I know Isiah preached about rebuilding but he is cashing in on whatever assets there are on this team.

I think the injuries told him something last year...the team cannot compete with the young players on it. The record reflects that from the end of the season when we lost 15 out of our 19 final games while in contention for a playoff spot. Therefore, playing the young guys for the last games of the season just allowed them to show that they can play in the NBA.

These picks in the 2005 and 2006 are late picks with the exception of Frye, who was cashed in for Zach are all up for grabs.

I do not think Isiah will hesitate to trade any player that was drafted in the past two years, with the exception of Lee, who has proven to be his "diamond in the rough."

Wilson Chandler is a Balkman clone.

Nichols- he may not even make the team or is just going to be on the roster

Isiah is going to use some of these guys in a trade:

Nate
Mardy
Balkman
Randolph Morris

Isiah would have "rebuilt" the Knicks at all positions starting with:

Marbury- "star" PG
Crawford- "flashy" shooter/playmaker
Q- "sharpshooting" 3-point gunner
Zach - 20-10 borderline All-Star PF
Curry- "beast" in the paint on offense

NOW...I am not saying that this team is a good one (specifically defensively)...but this team SHOULD BE ABLE to compete in the East and make the playoffs.

Isiah has no time for the youth movement anymore...this is the Knicks team, barring another trade, likely at the wing position.

The word "rebuilding" is not a word that Isiah will be using anymore...this is a team of young vets who are 28 and younger...this is a team that Isiah believes will COMPETE.

This is the team, but aside from Marbury who is 30, every other major piece (not talking about JJ or Malik here) is 26 or less. I believe Crawford may be older... by a year. We have a young nucleus. The only YOOT we gave up was Frye who many here wanted to get rid of anyway.

Getting rid of Francis helped us get younger. It means more Mardy Collins time.

I think IT is looking to make one more trade to get us a two-way player at the 2 or 3. Balkman and Jeffries are offensively challenged and Q is hurt. Crawford is defensively challenged and Collins cannnot shoot. If we can get some solid two-way players at the 2 and 3, I think the Randolph and Curry frontcourt can work because we would have less of a need for them to play outstanding defense. I don't think IT has abandoned the youth movement as much as shifted the focus to youth that is already developed to some extent, i.e. Randolph.

What are you talking about? We're "youthier" now.

I think Isiah was encourage by what he saw with Collins and Balkman getting time- and when we collapsed, it was because Crawford and Lee were out- they're kind apart of the 'youth'.

Thomas brought in 7 players through the draft and only traded away two of them with the Ariza trade made at the request of the head coach. So basically Frye is the sole draft pick that he wanted to trade away. He was openly disappointed in Frye all season. I wouldn't go nuts saying the "yoot" movement is dead.

I see no evidence that Isiah is moving away from youth. Why add 2 more draft picks this year, when he could've used the one we had in a trade to begin with? He's pretty much kept the additions to under 30 for the most part. I see a TON of young players on the roster at this point. It's one thing to have a good amoung of youth, but you don't want to be too young. A nice mix of vet and youth is always best.

Also you have to understand how Isiah works. He always tries to make sure that he at least has someone to cover a need. That's why he got James even tho he was looking at Curry. He got Jared even tho he drafted Balkman. He knows there are no guarantees that any player will work out. So he covers himself. It's not so much that he's just throwing talent at the wall. He sees the value of having quality young players and he thinks about future moves. Ie Frye being traded. He also added Morris as a good value pick up. He might stay and workout or be used in a trade. He's been doing this since he's got here and even when people said he didn't have any deals to make, he's always found a way to make a deal. He's the Anti Layden in that regard. Francis and Frye for Zach is typical Zeke.

ONE guy with 11, the rest are in their PRIME. And everyone forgets that Curry made the PLAYOFFS but the Bulls wouldn't let him play because of the heart.

Posted by Vmart:

Everyone is all hopped up on they made the playoffs 7 time in the past. You have to look at the situation no one looks at the situation anymore. Crawford and Curry were part of Youth movement in Chicago. Marbury was on the Nets who basically were not that good. Q played for the clippers need I say more. You guys got give it a rest because that is not how you judge whether a player is good or not. You put any player in a rebuild mode and you will see a poor team or a team stuggling. This year JO and KG didn't make the playoffs are they bad players now. How many people here would like to see Joe Johnson as the sg here but need I remind everyone he sucks because he played on a terrible team. Please look at the situation before making judgements on players.

Good points. I was talking to someone about this yesterday. Just because a player has not won does not mean that he cannot win. As Vmart said, you have to look at circumstances. Most of these guys are under 27 and have been on bad teams. They showed alot of heart last year and grew as a team. Hopefully that will continue now that we have add even more offensive firepower.

[Edited by - thegame on 07-03-2007 6:50 PM]

It's one thing to argue that one player on the team had bad luck and was on bad teams. It's another thing to argue that just coincidentally *every* starter was on bad teams all thirty seven years.