Let's take advantage of the Knicks

[bobatundi]

All the talk here (well, what talk there is about the Knicks) is around them freeing up more cap room for next season, in an attempt to target two max free agents. The biggest impediment to their doing so is the ugly contract of Eddy Curry. I was trying to come up with a way the Mavs could get involved and take advantage, and here's what I came up with:

Mavs trade:
Williams
Gooden
Humphries
Carroll

to the Knicks, in exchange for:
Curry
David Lee

This works according to cap rules, as the Mavs are sending out $14.5MM and taking back $17.5, which is within 25% + 100k. So we know it works mathematically--but why do it?

For the Mavs, they get Lee in exchange for a bunch of completely disposable guys. The only one who logs any meaningful minutes is Gooden, and Lee is better than Gooden and more suited to be a 5 anyway. I believe (it's a key to this trade in my mind) the Mavs then inherit David Lee's Bird rights, so he can be signed in the offseason when he hits free agency--as our starting center, or as part of a S&T, maybe combined with the DUST chip. I love his game. Curry, meanwhile, can be bought out, or put on mothballs until his contract becomes an expiring in the offseason or at next year's deadline and is worth something. That, or we could dress him up in Danny Fortson's old "Baked Potato" silver lame jersey for fun.

The Knicks sacrifice a nice young player in Lee--but, if they really think they can lure 2 top FAs, then they won't be able to retain him anyway. They also move Curry's stupid contract. This trade alone adds $3.8MM to their offseason cap room; then, at season's end, they trade Humphries and $3MM cash to a team that either has a trade exception or is under the cap enough to eat it without sending anything back, thereby freeing up an additional $3.2MM. So the Knicks gain $7MM in cap room.

The total dollars involved are surprisingly similar, with Carroll's next three seasons totaling almost exactly what Curry will earn next year--in fact, the Mavs are basically shipping out $29MM in total salary obligations and receiving $28MM in return. That doesn't count any new contract they might decide to give Lee, but that is (a) up to Cuban, and (b) actually paying for a good player, instead of a bunch of spares.

Man, I love this amateur GM stuff!

[bobatundi]

ah, crap, just realized Lee is BYC--and trying to figure out how that plays into things would just give me tired-head.