Yardbarker: Jared Jeffries

TUCKER SCORES 14, suns lose to 3-14 knicks.....

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:02:19 -0500

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP New York Knicks' Danilo Gallinari (8), of Italy, destroys the Suns. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Browse more photos » The best thing about this game was that we get to play tomorrow night and erase this mess. Of course the Phoenix Suns play the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James. That won't be too easy, but the victory will be all the sweeter. There are a ...

Is A Doomsday 2010 Really That Terrible For The Knicks?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:53:15 -0500

Imagine a “Doomsday Summer Of 2010″ scenario Knicks fans. LeBron resigns with Cleveland, Brandon Jennings has become a megastar, the cap comes in at the lowest expected number, and Eddy Curry/Jared Jeffries are both still wearing orange and blue. All hope is lost and Donnie Walsh is a failure….right? Wrong. Even in a worst case scenario the Knicks still have a lot of hope. While fans and the media will anoint any Non-LeBron team a failure the truth is there are still a ton of ways the Knicks can make it work. So lets say the Knicks can’t make any roster moves between now and next summers free agency. Here’s their commitments (rounded to the nearest million): Eddy Curry (12) Jared Jeffries (7) Danilo Gallinari (3) Jordan Hill (3) Wilson Chandler (2) Toney Douglas (1) =$28 Mill Now since the Knicks only have 6 players under contract the NBA, under the salary cap rules, would add six placeholder players who would make the leauge minimum. In other words roughly $3 million worth of additional salary. Keeping with the worst case scenario theme let’s say the NBA salary cap comes in at $50 million. With the Knicks committed to $31 million in payroll they would be $19 million under the cap. What could the Knicks do with that money? Offer Rudy Gay, a restricted free agent, enough money Memphis can’t afford to match it. Gay is a guy who will re-energize NY. He’s a borderline all-star right now but will thrive in an uptempo offense. He needs to refine his defense to take his game to the next level but at only 23 and already showing signs of taking the leap. Of the players of the 2006 draft class only Rondo, Roy, Aldridge and Bargnani got extensions. If Memphis was prepared to pay Gay big time money wouldn’t they Continue reading Is A Doomsday 2010 Really That Terrible For The Knicks?

So enough with this PG fiasco

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:23:21 -0500

Let’s talk about Jared Jeffries. Yeah, it pains me to say his name as well, but as some know Jeffries is going to be the biggest factor for next offseason to go as planned. Jeffries horrible contract is the last bad contract other then Eddy Curry to not be vanquished by Walsh to this day. Now, [...]

The 2010 Outlook

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:41:39 -0500

This is going to be a topic of conversation for another 365 days so let's get the facts straight here and use this as a foundation of all future discussions involving the Knicks salary cap situation for next summer. The current contracts on the payroll for 2010-11: Eddy Curry $11.2M Jared Jeffries $6.8M Danilo Gallinari $3.3M Wilson Chandler $2.1M Jordan Hill $2M Toney Douglas $830K Total: $26.2M With only six players under contract, and no first round pick (Utah has the rights to it) that leaves six "cap hold" slots at $1.2M each and brings the total to $33.4M. Now, keep in mind, that is just in the current condition as we blog today. If the Knicks add any players -- such as Grant Hill, or sign David Lee to an extension -- the numbers obviously change. But we're working off the current state of the payroll right now. We'll use this as our base as the situation changes. Keep in mind that the Knicks would have to renounce the Bird Rights rights to the unrestricted free agents who expire after this coming season (Chris Duhon, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, etc.) to clear their cap hold from the cap. Bu if Lee and Robinson take their QOs, those numbers ($2.9M for Nate, $2.7M for Lee) would be the "holds" in their spots, unless their Bird Rights, too, were renounced. Now, if the early prognostications are accurate, the NBA salary cap could be as low as $50M in 2010-11. Let's use that as our doomsday formula here. Keep in mind the projections could be wrong and the cap number could be higher, which would change everything. But if we believe the doomsday prophecies, that would leave -- not counting Lee, Robinson or any other UFA's Bird Rights -- just $17M in cap space for the Knicks to spend in free agency in the big summer of 2010. Sounds devastating, especially considering the hope to lure LeBron James to New York. Before the economic downfall, the Knicks' original plan was to clear enough space to land TWO high-end free agents in 2010. But in the current state, they may only have enough space to get one in free agency. OK, then consider this: The CBA gives power to the "home" team for free agents. They have the ability to sign their own player to a maximum of six years with 10.5 percent raises each year. All other teams can only go five years at length and 8 percent. In LeBron's case -- and that of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johson, Amare Stoudemire, et al -- the plummeting NBA salary cap could actually result in taking a loss in the first season. Consider that LeBron's option year of 2010-11 pays him $17.1M. If he opts out and the cap drops to $50M, the max LeBron would make in 2010-11, the first year of any new deal with any team, including Cleveland, is $15M. The Cavs can go six years at 10.5 percent raises, which would make their maximum deal total about $116.5M, with an average of roughly $19.4M per. A team such as the Knicks can only do five years, with 8 percent raises, which would make their maximum offer total about $88M, and an average of $17.6M per. Now the Knicks could be creative and perhaps give LeBron an opt-out after the third year (2013), when he will be 28 years old and still very much in his prime. The NBA has to certainly hope they have, by then, to have a new CBA in place and, God willing, the economy could be in a recovery, which would send the salary cap limits upward. The Knicks would have James' Bird Rights and then could open the Cablevision vault. Those are big ifs, of course. But there are big ifs in Cleveland, too. Such as, how long can Dan Gilbert sustain such a high payroll while getting middle-market revenue? Can Danny Ferry continue to build a high-caliber team around James while also paying him a max salary? Will high-end free agents want to go to Cleveland to play second-fiddle in salary and in touches? With New Yok comes so many other variables and other potential sweeteners, such as the impact that choosing New York would have on the new deal LeBron inks with Nike, which, coincidentally, also expires in 2010. If LeBron goes to New York, there's little doubt his marketing value skyrockets to even greater heights than it has already. Nike has never had a basketball megastar in New York. They already have Kobe Bryant in L.A. OK, here goes the cold water again. If LeBron signs an extension this summer (July 18th is the date he can) with the Cavs, with the salary cap set at $57.7M, by the max contract formula (30 percent) he would get $17.3M in the first year (slightly more than the option year on the current deal) and the total package to stay in Cleveland would bring him a six-year deal worth about $134.9M, with $22.4M per annum. Biiiiiig difference. So is it worth it to him to potentially leave $2.1M on the table to step into free agency one year before his deal officially expires? Or, considering the economic climate, does LeBron go for the money up front and perhaps work in an early termintion option midway through the deal to give himself some flexibility? This is something all of the opt-out FAs in 2010 will need to consider. And it could result in the Knicks' rebuilding plan taking a little more time than originally thought. Of course the Knicks could always change the course and pursue high-end players via trades and sign-and-trade deals next summer. While every team in the NBA will feel the hit caused by the economy, the Knicks are one of the few teams that will maintain the resources to carry big contracts and willingly pay out luxury tax. OK, Fixers, so there you have it. The situation in a nutshell, from as best as I can explain it after research, number crunching and some guidance from CBA expert Larry Coon. (Please feel free to correct any arithmatic or factual errors that might have slipped by me here at 1:35 am.) Again, this situation is expected to change over the course of the next 11 months. The Knicks could find a way to move the Curry or Jeffries contracts for expiring deals to clear more cap space in 2010, but, as we detailed above, the limitations on what they can offer LeBron as compared to the Cavs this summer make his decision in 2009 very curious. If LeBron chooses not to sign an extension this summer to give up free agency in 2010, it's an obvious sign that his decision is clearly not about salary.

Walsh Sends Message: Knicks Are Going For It

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:18:03 -0500

Perhaps the biggest move the Knicks made today was a transaction they didn?t make. ?With eyes around the league fixed squarely on cap space for the free agent class of 2010, Knicks President?Donnie Walsh reportedly passed on an offer from the Sacramento Kings that would have rid the roster of Jared Jeffries and the team?s [...]

Quick Fix: How the Knicks Can Improve in 1 Day

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:54:55 -0500

Below you will find a quote from this New York Knicks starter's Basketball-Reference.com page. This website has all the stats for every basketball player ever in the history of the universe (yes even these guys) and it allows people to sponsor the page of their favorite player; or in this case, ...

Jeffries Will Miss Up To Two Months With Broken Leg

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:03:04 -0500

The "Associated Press" reported Friday that New York Knicks forward Jared Jeffries will be sidelined for up to two months after breaking the fibula bone in his left leg Thursday. Jeffries was injured during a scrimmage session. According to the forward who will turn 27 in November he was injured while jumping. When he landed [...]

Jeffries Will Miss Up To Two Months With Broken Leg

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:17:57 -0500

PostmanR talks about D.J. White

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:11:06 -0500

Bullets Forever, a Washington Wizards blog, had some questions about our man D.J. White and PostmanR had the answers. Here is a sampling: The Wizards have some experience with Hoosiers, drafting Jared Jeffries in 2003 and Calbert Cheaney in 1993. Where does DJ fall on the list of Indiana greats in relation to Jeffries and [...]

Daily Babble: How the Knicks' Least Watchable Player Became Their Most Watchable Player

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:51:31 -0500

On the continuing maturation process of Jamal Crawford in the Sizable Apple. Even for a devout Knick-hater, it has been a pleasure to watch on an individual level, even if the anti-Knick sentiment in me is raging for "Chucker Jamal" back as soon as possible.

Making Cap sense out of the NBA Cap

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:51:29 -0500

The dollar-for-dollar NBA Luxury Tax is a term that I am very sure NBA team owners dread. To my understanding, "the Cap" is simply this: when the amount of the NBA Salary Cap is determined sometime during the off-season (a complicated process based on player salaries and team revenues from ticket sales, apparel, merchandise, etc.), team are mandated to spend a certain amount to run their respective franchises. But should their spendings exceed the cap budget, they will be penalized with a dollar-for-dollar fine that will be collected and distributed to the 29 other NBA teams. For example, The New York Knicks, who are Luxury Tax alumni, used their mid-level exemption (see below) last year in order to sign Washington Wizards guard-forward Jared Jeffries to a 5-year, $30 million dollar deal despite being over the cap. How were they affected? Well, instead of spending $30 million, they actually spent $60 million with half that amount going into the luxury tax pool. Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman, a Miami Heat insider, broke down the specifics of cap space and excemptions recently in his blog: "...you can either use cap space or exceptions during the same free-agency period. You cannot use cap space and then spend an exception. It's one or the other, which is why if you're within mid-level space, you might as well use the exception, bypass space, and try to re-sign your own free agents with Bird rights." "The (Larry) Bird Rights" that Winderman is referring too is the ability for an NBA franchise to exceed the NBA's mandated salary cap in order to resign their own free agents. The Boston Celtics and the Legendary Larry Bird, were the first to exercise such an option. *Whew*

At least Jared Jeffries didn't have to give #20 back!

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:30:13 -0500

Not long after Jared Jeffries joined the New York Knicks last year as yet another one of President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas' $30 million dollar projects, Jeffries sought out then-retired Knicks guard Allan Houston in order to request if he could use Houston's #20 for his tenure with the Knicks. Houston, humbled by the younger Jeffries request, gave this blessing. On October 10, 2007, things got a bit interesting as the booked camp of the New York Knicks added yet another body by signing Houston to a contract. Houston, who was attempting to come back from a knee injury that forced him to retire two years earlier, had a lot of factors going against him: playing rust, stamina, and competition for a roster spot in the Knicks' final lineup. At this point, I wondered if I would hear Jim A. Lovell's classic line, "Houston, we have a problem." This of course pertaining to whether or not Houston would again don his familiar #20. Seven days later, Houston answered by question by sporting #7 in the Knicks drubbing against the Boston Celtics (101-61). Houston played a 6 insignificant minutes in that contest and only attempted one shot. On the 20th of October, Houston had this prepared statement: "While my body and my knees, in particular, feel fine, I know what is required for me to be truly effective in the NBA again, and it involves a timing and progression that would not be fair to Isiah and the Knicks right now," Houston said in a statement released by the Knicks. "With the season opening less than two weeks away, I think it is best for the team to move on without me. I appreciate the opportunity that Isiah and the Knicks have given me, and I wish the team nothing but success." Ok?so much for that comeback attempt. Premature, but at least, Allan Houston got to go out on his own terms?with yet another contract at that! Thanks Isiah!

What Would Jared Jeffries Do?

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:38:56 -0500

Deliberations for the blockbuster lawsuit facing Isiah Thomas and the New York Knicks began on Thursday. It's a compelling case to say the least, as a floundering franchise and its head coach/president are at the center of a controversy involving sexual harassment, lewd behavior and mismanagement. With all of this swirling around the New York City streets like so many discarded copies of the NY Post, there's only one question to ask: What Would Jared Jeffries Do?