By now you all know the Knicks have agreed wth J. Kidd and are after Camby and a shooting guard. Knicks are definitely trying to fill wholes. They don't have a ton of flexibility, but they do have some slick options to maximize their $$. Here's one:

Houston has two players Knicks could use to fill wholes, Marcus Camby and Courtney Lee. The problem is Camby has said he won't take the vet min. and probably wants at least 3 million, Lee made 2.2 mil last season, not sure if HOU made the qualifyiing offer, but his qualifying offer is 4.3 mil, Lee will probably want more than 3 mil per year. Where do the Knicks find this money?

It is being reported by various Knicks bloggers that Knicks can accept $$ in trade up to 150% of the $$ they send out, so for example if they send out 5 mil, they can bring back 7.5. So let's hope and assume they are correct for this scenerio. (I thought Knicks could only accept 125%, let's hope for 150%)

If Knicks package:

Douglas   $2, 067,880

Gadzuric  $1, 352,101

Jordan         $762,195

Harrelson     $762,195

This equals $4,944,371 in salary they can send HOU, they can then bring back $7,416, 556 in salaries, meaning they could give Camby 3 mil & Lee 4.4 mil.

Now this will only work if NYK & HOU complete the Lee & Camby trades in the same transaction. If Knicks trade for Camby then do a totally separate trade for another player , they will not be able to offer that 4.4 mil.

If the Knicks want to be able to offer two 3 mil contracts, and a 4.4 mil contract, they have to use the mini-midlevel exception, and use the contracts of Douglas, Gadzuric, Jordan & Harrelson in the same trade, even if a third team is involved, bringing back two players and spitting the money accordingly.

I say deal with HOU, they have two pieces we need, and want to deal with us. What do you think?

@nothinbutknicks