this is going to crippple the franchise for years

as much as I wanted laydumb gone, i wouldve been happy with the status quo and if the team had failed--he couldve been fired along with Chaney after the season and have the new GM deal with the lottery pick


how are all the fans going to feel when we are sitting in position 7 in the lottery this year?

OH MY

Wow... the optimism is flowing all through here...

Pick up your faces, fellas. Now "we were better off with LayDown"???

LMAOOOOO Some are never satisfied with real improvement, and just can't see themselves existing without that tired "woe is me" attitude to lean on.

Man up, kiddies. Don't cry, dry your eyes...

I'm taking Isaiah's side when he said that the point of picks or cap room was to go after guys like Marbury.

It can't be worse than the trades Layden did because if it weren't for the Ewing trade, this trade wouldn't have been possible.

And about 'Sheed. If we can afford him, go for him. Went this far already.

Techno's got it right. Why's everyone worried about the Knicks spending money and taking on contracts. Laydown and his predecessors made sure we'd never have cap room to go after quality free agents until Allan's contract is done anyway. I could care less if we're the highest paid team in the league. Not my money.

Dice coming off the books wouldn't have helped us. We could have paid him maximum or negotiated less or let him go. Wouldn't have had any impact on our ability to go after other players. For us, he was a fragile, max contract sub. His most value to us was just how Deke used him, as a match for another max contract of a player who we'd want around. Don't see how we could have done better than Marbury. Aren't any superstars without some warts that teams will trade away. And as others have said, mid first round picks ... even low lottery picks ... don't often turn into great players, usually not even very good players. We got the bird in hand. Left the Lampe in the Phoenix's bush.

I agree with most everyone's post here. The picks mean nothing, this years draft is crappy, Lampe means nothing..., Vujanic is the only one with some value here.

Now we have something to watch while the cap expires. Some playoff runs. Some athleticism. Marbury is better than any pick we could have made. Vujanics upside falls shy of where Marbury is now. Lampe is the wild card. But again... not a sure thing. Isiah said it best. You clear cap room to get guys like the 26 yr old, finely conditioned Marbury.

and get who in the draft, briggs? it is not like the draft this year is brewing with talent. besides maybe okafur, who is an undersized center and will take time to develop, is there anyone else that will knock our socks off? the rest are projects at best. we get a number 2, let me say this again, number 2 point guard in the league that is still young and there are still complaints. as far as lampe and vujanic go, they were gambles also. we do not know how well vujanic will adjust. he may be just another marko juric. lampe is'nt progressing so let him go somewhere else. just becuase we lost ONE game after the trade everyone is crying armageddon. like i said, it will take starbury less than a week to adjust and then let the reign begin for one of the best point guards ever in our franchise.

I cant understand how anyone can be against this trade. This team is way better than it was. Wow... I think some of you just want to be remain in misery. The fact is we did rebuild! We are rebuilding!

We didn't even give up a starter.


When you have a chance to get a young superstar point Guard, You do it. We have aquired powerful players.

Why wait 5 years to be where we are now!

Especially considering the fact that veterans can be moved. Even when they making 20 mil.
We have a few now that could always bring us some players back.

Isiah is going to deal somebody else. we all know what we need.

The beauty of all this is, That if it all blows up in our faces then we can be cap ready in 2006 anyway! maybe earlier.


THIS IS WIN WIN ... Plain and Simple.

The risk in this trade is as high as it gets. I always believe in the big man first, you need to anchors at 4-5 followed by athletic versatile 2-3s and PG last. I believe we had a PG in Williams who showed enough in a small stint to warrant a much longer trial. To me--we traded big for small, bad contract[eisley] for worse contract [penny] this trade was rigid--the players we have dont fit the point guard we brought in. we have lost tremendous flexibility going ahead. If we were going to trade Mcdyess, it shouldve been in a deal that netted us Rahim or Jamison. That was the whole point of getting Mcdyess---to get a 20-10 post player. And I believe that we couldve worked a deal for what we gave up that wouldve netted us Rahim and Terry --guys whose speed and style matches what we have. they are good players oin bad teams. You add those guys with van Horn Houston williams etc.. and I think it's a better team that what we have now and MORE importantly keeps us in a fluid state. Both players retain tremndous trade value with much smaller financial commitments

Yes I believe STRONGLY that instead of Penny and Marbury we couldve acquired Rahim terry and Rodney white for what we gave up and kept our financial flexibility which we have totally lost.


C- Deke
PF Rahim
SF Van Horn
SG Houston
PG Williams
6th man Terry Thomas C/PF Harrington
White SF
Andersen SG there is the 9-10 man rotation.

I think this team is a whole lot better than what we have now.


Rahim and Terry for Mcdyess and Ward 2004 #1 restricted to 3 Houston #2 and a 2006 restricted to 15
Doleac and Vujonic to Denver for Rodney White
this wouldve added the athletiscm we needed--improved the post with high caliber back ups.

I still don't agree, but this is a good post, Briggs. Now I have a sense of why you're bashing the deal.

Still, disagree on a few of your points. 1) your trade wouldn't have given us significantly more financial flexibility. We have to forget about financial flexibility until H20 contract expires. 2) Don't agree that you need to start big when rebuilding. Look at MJ and the Bulls, Zeke and the Pistons, Magic and the Lakers ... plenty of teams built around guards that have done fabulously well. More recent example, Kidd and the Nets. You build around superstars, wherever they play ... which brings me to ... I believe Marbury's at a different level than Rahim or Jamison. Superstar vs. Star. World of difference.

I know I'm singing to the Choir - but I like this trade. Does it have some down side risk? Doesn't every trade.

As far as limiting our flexibility. I'm amazed Zeke Found a way to make this trade. And even after the trade Zeke could still possibly get Rasheed.

As far as Rasheed - I'd rather trade KT and Doleac then Van Horn. I like Rasheed better at PF. I question Van Horns big-game production and know he's over paid. But he's got a lot of upside and he has been good enough to help two teams make it to the finals. KT is tough and I like his game - but he doesn't have a lot of upside. As talented as the teams in the West are I'd rather take the talent and hope it plays up to it's ability then go with the steadier player with less upside.