Chris Paul open to trade to Contender.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by dalger

What Chris Paul wants and what is likely to happen are two different things. First of all, Carmelo would have to decline a 3-year, $65 million extension offer from the Nuggets. Would he do that and sign a contract with the Knicks under the new CBA for (considerably) less money? I'm really not sure. Another question, which can hardly be answered at the moment due to the new CBA, is whether the Knicks would even have the cap space to sign Carmelo and CP3 to maximum contracts. Bringing together Wade, Bosh and Lebron in Miami was probably easier than doing the same thing with Stoudemire, Carmelo and Paul in New York until 2012. I'm not saying it's impossible, but there are certain barriers they'd have to overcome.

Even if Paul was determined to head to New York, I wouldn't be shocked if he thought that Dallas was the better place to try and win a championship until then. And we don't have much of a chance with our current roster beyond 2012 anyway. Dirk, Marion, Jet, Haywood would all be in their mid-30s in 2013 and Kidd not even here anymore.

If I'm the knicks I do exactly what Riley did. Begin negotiating with paul/camelo through stoudemire. Carmelo would have to sign an agreement that frees him in two years. Between now and then NY begins to cut salary and free up cap room.

The new collective barganing agreement is an unknown. As is a risk by carmelo/paul of career-ending injury but that's what it takes to become a free-agent.

Does anyone know if Amare signed a cap-friendly agreement (like the ones in miami) that allows the two other guys to sign?

With respect to the mavs, I roll the dice, there are only so many more cards(i.e. years) left in the deck.

[dalger]

Originally Posted by dude1394

If I'm the knicks I do exactly what Riley did. Begin negotiating with paul/camelo through stoudemire. Carmelo would have to sign an agreement that frees him in two years. Between now and then NY begins to cut salary and free up cap room.

The new collective barganing agreement is an unknown. As is a risk by carmelo/paul of career-ending injury but that's what it takes to become a free-agent.

Does anyone know if Amare signed a cap-friendly agreement (like the ones in miami) that allows the two other guys to sign?

With respect to the mavs, I roll the dice, there are only so many more cards(i.e. years) left in the deck.

If both Paul and Carmelo were willing to leave a lot of money on the table, then New York would probably be in a position to sign both of them as free agents in 2012. That said, contrary to the situation in Miami where Bosh, Wade and Lebron signed similar deals starting in the $15 million range, Stoudemire would most likely have a much higher annual salary than Carmelo and CP3 because of the new CBA.

As far as our ambitions in regards to Paul are concerned, I don't think we should let it affect our immediate plans. We would at least have two seasons with him to try and win a championship, and I don't believe that any plans for 2012 are already set in stone.