Overpaying a good player with the salary of a franchise player is the surest way to cripple a team in this salary tax era. The Knicks have made that mistake twice now, first with Amare, and now with Melo. Look at a team like Atlanta: they have good players who make fair salaries or are bargains. Paul Millsap at this point might actually be better than Melo, and he's making 9.5 mil this year. Teague makes $8 mil, Korver makes $6, and DeMarre Carroll makes $2.5. Melo's making 22.4 mil-- more than Millsap, Teague, and Carroll combined. Melo also makes more than Duncan, Ginobili, and Leonard combined. The Knicks have been terrible at drafting and finding free agent bargains, and that combined with having too many players who are bad or disinterested defenders (Melo, Amare, Calderon, JR Smith, Bargnani) guarantees that their horrible record will stay horrible...