Z is better. He fills a need at C.

What does Walker bring to this team? He is not a post presence, his defense sucks, shoots too many 3s, and hinders the growth of Sweetney.

Walker helps us only as an expiring contract. It would likely make us worse in terms of the teams performance. I wouldn't really like to see Walker as a Knick, and less if we can really bring Big Z, who imediately helps us by being a tall C and is also an expiring contract.

I like walker at the 3 best. He can post some, and has the outside shot. 'Gazy is not much on rebounding anyway. Walker is a "point forward" type. Sweets at the 4, and Nazr is the C.

Too much happening to really speculate. Might rather pay Walker 10mil a year than Crawford. I dunno. Walker can move to the 4 when sweets gets in foul trouble.

Walker showed me alot last year coming into good shape and not being a problem on a star studded team. ON the celts him and pierce were punks. ALso, with all these guys, can Marbury really make them better?

[Edited by - nalod on 07/14/2004 13:42:14]

I agree...I'd take him only as a 1 year stop gap and either not resign him or use him in a trade.

Posted by Knicksfan:

But then what happens to our Center spot. A trade for Walker would have to include Kurt Thomas, Deke, and who knows if Nazr too. Who would Play center for us?

Trybanski, him and Ariza can be the next shaq-kobe

Hmm, interesting comparison between Walker and TT. A big difference between them is Walker has accomplished much more during his basketball career. He's won an NCAA title and has performed at an all-star level in the NBA.

His big knocks have been his propensity to launch 3's (resulting in a low FG%) and his inability to stop Kenyon Martin.

On the Knicks, he'd probably be our best 3pt shooter... and K-Mart seems like he's on his way to Denver.

On the bright side, Walker has been known to do a killer job on Jermaine O'Neal on both ends of the floor and he's provide additional versatility at the 3/4 slots.

Every team in the NBA would ideally have the consistency of a healthy Tim Duncan at PF, but that's not possible so we have to get the best available player for our lineup.

Walker would undoubtedly be a major upgrade in overall ability compared to Kurt Thomas at PF. On Dallas, however, KT's strengths (defense/intimidation) are much more important than Walker's, which largely replicates Nowitzki's skill set. The Knicks need some big players with versatile offensive skills to provide balance to Marbury's backcourt domination.

"On the Knicks, he'd probably be our best 3pt shooter"

Is this a joke? He shot 26% last year from downtown. FIVE players (Houston, Marbury, TThomas, Penny, Norris) shot better than that.

Walker is a talent, but not what the Knicks need.

If they put Houston, TThomas, and Walker as the 2-3-4 for any stretch of time, they'll give up a score every single possession. You can't trade your 6'9" defensive enforcer for a chucker who plays on the perimeter when you have literally nobody else who can guard big guys. With the way Sweetney is playing in SL, he'll foul out by the 2nd quarter if he had to guard anybody with a game on the blocks.

Go for Z.

Posted by BigSm00th:

Walker is a talent, but not what the Knicks need...

You can't trade your 6'9" defensive enforcer for a chucker...

Go for Z.

Amen.

I disagree with some of the people here. Wasn't it just a tiny bit back that there was a thread started that praised Walker and had quotes from Nellie about how everyone's notion that Walker is the ultimate overpaid whiner is wrong? Clearly, Dallas had a lot of big names and egos, and that shouldn't happen too much in New York.
Let's examine Walker's faults:
- Doesn't play defense.
I believe that Walker could be an EXCELLENT, All-defensive team type defender if he really worked at it. Walker has some muscle AND good quickness for his size, and like Marbury, when he tries, it pays off. See Jermaine O'Neal vs. him.
- No true position.
This may be true, but I believe Walker is very valuable if you look at it the other way, because he is extremely versatile. He played every single position for the Mavs last year at different times of the game. Let's not forget, just a quick 2 seasons ago, Walker was the second part of the scary Pierce-Walker Celtic combination, which everyone admired. He can still post up 20 ppg, 8 rpg, 5 apg in the right situation.
- Will feud with teammates/not a team player/Takes too many 3's
I believe Stephon has matured as a player. Even if 'Toine and Starbury secretly hate each other, let's remember that winning usually erases any bad blood between teammates (oh wait, there's Shaq and Kobe, nvm ) Let's not forget perhaps the greatest strength of Antoine is his versatility. If you ask him to take less 3's he will do that, guaranteed. This guy may not be a max deal type player anymore, but given a second chance, I think an older Antoine can come in and help us. Obviously, H20 + TT + Toine is not exactly a good defensive team, but if we do end up at that, let's remember that H20 is not the worst defender ever anymore (he HAS shown that the past few seasons), and TT and Toine can improve given the right environment. I agree with BRIGGS and I think Antoine, at this point, after a very bad showing in Dallas, is extremely underrated.