But I think everyone is allowed one obligatory hypothetical summary of whats to come, so without further ado:

Okay look, we are not trading Curry. Bank on that. Only way we trade Jeffries is if we include Gallinari, you know since we don't have a draft pick to offer instead, so that's not happening. Thus these poisonous contracts obviously disqualify us from obtaining the heralded "2 superstar" prize of the off-season. Thus we need to stay put this year, and showcase our homegrown talent, etc. If we can manage to remain competitive this year then all of the chips will fall into place.

I do believe HWSNBN will sign with us, call it a hunch or wishful thinking, but I just do. So Financial wise where does that leave us?

After some intense google'ing, I learned that we have 6 players under contract for $27.3 mil next year. The Salary cap is projected to be around $53 mil next year. Using these numbers, HWSNBN's max contract will count around $16 mil (7-9 year vet = 30% of the cap) towards our cap, thus leaving us around 10 mil to play with. Like I said, not enough to sign another max contract with, but that's okay because there's other options available. 

First and foremost, there's David Lee and Nate Robinson, yes Nate Robinson. If you don't like the little Nate that could then you are not a Knicks fan and your opinion doesn't matter. But yea, we own these player's Bird Rights and we can go over the cap to sign them.

David Lee thinks hes worth $10 mil a yea, the Knicks think 8, I say 9, fair enough. 4 years at $9 mil per.

Nate is at least worth what he's making this year, $4mil. I say give the little guy a sense of security with 4 years at $4mil per.

Resigning these two players would earn a lot of goodwill points in New York as well as adding credibility to the Knicks organization. Especially if we win a championship with these two.

With that done, we could use our MLE and swoop up Marcus Camby for some back-up center minutes. Really, I see no drawbacks for this move as long as we don't go over a 3-year contract. 2 years at $5.3 mil per.

Of course the Knicks will need some filler to complete their roster (Marcus Landry!). And I think they can utilize their bi-annual exception this year. As for who, surprise me, and please no league-average point guard, I hate those.

Get these done and our starting lineup can look something like this:

PG: HWSNBN (let me explain)

SG: Chandler

SF: Jeffries

PF: Gallo

C(but not really): Lee

The length and versatility of this lineup has me salivating in anticipation. First, HWSNBN is already a point guard just not in name, well let's make it official. Can you imagine the pick and roll with Lee, where the opposing player actually has to fight through the pick? Or how about someone that actually passes to a wide open Gallo in the corner. I'm sure Chandler will find a way to get his without being detrimental to the team, much like he's playing now. Meanwhile, Jeffries watches in anticipation of drawing his next charge.

Defensively, I see this lineup being very flexible. With Jeffries guarding the opposing point, Lee uh, shooting jumpers!, and the rest adjusting as need be. Not to mention we have a true lock-down defender in DWTDD, and a interior presence in Marcus Camby on the bench. Add hot water, mix in some instant offense a la Krypto Nate , and you got yourself a D'Antoni approved 8-man rotation.

Now, I'm not saying we'll win a championship for sure with this lineup, but hell we'll get damn close. Most importantly, the Knicks will be relevant again. GIT R DONE

PS. I still don't know where Jordan Hill fits in all of this.

Damon is projected to be a type-A free agent, Matsui B, meaning if we let him go and say a good team signs him, we get their first-round draft pick and a compensatory pick. For Matsui, we get a compensatory pick.

Anyway one approaches this, the undeniable fact is, this team is old. I mean I know we are built to win now, but that doesn't mean we should entirely disregard the future(like we've been doing). These picks would be a huge step in the right direction, and for me, I find it much easier to root for a homegrown player, than a hired merc.

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