The New York Knicks Are a Poison I Would Not Wish Upon My Worst Enemy

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. In other words:

AGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Zach Randolph! HE was GONE. It was OVER. A mulligan, a reprieve, an indulgence without the need to invoke Pope Urban the bleeping Second!!!

AND THEY TURNED IT DOWN!!!

To re-state:

AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought we were past this point with this team. I really thought these days were over. I thought there was a direction—a plan—after Isiah. I was wrong. I was stupid. This franchise was put on the planet to torture me. There is no other explanation.

I find myself full of questions.

They will never—and, to borrow from Chris Rock, they tell you never to say never but I'm saying NEVER—ever ever ever win ANYTHING between now and the time Zach Randolph's contract expires.

So why the attachment to him? How does keeping him aboard further any of the long-term goals that the Knicks claim are a part of their plan? What "more" do we think we're getting for him? MORE than $10 million of cap relief?

We're sure as hell not getting a superstar for an underachieving malcontent with no mobility and a penchant for holding the ball for 15 seconds before he can muster up a 20 footer.

And, outside of a superstar, there is NOTHING that counts more than $10 million of cap relief in today's NBA—especially cap relief for the summer of LeBron (and Wade and Bosh). When will the Knicks learn these things?

Need I go on?

Is this even worth the energy it's taking me to type these words? Is there any reason or logic underlying anything that happens in the Knicks' front office? How long has Donnie Walsh been in the league? Can he not see how valuable dumping Randolph's contract would be? Do they grind up stupid pills to spike the mashed potatoes in the Madison Square Garden cafeteria?

Where are we finding minutes for Gallinari, Lee, Chandler, and Curry (the supposed centerpieces of their future front line) with Randolph requiring 35 per game? Why would you put a guy out on the floor that is both too small AND too slow to play the 4, when you have promising young talent oozing from every pore in your frontcourt?

Why are we looking to get rid of David Lee as bait for someone to take Randolph when we won't accept a trade that gets rid of Randolph without losing Lee? Doesn't the Lee inclusion imply that Randolph's value to the team is less than zero? Has anyone in the Knicks' front office ever taken a math class?

This is a team that does not deserve fans. We're too good for them. We are TOO GOOD for THEM. We put up with a decade of Ewing-era heartbreak at the hands of Jordan and Reggie and Hakeem. We put up with seven years of Layden and Isiah's BS.

And now, with some light finally at the end of the tunnel, we do what GM after GM have always claimed New Yorkers weren't willing to do. We accepted the fact that the Knicks—the beloved, sanctified Knicks. The ONLY team that can claim New York's entire population as a fan base—were going to blow it all up and rebuild. 

We WANTED THAT. 

We were THRILLED that they finally saw THAT.

How is this THAT? 

This is not THAT. Instead, this is a big, fat, loogie in the eye of everybody who thought, "OK, they'll suck for a few years. I can deal with that."

The New York Knicks are a disgrace.

You didn't need to be told that. But you do need to accept that. If you loved Charles Oakley, if the phrase "The Dunk" makes you think of John Starks, if you tell people in bars that the continuation call on L.J. was justified, then congratulations. You have inherited a disgrace. A disgrace that doesn't respect you enough to tell you where it's going and doesn't know how to run itself.

And next year, on opening  night, your power forward will be Zach Randolph. For $16 million a year. 

And two years later, on opening night, you will not be watching LeBron James play. 

Unless, that is, we open against the Nets.