Everyone can agree the New York Knicks are a mess, an absolute debacle.
Larry Brown is a hall of fame coach who has led SEVEN different teams to the playoffs! A guy known for coming in to a situation and immediately improving a team could not win with that excuse for a professional basketball team not named the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Knicks have finally made several good decisions. The first good decision of this decade was probably ending the Isaiah Thomas reign to bring in Donnie Walsh to improve the team.
Walsh was able to construct a team in Indiana capable of winning for years. The Knicks followed that decision up by hiring Mike D'Antoni, which based on preferred coaching style is slightly questionable (especially with Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph in the front court). However, D'Antoni is certainly a good coach.
Walsh has quite a mess to clean up. A mess that started at the beginning of the decade and is highlighted by rash trades and free agent signings of expensive players to long contracts.
The current situation: $40 million over the salary cap and only two players set to have potential expiring deals this summer totaling just over $4 million. The highest paid player on the roster, Stephon Marbury, made $19 million and was bothered by ankle problems this season. At one point, he was even told to stay home.
Walsh has several overpaid lumbering big men incapable of playing together because of the defensive implications. Jerome James, Zach Randolph, and Eddy Curry make a combined $28 million and are signed for two to four years. All of them appear to be worthless to D’Antoni and his up-tempo system.
Jared Jefferies and Malik Rose signed to $5.6 million and $7 million for four and two years respectively. Clearly, they are overpaid. (All salary data comes from the ESPN trade machine, search trade machine on espn.com).
Not a simple mess to clean up, and it cannot be cleaned up over the course of one year. But a few things are going well for the Knicks.
Wait. A few things going for the Knicks? Yes, the Knicks have a huge expiring contract in Stephon Marbury.
This is valuable in two ways. The Knicks could give him a go next season and buy him out if he does not work or let him walk at the end of the season. Or at the trading deadline they can trade him to a team looking to clear cap room in exchange for veteran help or young talent.
Also, at the end of next season, the Knicks can choose to resign Malik Rose or let him walk along with Jerome James. By allowing them both to walk, they can create an upwards of $13 million in cap room, or by signing Rose to a more reasonable deal, have $9 or $10 million available.
February 2009 is when Donnie Walsh makes a critical decision; does he completely tear down everything Isaiah Thomas tried to do? Or does he build on a, in terms of young players, somewhat solid foundation? Here are the scenarios.
Rebuild Entirely
February 2009 (or even earlier if he makes that decision) Donnie Walsh will be contacting every playoff and title contender. He'll explain why Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford, and even some of the young guys who will be due extensions can help their team win enough games to achieve their goals.
Walsh will be looking for expiring contracts, young inexpensive talent and draft picks. His goal is simple. He wants to free up money for the summer of 2009 and 2010 and acquire draft picks to fill in the many holes in the roster.
For the summer of 2010, Walsh can make a run at young, potential superstars such as a Rudy Gay or Brandon Roy. He could also go with an established star such as Tracy McGardy or Carlos Boozer.
Other notable free agents Walsh could use to fill in the roster include Rajon Rondo, Tyrus Thomas, Al Harrington, Jermaine O’Neal, Mike Miller, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Some of these players may be at the end of rookie contracts or may take extensions before 2010 and therefore won’t be available. Others may elect not to opt-out with their player options.
Assuming some players behave and opt-out as expected, the light at the end of the tunnel for the fans of the New York Knicks is Lebron James.
Even if Lebron James chooses to re-up with the Cavs or chooses a team other than the Knicks, Walsh has the potential to offer a big long-term deal and the opportunity to play on the biggest basketball stage to some pretty talented consolation prizes such as Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, and Chris Bosh.
If Walsh makes the right deals by drafting smart and avoiding expensive contracts, he could have an appealing and, dare I say, championship team constructed by training camp of 2010.
Rebuild on top of a foundation that deep down isn’t bad, but is crumbling at the top:
Walsh’s first step is to get rid of Stephon Marbury. That guy has never been involved with winning and probably never will be. The goal in this will be to get a draft pick and young talent or to find the next Memphis Grizzlies.
Due to the Knicks wanting to trim some salary, they could buy out Marbury and try to put a package together to bring a point guard using the expiring contracts of Jerome James or Malik Rose to acquire a player such as T.J. Ford as Monty Singh proposes in his article.
However, Singh pushes for the Knicks to acquire Monta Ellis, who I don’t think would be the distributor the Knicks need for D’Antoni’s system. Singh’s proposed starting lineup for next season of TJ Ford, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, and Jermaine O'Neal would be good enough to contend for a playoff berth but not good enough to advance in the playoffs.
In my opinion, the Knicks should consider a young player who has produced when given the minutes. Beno Udrih of the Sacramento Kings could be had for a portion of the mid-level exception.
The Knicks would also look for more athletic scoring in their frontcourt and might try to acquire a young player such as Tyrus Thomas who could benefit from increased playing time, especially because his time in Chicago will be limited behind Drew Gooden.
Having Beno Udrih or T.J. Ford combined with Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Tyrus Thomas, and your pick of their slow centers with David Lee in a six-man role backed by some of the other young players and veterans on the roster could have the Knicks talking playoffs and respectability.
Also, this team would also enable them to look to make a run at one of the free agents mentioned above in 2010 or 2011.
Either way the goal of the New York Knicks is build around their young players and cut payroll to make a run at the free agents available in 2009, 2010, and 2011. This could bring in some of today’s young top stars, such as Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
So that is my plan for fixing the Knicks. However, I doubt the Knicks will follow my suggestions.
But I do know that if someone is going to right that ship, (can you even call it capsized? Maybe lift that ship out of the depths?) it will be Donnie Walsh.
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4 months ago
Lots of good ideas here--and I like that you are being positive and realistic about the Knicks. Unlike too many people that try to write about the Knicks, you realize that the plan is not to try to turn Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry and that cancer Marbury into a winning trio under a D'Antoni style team--but rather that there is a complete overhaul planned. I appreciate that. Anyway, I really believe that Walsh will be able to work some magic to get the team in a significantly better position--even possibly for next season--and 2 or 3 years from now there could be a renaissance in full swing at the Garden. Just imagine a young, talented, well coached and managed Knicks team on the biggest brightest stage in the world.
from 4 months ago
Yes, a well coached and well managed Knicks team... What? Sounds a little funny, huh?
I'm sure David Stern has his fingers crossed. NBA league offices are based in New York, must be embarrassing for them to have the Knicks be such a mess right in their backyard.
4 months ago
You make some great points in the article. It's a quagmire that the Knicks find themselves in and there will be no easy way out. It will be several years before Knicks can be a contender.
There are two types of great teams in the league: One is like the Celtics or Lakers that is built on superstar power. The other being something like the Pistons built on great chemistry, solid starting lineup, and superb role players. The Knicks should aim at being like the Pistons. That would be their quickest way to excel. The star power is something they don't have and there is absolutely no reason to believe that any major star would want to come to New York. New York is not preferred by many stars because they don't want to raise their families in such a place. They would rather be in a city that is more family friendly. I have heard this comment by Phil Jackson, coach of the Lakers and other players as well.
So the best bet for the Knicks is to built a quality Piston like team with one perennial all like Rasheed Wallace.
from 4 months ago
I can believe players don't want to raise their families in New York. Those fans are proud and not afraid to let their team know if they're playing below the expected standards.
As for your idea about the Knicks needing to emulate Pistons I agree. I mean isn't that what basketball is? A team game, centered around all five guys on the court contributing? As you're probably aware 2010/2011 is when the extensions most of the draft class of 2004 signed will be ending. Thus there are a lot of good young players. The Knicks can go the star route (which I honestly expect them to do because they have the money) and pursue Lebron or Wade. Or they can try to build a deep team with no superstar by pursuing a lot of young and talented players from the 2004 draft class.
4 months ago
"they don't want to raise their families in such a place"????? That is nonsense. Professional athletes on New York teams raise their families in some of the most beautiful and safe places in the country. They have a choice of affluent communities, with top notch school districts in Connecticut, parts of New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester, etc. And if they chose to live in the city, since when has NYC become a place that millionaires and their families shy away from? It's one thing if you are talking about the media scrutiny, but to say they don't want to raise their families here is ridiculous.
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