If Joe Johnson takes the contract extension with ATL over whatever NY gives him that would be dumb

not to mention ungrateful. The NY Knicks are a better team right now than the ATL Hawks. I don't care about the Hawks being a playoff team the fact that NY has flat-out dominated the Hawks in their regular season match-ups proves my point. NY has taken 3 out of 4 against ATL for 2 straight years and it's the same trend ATL wins the 1st one and NY won the following 3 that's consecutive ownage for 2 straight years. When ATL was bad and NY was bad doesn't count even though NY won those meetings as well. The fact that ATL a playoff team has been owned these last 2 seasons by a Knicks team that's failed to make the playoffs pre-FA acquisitions shows you something.Not only that but ATL has been NY punching bags through game results and for our players. Gallo has tortured ATL time and time again and is one of the teams Gallo seems to always get the better of the same goes with D.Lee he has dunked on 1 of the leagues premier blockers in Josh Smith and has gotten the better of his Florida teammate in Horford.

Not to mention what would make JJ seem ungrateful in my eyes if he automatically signs with ATL w/o so much as giving NY a chance is that Mike D'Antoni essentially made him. The Celtics drafted J.J. & paid him no mind of what he can become and shipped him to PHX. When Mike D came in and brought his system to PHX J.J. flourished & he became more of a household name in terms of G's in this league cause of it. J.J. wanted to be the main guy and ATL came knocking and gave him the $$$ and position as a 1st option he wanted. After a couple of years of putting up #'s but failing to make the playoffs J.J. has enjoyed some success as a leader of a playoff team, but he has been unable to take them above and beyond the semis and has been wrecked by his former coach in Mike D'Antoni whenever they find each other. That's why he should go to NY and work in the system that put his name out in the first place NY needs a pure SG & he can be someone's 2nd and still get $$$ take some pressure off him. I like ATL & have and continue to wish them playoff success but J.J. shouldn't re-sign. And if he does then not only would NY continue to beat them but this time around it may be with some of his FA peers & NY would not only beat them but be in the playoffs as well.

You're arguing that the Knicks are better than the Hawks based on regular season match-ups. Hmmm. Which team was sitting at home in May? Based on regular season match-ups, the Magic and Cavaliers should've never fallen to the Celtics, and the Cavaliers should've made it to the title game and swept the Lakers like the regular season. Also, the max contract the Hawks offer is worth more than the max that NY can offer, so I don't think it's dumb to pocket an extra $20 or 30 million while staying with your team.

If the Knicks beat the Magic in regular season match-ups which they haven't done since Grant Hill left DH12 & DH12 grew into where he is now then it wouldn't have mattered cause ORL is of course better and absolutely deeper due to the fact they are a championship contender and get deep into the playoffs. Nevertheless, the Hawks are a different story they have been to the semis 2 yrs in a row and have gotten swept 2 yrs in a row there is a large gap between them and the contenders yet ATL has gotten better in terms of record these last 2 years but haven't done enough nor are built enough to get into championship contention. That is where the Knicks come in and the fact that we have talented young players of our own who seem to spank ATL when both teams do meet shows you something. It shows you that they have J.J. and still have lost 3 straight times to NY per season these last 2 seasons if they don't have him they are not better than us cause our players are at their best whenever we run with the Hawks. The fact that they are a playoff team means nothing when they are entrenched in the same spot while NY has an opportunity to go forward and not get entrenched and move further being that we are the better head 2 head team now even though we aren't in the playoffs. Bringing Orlando back into it even if NY gets the players we want that same may not be said cause we may not be better than Orlando even with that and they could continue beating us in the season and still are a better team in terms of the playoffs. ATL wouldn't be though they get ran by us now.

For all his defensive skill and athleticism I have seen Josh Smith continuously get posterized by David Lee over the years and there has been no answers for Lee from Smith nor Horford as well as Smith and Williams being unable to find some way to slow down Gallo.

I have seen Al Horford getting rejected by Wilson Chandler in a late game winning play in the closing seconds.

I have seen a scrub in Duhon for 2 years now move his offense better than Bibby in the series between both teams.

Alright, but if you're looking for talented young players, then Johnson should go to Chicago with Rose and Noah. I will take Rose and Noah over Lee and Gallo. And yeah, NY would be a good fit for him, but it's not stupid to stay with a perennial playoff team when doing so gives you an extra $30 million more than what a doormat offers you.

Agreed CHI is a better team than us I just don't know if Thibadeu would be the fit it was when he was with Mike D and PHX. At least wherever he went he wouldn't have to play in the 40 minute range and play iso so much like he did with Woodson in ATL. He played 37+ minutes still with Crawford on board and still had a lot of iso. Maybe Drew wouldn't do things like that but who knows. In NY, CHI, etc. you already know things would be more free-flowing and different from how they were in ATL.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing that he would find great success in NY, he would; it's the perfect kind of offense for him, and NY would automatically become a playoff team if he went there. But if you see the NBA as a business, few reasons are good enough to turn that kind of money down.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure NY won't be a doormat by summer's end. Even if they only landed a couple of second-tier FAs, that'd be plenty. Next summer, Curry is off the books.

Yep hahahaha about Curry and if it's 2nd tier FA's that NY does land instead of the marquee ones our overall success rests on if Minny or teams like that don't snake Lee away from us. I don't see Lee-Love hitting it off together. If NY keeps Lee and bring in some 2nd tier guys like Gay or whomever I like our chances .

If David Lee & Rudy Gay form a duo it would be the Alliance of GLee