Posted by islesfan:
Ok, now that the KT trade is official lets analyze it. I'm going to include the Nazr trade as well since half of it was completed last night.
Nazr, KT, #54 this year for Q, Robertson, Lee and San Antonio's #1 pick next year.
Can we include the #8 pick since we are talking KT and Nazr and the PF/C replacement?
Q's game is similar to Crawford's which isn't a good thing. He's a chucker who doesn't play much defense. Assuming he starts, what was the point of signing Crawford to a $55m deal? Q also has an uninsurable bad back. That has to be a concern for a franchise that has had trouble keeping their players on the court.
Q and Craw's games are entirely different. Q had to change his game going from LAC to PHO. He is a BIG guard who sometimes can play SF. He posts up. He rebounds. In phoenix you have a PF/C who posts while the rest of the team spreads the floor to give Amare and Nash room to operate. Craw is a dribbler/slasher who chucks the ball too much. I can't say much about Q's D, but if you didn't know the difference between Q and Craw's game, I am guessing you don't have too much background to comment on his D either.
Q's back is uninsured, which is a bad thing... it is. But it wasn't bad enough for Phoenix to sign him. I think there is a difference between Penny/Houston not being on the court and Q being a risk at his age, and other than Penny/Houston (and Gazy), did the Knicks have people hurt? I can't remember. But those guys are gone anyway.
I truely believe that Isiah really wanted Craw at PG and HAD (was forced) to trade for Marbury to put people in the seats. But, Marbury is talent and can be traded again.
Robertson and Lee were 2nd rd talents taken in the first round. They might make nice role players at some point but where do they fit on this team? Marbury plays 40 min a night and then Crawford is supposed to be a combo guard coming off the bench. At best, the ridiculously undersized Robertson is going to be an energetic pest coming in for 3-5 minutes a game. Lee is behind about 10 PF's but at best you're looking at a Mark Madsen type.
The Knicks want to cut Marbury's minutes, we all know that. That's where Nate comes in. And Lee as a Madsen type? Please, you show that you have done zero homework. The dude has soft hands, good passing ability, post-up ability. His FT shooting is better than average, which means his range can probably improve.
Does anyone know if Lee can play SF?
San Antonio's #1 next year will most likely be one of the last 5 picks of the first round. There's no great value in that.
Have you noticed what SA has done with their late pick for the last 4-5 years? Parker, Manu, other Manu teammate coming over.
For all that we gave up our starting C and PF. Not that they were anything great but they were servicable and had value around the league. And the worst thing of all is that it hasn't upgraded our talent level to the point where you can see us being a contender any time soon. When it comes down to it, we're still undersized and we have as many question marks as we did before.
The team does have a lot of question marks, but they did get a LOT younger and more athletic. I would submit that KT/Nazr MAY have gotten better at the trade deadline, but maybe NOT.
6/29/2005 3:19 PM
