The obvious way to salvage this season is to embrace the tank, trade off vets for yute/picks, and nab another Top 5 or Top 6 pick.
To me a 17 W season is better than a 27 W one.
First off, you get a high pick. But also you're not fooled into thinking you're close or have pretty good pieces. So it forces you to evaluate and be ruthless about who to keep.
Morris has played very well. Find a playoff team for him.
Also, A lot of teams need depth.
Ellingtonia, Taj, Portis, one of our PG's can be jettisoned.
Package them up to boost a playoff aspirant.
Collect assets.
It would be a good recovery from the short--contract FA splurge we took.
PerryMills just explain that we loaded up on FA vets to see who would fit and who would be an asset to trade.
Again, all this would be a lot more palette-able if we had KZ-RJB-Knox-Top 5 pick - Franc. But we can still grasp our way forward. Patience.
Also, mid-season deals tend to go down closer to the trade deadline. Of course a team like POR with injuries and seeing its season slip away (also SAS?) might be up for a Dec trade. Though Melo has unexpectedly steadied them (against very weak competition so far ...).
Unfortunately, while the Knix have drafted well the past decade plus, our trades have been poor to horrendous. The two trades with DAL -- TyC and KZ -- have been awful. I liked Phil's mini-deal moving Tim Jr for a mid-1st, but Jerian Grant didn't pan out. I can't really recall what we got for Melo, but at least we traded him at the right time, before he became a fossil.
So do you trust the Knix or this Knick front office to make a good deal for Morris, and others? I'd be looking to make 2 deals. One with Morris, maybe plus a PG. And another with role players going out. Taj is valuable for a playoff team. Ellington viable. Portis can eat up 20 minutes, but likely has marginal value.
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