Randolph, Malik Rose's expiring deal, and the #6 and getting Bobby Simmons, Al Harrington, and Brandan Wright. The Warriors dump a year off Harrington's contract and the apparently unwanted Wright for Yi & Malik Rose while moving up from #14 to #8. Milwaukee gets Zach, New York's #6, and Golden State's #14. (And if New York also makes the Marbury deal, then Milwaukee would end up getting the #4 pick)  

The Knicks traded their second round pick for Zach Randolph. 

3. Trade Market
Again, I really can't believe anyone would deal for Zach Randolph so the Knicks are going to have to leverage their #6 pick (and possibly David Lee as well) in order to ship him out.

I'm not sure who wants Eddy Curry but since Rick Sund is back in the GM business and loves him some project centers, I wouldn't be stunned if Atlanta made a run at him. Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford for Marvin Williams, Speedy Claxton, Zaza Pachulia, and a future pick? Atlanta might like Marvin but adding a 20 point scorer off the bench and Curry (whose defensive lapses can be covered by Horford and Josh Smith) is tough to turn down. The Knicks give up more talent but they also get rid of the last two big contracts that they have on the books in 2010. Ideally they could also dump Jared Jeffiries in the deal but that would take a third team to work. The better deal might be Jamal, Eddy, and Jeffiries for Jermaine O'Neal and Marquis Daniels but I don't think it's a smart move. Of course, that's never stopped Larry Bird before.

On the other hand, the Knicks could also move the sixth pick, perhaps in a deal to get someone like Shawn Marion (see the Heat mock offseason). Right now I'd bet against that one because it doesn't help their cap nor does it dump Zach's contract.

4. Free Agency
New York is New York so people will always want to come to play. But with the Knicks looking to keep the books clear for 2010, I'm not sure exactly who they can get. They might have to settle for some short-term guys ala Ricky Davis, Gordon Giricek, or old friend Gerald Green.

5. Summary
No matter what D'Antoni says, this is a rebuilding year and the Knicks are likely going to be at the bottom once again (although they should have a rosier future than they've had in a decade or so). The key is to build a roster that should have better trade assets and short terms contracts so that even if they can't get LeBron, they should have some good youngster and cap space as a plan B. The roster I built isn't great (or even good) but next year they'll have decent talent almost all of which will be on expiring deals so they can make some legit offers in 2009 (or wait until the cap space arrives in 2010)

Possible Final Roster
Starters: Luke Ridnour, Nate Robinson, Marvin Williams, David Lee, Nick Collison
Bench: Al Harrington, Bobby Simmons, Brandan Wright, Earl Watson, Zaza Pachulia, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler, Jerome James, Jared Jeffiries, Mardy Collins, Speedy Claxton