Knicks work out Mid 1st rd prospects, could C's be selecting for them?

[fairweatherfan]

can someone name the best FA we've ever signed in the lottery era? 

Kevin Garnett.  We signed all of the Big 3 to contracts when they were UFAs.  Free agents that played here are still free agents after all.

you win points on a technicality, fell good? good.  while true this goes with what I said previously, we are GREAT at keeping our elite talent, we are even good at acquiring elite talent through drafts or trades.  but we are not great at signing elite talent in the form of FAs to our franchise.

There's no technicality; you asked for the best free agent we'd signed and got the name of the best one.  Perhaps you didn't know what question you were asking.

...anyway, as has been pointed out, during the lotto era we went from capped out and contenders (mid 80s-early 90s) to (mostly) capped out and bad-to-mediocre (early 90s-mid 2000s) to capped out and contenders (2007-2012) to rebuilding with some cap space (now).  We haven't had the space to add top free agents from other teams until now, but we got quite a few high-end veterans to sign here in the Big 3 era anyway.  This is the first real opportunity we've had to add a high-dollar free agent without having to pass on signing our own guys to do it. 

It's fair to say we haven't signed many good FAs away from other teams, but it's dishonest to simultaneously ignore the fact that we've had very few realistic opportunities to do it before now.

[Jferrari401]

I think that trading away Bradley or Sully for a draft pick would be a huge mistake for this team and possibly a momentum killer for the progress they made this season. I'm not completely devoted to either player being in our future but the reality is that they are two of our best players and giving them up would just create gaping holes. Outside of Towns is anybody in this draft really worth giving up that much for?

If giving up Sully and Bradley leaves your team with "massive holes", your team sucks plain and simple.

Bradley is redundant with Smart. They are basically the same player, only Smart is slightly bigger and more talented. If you're committed to making Bradley a full-time bench player when we get a real SG, then you might be able to make it work, but then you're watching Avery leave the first chance he gets as some team will make him a starter.

Sully is never in shape, injury-prone, and is always going to be competing with KO for playing time. While I'm no KO fan, I think he's a better fit for the team going forward.

If we can sign two max free agents AND draft WCS, I think this is a no-brainer. I'd shoot the moon and try to sign LMA AND Butler then go all out for Durant next year.

I know it's a long shot but that's the only way we're going to get back in contention. Drafting mid-first rounders trying to beat out Cleveland and Atlanta is silly nonsense..

That's not going to happen though. If your plan is to sign Aldridge, Butler and Durant then you are in for a big letdown. I think the three guard rotation of IT, Smart and Bradley is actually really good. There's a mix of offense and defense with some shooting. Starting Smart and Bradley is a huge reason why our defense was as good as it was this year. Also let's not act like Sullinger wasn't our best player this season before his injury. I don't really understand all of the hate towards him. IMO he has been a very solid player and it's not like he's expensive. Plus if your plan is sign max free agents this offseason the way to do that is definitely not gut the starting lineup and draft project rookies. No way a player like Aldridge or Butler signs here if a trade like that is made.

[JHTruth]

I think that trading away Bradley or Sully for a draft pick would be a huge mistake for this team and possibly a momentum killer for the progress they made this season. I'm not completely devoted to either player being in our future but the reality is that they are two of our best players and giving them up would just create gaping holes. Outside of Towns is anybody in this draft really worth giving up that much for?

If giving up Sully and Bradley leaves your team with "massive holes", your team sucks plain and simple.

Bradley is redundant with Smart. They are basically the same player, only Smart is slightly bigger and more talented. If you're committed to making Bradley a full-time bench player when we get a real SG, then you might be able to make it work, but then you're watching Avery leave the first chance he gets as some team will make him a starter.

Sully is never in shape, injury-prone, and is always going to be competing with KO for playing time. While I'm no KO fan, I think he's a better fit for the team going forward.

If we can sign two max free agents AND draft WCS, I think this is a no-brainer. I'd shoot the moon and try to sign LMA AND Butler then go all out for Durant next year.

I know it's a long shot but that's the only way we're going to get back in contention. Drafting mid-first rounders trying to beat out Cleveland and Atlanta is silly nonsense..

That's not going to happen though. If your plan is to sign Aldridge, Butler and Durant then you are in for a big letdown. I think the three guard rotation of IT, Smart and Bradley is actually really good. There's a mix of offense and defense with some shooting. Starting Smart and Bradley is a huge reason why our defense was as good as it was this year. Also let's not act like Sullinger wasn't our best player this season before his injury. I don't really understand all of the hate towards him. IMO he has been a very solid player and it's not like he's expensive. Plus if your plan is sign max free agents this offseason the way to do that is definitely not gut the starting lineup and draft project rookies. No way a player like Aldridge or Butler signs here if a trade like that is made.

That's why I said shoot the moon. It's not likely but even if you fall short you're definitely moving forward.

I would flip the script on you a little and note that if you think we're going to be anything but also-rans to horrible next year bringing back the same team you will be badly disappointed. Shooting for the impossible is the only way this team will get back to title contention in the next five years. We don't have a single star on the team.

[JHTruth]

I think that trading away Bradley or Sully for a draft pick would be a huge mistake for this team and possibly a momentum killer for the progress they made this season. I'm not completely devoted to either player being in our future but the reality is that they are two of our best players and giving them up would just create gaping holes. Outside of Towns is anybody in this draft really worth giving up that much for?

If giving up Sully and Bradley leaves your team with "massive holes", your team sucks plain and simple.

Bradley is redundant with Smart. They are basically the same player, only Smart is slightly bigger and more talented. If you're committed to making Bradley a full-time bench player when we get a real SG, then you might be able to make it work, but then you're watching Avery leave the first chance he gets as some team will make him a starter.

Sully is never in shape, injury-prone, and is always going to be competing with KO for playing time. While I'm no KO fan, I think he's a better fit for the team going forward.

If we can sign two max free agents AND draft WCS, I think this is a no-brainer. I'd shoot the moon and try to sign LMA AND Butler then go all out for Durant next year.

I know it's a long shot but that's the only way we're going to get back in contention. Drafting mid-first rounders trying to beat out Cleveland and Atlanta is silly nonsense..

That's not going to happen though. If your plan is to sign Aldridge, Butler and Durant then you are in for a big letdown. I think the three guard rotation of IT, Smart and Bradley is actually really good. There's a mix of offense and defense with some shooting. Starting Smart and Bradley is a huge reason why our defense was as good as it was this year. Also let's not act like Sullinger wasn't our best player this season before his injury. I don't really understand all of the hate towards him. IMO he has been a very solid player and it's not like he's expensive. Plus if your plan is sign max free agents this offseason the way to do that is definitely not gut the starting lineup and draft project rookies. No way a player like Aldridge or Butler signs here if a trade like that is made.

I think that's an exceedingly average guard rotation. A "very good" rotation is Curry, Thompson, Barbosa. Or Rose, Butler, Hinrich, Brooks. Smart, Bradley, IT is barely good enough in the EC..

[BDeCosta26]

Markets like Detroit Boston Minnesota Philly can't compete in free agency with the big boys. This is why the Lakers are regarded as the crown jewel franchise by people in pop culture because weather and the allure of tinsletown is much greater than a 1 title difference. I hate that franchise with a passion but it's correct. They'll always be able to sign better talent. Just like the Knicks will or the Texas teams or even Brooklyn whenever they get out of cap hell, most likely in 2017.  Danny truth be told has done an okay job drafting despite drafting Banks 2.0 who looks to be a bust as a lottery pick but a good back end of the rotation guy in his prime. The drawing power hierarchy is the following.

-Money including endorsements
-Location
-Winning
-Nightlife
-Future Projection
-Other stuff like family friendly situation etc...

Boston has Money and Future Projection and the extra stuff but that doesn't outweigh the money + endorsements offered by MY or LA. Or the nightlife offered by Texas or Miami. We are a second class citizen in the NBA embrace it and focus on a hometown team through the draft. Please stop creating threads about top free agents coming here it's pretty embarrassing

If you really think Marcus Smart is "a back-end rotation player (I.e. 10-20mpg max) in his prime" after starting and playing major minutes on a playoff team AS A ROOKIE, you need to focus your energies on things other than basketball.

Smart is an almost exact clone of Tony Allen defensively. Maybe not quite as athletic, but at his age he's a better, smarter defender than TA was. In his prime, Smart can be as good or better than TA is currently. Plus it's pretty fair to say Smart already has a better jump shot and a more well rounded offensive game. That kid isn't a "decent" defender, he's one of the best back-court defenders we've seen come into the league in at least the last few years. Some Celtic fans overvalue their own players, a few more than those undervalue their players, but your like just ignoring reality to continue pushing your tanking ideas. We can debate the merits of whether or not Smart has all-star potential all day long, but barring catastrophic injury it's pretty obvious he's not a bust. He has a long future in this league.

Btw, you can keep up the whole "Boston won't ever sign anyone" thing up for a while, but were gonna be in the mix for a bunch of different guys this summer. You've already seen it from Love and Monroe, both considered top 10 free agents. They have legitimate, reported with sources interest in Boston. Obviously Aldridge probably won't be signing here, but there's enough smoke around those rumors that it would seem LMA has probably given it at least a moments consideration. We wouldn't be in play for these guys if we tanked our way to the 7th or 8th pick. Sure we may not sign anyone, but just the fact that were even being considered after the past couple seasons is a testament to Ainge and the culture he's rebuilt here.

[Jferrari401]

That's why I said shoot the moon. It's not likely but even if you fall short you're definitely moving forward.

I would flip the script on you a little and note that if you think we're going to be anything but also-rans to horrible next year bringing back the same team you will be badly disappointed. Shooting for the impossible is the only way this team will get back to title contention in the next five years. We don't have a single star on the team.

There's a pretty big middle ground between keeping the exact same team and shooting for the moon. Player development + new draft picks + free agent signings could put us around the 4 or 5 seed range. There are other players we could sign if we strike out at the top of free agency like Middleton, Harris, Robin lopez, Millsap, Koufos etc.

I think that's an exceedingly average guard rotation. A "very good" rotation is Curry, Thompson, Barbosa. Or Rose, Butler, Hinrich, Brooks. Smart, Bradley, IT is barely good enough in the EC..

Those might be the two best guard rotations in the league but ours is better than just average. Defensively it's great, and Thomas was among the best offensive players in the league after the trade. That's also without counting the contributions of Turner and hopefully James Young. It could always be improved and I would gladly replace Bradley with someone like Jimmy Butler if it could be done. We have plenty of cap space to sign free agents and we could add to that by dumping Wallace with a draft pick. Why get rid of good players when we don't need to? If someone like Butler agrees to sign, then we can explore Bradley trades but I wouldn't before there is a replacement.