Help a poor no0b with big free agents

[oboeguy]

So I figure I'll give the Knicks' GM job a try. After two years of wheeling and dealing (finishing like 10th and 8th worst), and letting Spre's contract expire, I have room to sign some big free agents. The only problem is that they all are gone before I get a shot at them. With all these threads on how easy it is to get them, I feel left out. Did I get unlucky? I figure all these guys like KG and Kobe would want to play in MSG.

[Andrew]

You're just unlucky. Sometimes you can sign big free agents during the offseason, sometimes they slip through to the new season and you can sign them for the minimum, sometimes you can't attract any free agents.

[The Big Racist]

if u have a 3rd pick in draft then u can pick fa 3rd.if there is kg and vc in the pool u cant sign them cause other teams will take them unless playas wont sign whit them

[oboeguy]

Thanks guys. It looks, then, like my Knicks will have to wallow in suckage for a while yet, then. All I can say is, too bad the Dolans / Cablevision can't wheel and deal like we can... the Knicks might actually be good again one day if they could.

[oboeguy]

Well, well, after some intense trading, including a couple of multiple player deals, I got the Knicks into the playoffs and even won the first round (but killed in the 2nd) in my thrid year. What's more, my wheeling and dealing got me to have 11, that's right, 11 guys having contracts up, leaving me with something like 300-something thousand points counting to the cap. Re-sign McDyess and another good player, or maybe grab another superstar or two (he and Frank Williams were the only current or recent Knicks remaining though I have two Nets, Kittles and RJ). Sounds good, right?

Wrong! Nobody, and I mean almost nobody would re-sign for any length of contract! So, I continued anyway, and got a steal in the first round (a top 10 guy with "excellent" potential). However, no other free agents above 70 overall would sign, so I gave-up and reloaded. My seven top guys and two others refused to sign with me this time! So, I quit and decided I needed a break.

Anybody else have this kind of situation ever happen? (note: I am simulating every game, 82 game season) I find it really amusing that I managed to make the playoffs (I had been hoping for a good lottery pick at the trade deadline) and nobody wants to play for me. I wonder if all my trades made the guys nervous, wondering who was next?

[Andrew]

It happens. The problem with free agency is that it is still a little too random, so even when you are in a good position to re-sign your players, they still go elsewhere. 11 players refusing to re-sign is pretty rare though - definitely unlucky.

[oboeguy]

So, I finally have a contender on my hands. Before season 4, AI for some strange reason broke with wall of silence and signed with my team. The Knicks still had a cruddy record, but AI got the MVP! The truly amazing thing is that, with the 2.8% chance, I got the #1 overall pick in the draft lottery (not a single reload there, mind you, pure luck) So, what do you do when you have an MVP guard and the best player in the draft looks like a sure hit at the same position (think LeBron)? Trade the MVP while his value is high! I traded AI and a scrub for Baron Davis (AI was only an 89 at that point and BD was a 93).

From there I was in good shape -- still had RJ, so my back three were pretty good, and Haislip has turned into a decent 80-81 or so at the PF position. BTW, the rookie started out as an 88 overall! He didn't get rookie of the year b/c of the game's stupid method of computing it == he had a way better year than the guy who got it (both had about the same # of PPG (16?) but my guy had like 6 APG and 6 RPG). I had no center and no bench, though, so I signed a ton of decent free agents (still had a lot of cap room) and had a 62-win season. That's after a 20-win season.

No, I did not get GM of the year... the Houston Rockets, after a 2nd consecutive 79-win season (no joke), got that. I met them in the Finals after rolling through the East. Sweep! All my hard work, and the Knicks got pwn3d in the Finals to the uber-Rockets (said Rockets even have Yao at a sucky 75, but a sick roster of high 80s and 90s almost everywhere (including the bench)). I have a solid core (rookie went up to 90 overall and shows no signs of slowing down), though, so if I can resign most of my guys over the next couple of years, maybe I get another shot at the Rockets.

[oboeguy]

I re-signed my core guys whose contracts ran out, and traded a couple of developed guys for a better center (Chandler was like an 80-something and available). My #1 overall pick is now a 92 overall (after two years), and my second unit is all low to mid 80s. Naturally, I'm ignoring the cap right now.

So, in my 6th season I blasted through the league at 76-6. Two of my losses were to the 78-4 Rockets, darn them! (do the math... b/c of that they got the best record instead of my team) I rolled through the East with one loss in the playoffs, and, amazingly, Golden State (69-13 regular season) beat Houston to get to the Finals. I matced-up way better against them it seems, so the NY Knicks are once again champs!!!

The best part is that most of my team is now under contract for a long time. I can smell a dynasty.