New York Knicks Summer Report: Was Isiah Thomas Right?

I try not to be too bitter when it comes to the Knicks, but I already don't love what GM Donnie Walsh and Coach D are doing. 

Can you believe that they took Gallinari without seeing him? Walsh and D'Antoni have both said that they had not actually seen him play. 

I think they got a little lucky, because it looks like the kid has an excellent handle for a 6'9" kid, and obviously a great shot.  We may see him playing the two, three, and eventually the four, in time. 

Good thing for the Knicks that Chandler is solid enough to play a good amount of time at the PF spot this year.  One key to this offense is taking advantage of opposing big men by matching up more athletic players who can score. 

Amare is no five, yet he dominated the position from an offensive standpoint, because he is a mismatch for most other centers.  Watch for Chandler to get the chance to do that SOME of the time.

The 'Everyone wants to play for D'Antoni" thing is only an all-things-being-equal advantage.  If the Knicks are coming off a craptastic season like this one, or any other scenario where PR is bad, it will be tough to get LBJ here when a better-run franchise might be budding in Brooklyn.

'08-09 doesn't really matter for the Knicks, but the entire '09-10 season needs to be solid if they think they can land the king.  Keep in mind, bad press for that summer already is in place as they likely won't have that summer's No. 1 draft pick.

The Knicks will need either Chandler of Gallinari to be borderline All-Stars by that summer, and win 45+ games to have a shot at James.  And of course, have cap space to sign him.

Now, I ,for once, was with Isaiah when he constantly pointed out that Cap space is overrated.  Problem is, you can't waste money like he did on James or Jeffries because of the PR hit.  Releasing those guys, as Brian Cashman does with the Yanks' refuse, would have kept the knicks a little more fresh and their fans happier than keeping them around as a negative reminder all the time.

Don't you wish we had held onto Jackie Butler and waved JJames?  Just because Butler worked hard and fought.

The reason why Balkman got traded is in part because he and Jefferies do the same thing. The only way to trade Jefferies is to get him minutes, which mean getting Balkman out of the way, get Jefferies some playing time, and hope he has a good streak before the trade deadline. 

I have a Balkman T-shirt.  I'm so bitter!  He will be a Dennis Rodman-Anthony Mason clone out in Denver, mark my words.

Being under the cap isn't needed if sign-and-trades are an option.  Do we really think that Lebron just wants to take a big dump on the state of Ohio and leave them high and dry?  So long as a few teams can make max-deal bids, and he lets Cleveland know that he will take one. Or if the Cavs can do a sign-and-trade with New York, everyone would be okay. 

Of course, to do that, you need to have talent, and players with similar-sized contracts—also part of Isiah's plan, which is why he wanted Zach Randolph. 

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