Donnie Walsh just landed the best sports job ever. And it's not because he’s working for his hometown New York Knicks, or because he has an unlimited payroll.
No matter what he does from this point on, there is nowhere to go but up.
Isiah Thomas put the Knicks in such a bad position that any person—and I mean any person—who comes after him will be hailed as a hero. You or I would be considered a hero if given control of this team right now.
Next year the Knicks have $29 million in expiring contracts from Marbury ($21.9 million) and Rose ($7.7 Million). Walsh can either use that huge amount to get another franchise player, via a trade, or simply let the contracts run out. Just by doing nothing he would take almost $30 million off the books and get rid of a locker room cancer player in Marbury.
On top of that, Walsh has two players—Randolph and Crawford—that other teams would like to have for sure and a third—Curry—that some teams still might gamble on.
Not only can Walsh get a franchise player (Elton Brand perhaps) by trading Marbury’s expiring contract, he can also get some cap relief by trading Randolph, Curry, and Crawford for expiring contracts.
Combine that with the fact that he’ll have a high lottery pick and the possibility of drafting Rose or Michael Beasley to go along with key role players like David Lee, Nate Robinson, and Renaldo Balkman, and the Knicks can have decent team on the floor next year while rebuilding for the long run.
The key is that they are getting back cap relief in almost every trade and, if it’s possible, draft picks. Realistically, the Knicks have to look for cap relief by the end of the 2010 NBA season. There are a lot of good free agents, and it will take about two years to fix up this mess and rebuild one of most storied franchises in history.
In order for the team to succeed going forward, they have to cut all ties with the Isiah Thomas regime. I personally think Isiah is the best scout in the NBA and a decent head coach, but he has to go. The Knicks have to change the corporate culture of the team. Everything starts from the top.
Even though Walsh isn’t going to make any personnel moves immediately, Knicks fans can rejoice in the fact Isiah Thomas can’t make any more personnel moves. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?
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6 months ago
cause we suck all ready,
6 months ago
hahaha mann i feel ur pain. we went thru a similar stretch with babcock as our GM. good times ahead.
6 months ago
Finally some hope. Cap relief is a must.
6 months ago
Even with Rose and Marbury's expiring contracts the Knicks are still capped out. They are barely below the luxury tax limit for next year and that's without adding in their top-5 pick and extensions for David Lee and Nate Robinson and Lee's not going anywhere.
The only thing the Knicks have to play with this year are the mid-level exemption and their first and second round picks. I doubt they'll use their mid-level because a) it will eat up cap space for 2010 or 2011 and b) because of the luxury tax making the contract cost double. Do you really wanna pay $10 million a year for James Jones or Devean George?
Thanks to player options in 2009 given to Quentin Richardson, Jerome James, Jamal Crawford, Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry, the Knicks won't have any cap space until 2010 and they've already got $45 million for that season committed to Randolph, Crawford, Curry and Jeffries.
Good luck getting LeBron to take $13 million a year and still being able to fill out the roster. Unless Walsh can unload one of those contracts they're screwed until 2011 when they could go after Carmelo. Nobody's going to take Jeffries or James. Nobody.
The Knicks would love to unload Randolph and someone (MJ?) might be dumb enough to take him. Curry has had a horrible year but his contract is fairly reasonable. Crawford is actually a bit of a bargain but I doubt the Knicks want to trade him.
Good luck, Donnie. You're gonna need it.
Did you say Isiah is the best scout? It's easy to look like a great scout when you're constantly drafting in the lottery. With the exception of David Lee, every great pick Isiah has made has been in the lottery. Stoudemire, Camby, Frye.
Did you say other teams want Randolph "for sure"? Not for the 3 remaining years and $48 million left on his deal they're not.
The only thing the Knicks could possibly do is trade either Jeffries or Richardson along with a draft pick and Marbury for another high-priced player with two years left on his contract (Jermaine O'Neal?). Indiana would waive Marbury before he could ever wear a Pacers uniform. They would relieve themselves of JO's contract one year earlier than expected. The Knicks would buy themselves a year to either try to trade JO's contract in 2010 or let it expire and they would get rid of one of their horrible contracts one year early.
That's the only way the Knicks could be players for LeBron, Wade or Bosh.
from 6 months ago
While LeBron and Wade may be on the open market in 2010, don't even mention Bosh in there. He will be locked up in Toronto by this summer or next and you can write that down in stone. Hell would freeze over first before Bosh leaves Toronto.
from 6 months ago
Except that he can't be locked up this summer or next. He can only be locked up in his option year of 2010. If the team remains stuck in the middle of the east and he keeps calling out his teammates for being soft, then I can see him bolting--despite the nightmare scenario it would paint for you. He's definitely the least likely of the three to change teams. If his hometown Mavs can move Jason Terry before 2010 then they'll become serious players.
from 6 months ago
Even if the Raptors are in the middle of th pack for the the next two years and even if the Mavs have cap room, he still won't leave. He's like KG, loyal to a fault. And he'll stay for two reasons: 1) we can offer him more money than anyone else and b) his girlfriends from Toronto.
Also, as we say around here, just believe in BC (Bryan Colaneglo). As long he's around, Bosh ain't booking it anywhere.
from 6 months ago
But we're talking about the most important 5-6 years in a player's career. If there is anything that a loyal person expects it's that others return the favor. If he feels the team isn't nearly as committed to putting a winner on the floor as he is to trying to win, then he'll at least entertain the thought. Even KG wanted out. I don't think Bosh cares about the money. You mentioned his girlfriend. You better hope she becomes his wife or has a kid or she'll have no say in the matter.
6 months ago
How can you call Isiah that best scout in the NBA and a decent head coach, when the Knicks are one of the worst teams in the NBA? The Knicks are a team with a bunch of one-dimensional rolel players. Also, good scouts assemble a team that play a specific system. The Knicks are a mish mash of talent, if you want to use the word "talent."
Donnie Walsh is an improvement over Thomas to be sure. He's a class act. But at 67, I wonder how much energy he has.
If the Knicks can't draft Beasely, they should try to get a pass first point guard and go from there.
6 months ago
I call Isiah Thomas the best scout in the NBA because of his track record with draft picks. Marcus Camby, Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, David Lee, Nate Robinson, Renaldo Balkman.
And although he was a bust as a coach in New York. Look at his record in Indiana. That team played for him.
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