New York News: Knicks Overhaul; Dump Isiah and Move Forward

With the season finally at a close, the Knicks can forget about 07-08 and hopefully forget about the Isiah Thomas regime as well. Finishing 23-59, tying the worst record in Knicks history from 05-06 when Larry Brown coached the team, it is clear the Knicks still need to rebuild and move on without Isiah...who was the GM in 05-06 and the GM/Coach this year.

What the Knicks need to do is rebuild. Now that may seem obvious, but it was obvious a few years ago as well. Though people felt as though Knicks fans, like other New York fans, wouldn't be okay with rebuilding and that we wanted immediate results. That couldn't be further from the truth. We understand what needs to take place. No doubt we would have loved to see a complete turnaround but it wasn't realistic. At this point, a quick turnaround isn't viable like this year's Celtics since we don't even have an established, consistent superstar like the Celtics had left over from last season like Paul Pierce. 

The biggest question is where to start. With Donnie Walsh taking over as the general manager, he needs to remove Isiah as head coach. Nothing positive has occurred since Isiah took over in December of 2003. All the trades he has done have coincidentally turned around or helped the fortunes of about five different franchises; Phoenix, Toronto, Chicago, San Antonio, and Portland. In addition to that, you had the Nuggets/Knicks brawl at the Garden, the sexual harrassment lawsuit, the feud with Marbury, and the bloated signings of players like Jerome James and Jared Jeffries. With the second highest payroll in the NBA, the Knicks finished 23-59, which was the fifth worst record. Something is obviously wrong with that picture. Firing Isiah is the first step to making a turnaround.

After that, the Knicks need to focus on what they can do with the current roster and the draft. What to do with the current roster is a difficult and daunting task. When I think about who they can trade, it's very limited. Who wants Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, or Quentin Richardson and the contract that would come with any one of them?  After Eddy Curry's horrid 07-08, who would want him? Does anyone really want the baggage that comes with Zach Randolph, regardless of how talented he is? Other questions surround the other players on the roster, but here's what I would do. First off, the only guy I would avoid trading at all costs is David Lee. He wouldn't be a first or second option on a great team, but he's a hustle player who gives full effort and is the only player on the Knicks that every Knicks fan likes. Knicks fans would most likely riot if Lee were to be traded. Wilson Chandler and Mardy Collins need to stay unless a good trade offer came along that required one of them to be in it, and I personally think Renaldo Balkman is that solid defensive player who would be extremely valuable to a winning team. Nate is a likeable player and a good option off the bench, but is extremely inconsistent. Jamal Crawford is an above average player, but I can't picture him ever being a key part of a successful team, due to his lack of abilities outside of scoring and the fact that he tends to be a volume shooter. 

Now for the guys who I really want to see gone...I'll start with Stephon Marbury and Malik Rose. Nothing against Malik Rose because he is a good guy, but he is well past his prime and even when he was in his prime he was a role player. As for Marbury, I don't place too much blame on him and I do feel bad for him, though he does have to go...BUT, both his contract and Rose's contract expire after 08-09, so I think we should keep both and just let their contracts expire. That would take roughly $30 million off the books. Continuing on, Randolph, Curry, Jeffries, and James all have to go. I don't like any of them. Randolph and Curry are both talented, but Curry is a major enigma and followed his solid 06-07 season with a terrible, injury-plagued 07-08 which probably killed any chance of us trading him. Randolph would often rather argue about a non call on the offensive end and the Knicks would have a 4 on 5 on the defensive end many times during the year. Randolph is the type of player who is definitely a 20 and 10 player, but what's the point when the guy doesn't play defense and is surrounded by other players who don't play defense and don't try their hardest? I say trade him while he still has value, whether it's for expiring contracts and/or draft picks. As for Jeffries and James, no one will trade for them, so I hope we either use the Allan Houston rule (which ironically wound up being used on Penny Hardaway) on one of them or they just rot on our bench.

Essentially, the only tradeable players in terms of guys others teams might want on the Knicks are Randolph, Crawford, Lee, Balkman, Chandler, Rose (expiring contract), Marbury (expiring contract), and Nate. Maybe Curry, though I doubt it after what everyone saw this past year. As I mentioned though, we shouldn't trade Lee and I'd like to see what Balkman and Chandler can do. What also doesn't help is that any trade involving Randolph, Crawford, or anybody else would allow the other team to have most of the leverage. At this point, all the Knicks should be looking for in trades is either expiring contracts, young players, or draft picks.

As for the draft, I'm really hoping they get a pick in the top two. I badly want to see either Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose in a Knicks uniform. Can you maybe help us out again with the lottery David Stern? But in all seriousness, the Knicks need to get a guy who will pan out and I'm sold on both of those guys being good pro players. If the Knicks were to get the 5th pick, where they would be if everything went according to the odds, Mayo or Bayless could possibly work out but I can't say with complete confidence that they could significantly alter the Knicks fortunes, at least not right away.

Ultimately, this is going to be a huge off-season for the Knicks, with many problems that need to be addressed. It's a transitional period and hopefully a rebuilding year...and trust me Donnie Walsh, rebuilding is an acceptable option. It's been 35 years since our last championship, but we would rather start over and have a top team for years rather than go through a quick fix and be a fringe playoff team.