FanNation - The Republic of Sport

 The Knicks currently have only 10 players under contract for next season.  The odds are that the Warriors, Wizards, or Thunder will draft Stephan Curry or Tyreke Evans before the Knicks pick at 8.  There are rumors the team likes Jrue Holiday as a big PG, but he is far from polished and is years away from making an impact.

Being that the Bulls have picks 16 and 26, and Minnesota (RIP K. McHale) have picks 6, 18, and 28, the team should trade down and pick up 2 players instead of reaching for a player that may or may not be good. 

PG's available in the mid part of the round should be/could be Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor (who I think is very underrated), Jeff Teague (slightly overrated).  They could also grab a Center like BJ Mullens (although he is years away, but still a better backup C than Jared Jeffries). 

With the 2nd pick (26 or 28) They could get a pretty decent 2 guard like Wayne Ellington (he's polished, and didn't take many shots to score a decent amount of points).  Ellington is used to sharing the ball already from playing at UNC, and could be plugged in ASAP as a backup SG to Richardson or Larry Hughes. 

With my thinking, the stable of players on the team under contract goes from 10 to 12.  The team also brings in solid players that can back up and take over when Hughes, Richardson, Robinson, or Duhon depart via trade or free agency.  The core group of guys is now Gallinari, Chandler, Robinson, Ellington, and Lawson or Maynor. 

Lastly, they need to make a decision between signing D. Lee and signing Nate Robinson.  I say trade both on draft night or before the preseason.  Nate is a score first player, and the team needs a pass first PG.  For this reason, I think Duhon should be kept around and Lawson or Maynor should back him up. They are both pass first pure PG's.  If the team needs scoring, they have SG's Richardson, and Hughes, as well as Gallinari's expanded offensive role this season.  Nate is cool, but his 12+ shots a game can be devided between those players better, and the offense is kept chugging along.

 As far as Lee is concerned. The team currently has at PF Al Harrington, Chris Wilcox, Jared Jeffries (tweener), and Lee. That is 4 guys for 1 spot.  Why not trade Lee while his value is high ,because Harrington is what this team needs at PF anyway. He can rebound, handle and shoot the 3.  Maybe the team can get some combination of draft picks or shot blocking presence for Lee.