>>Bringing in a coach that you know isn't going to mesh well with players, because they don't take owness for their responsibilities or play defense, not to mention giving him a long term deal is bad judgement.....

Say what?

Lemme get this straight... Larry tried to sabotage Isiah and It's Isiah fault for Larry's behavior?

68 M to resign Ewiing

100+ million for Allan Houston was Isiah's fault as well

The inherited salary cap was Isiah's fault too, right?

Its not Isiah's fault entirely, for what Larry did, however you can see what players are made of and its clear that they didn't want to respond to him because I agree he can be a little whiney, and childish, but he is trying to make you a better player, and you have a center that doesn't take the game seriouly, he hates rebounding, rarley protects the rim and is out of shape.....your pg is a terrible person to have on a team and tries to undermine what your say and doesn't want to be a complete player.....I love Nate but there is a problem when your losing big and you stare down a bench because you dunk a ball, your trying to teach players to win.....

Larry steps on people's toes and I would never want him to be a gm, and not playing lee and frye was a mistake.....But you try to change a culture that Isiah created. The Layden years were a disgrace but his joke of a roster always played hard, which is something Isiah's players have a hard time doing.......

If Isiah was going to trade for Q and Nate, and bring in Curry, then Larry was so wrong for the job its scary.......Larry was expecting
Thomas, Sweetney, Thomas, Crawford, Marbury doesn;t get me excited but thats what larry singed on for

Not defending Larry, what he did was absurd, but who hired him? Who was dumb enough to make the Rose,Francis deals, lets face it he could have said no.........So he is partly to blame for that disaster

Assorted parts
New York's names have changed, but results may stay the same
Posted: Friday August 6, 2004 2:23PM; Updated: Friday August 6, 2004 2:23PM


Knicks GM Isiah Thomas has sold New York on his numerous moves, but will the fans still be in his corner if his assorted collection of basketball talent fails to gel.
Nathaniel S. Butler



Say this much for Knicks boss Isiah Thomas. He's active.

Since taking over in New York last year he has tried his best to shake up what had become a stale franchise. Stephon Marbury. Lenny Wilkens. Tim Thomas. Isiah brought them all in last year, and they helped him achieve his goal of getting the Knicks to the playoffs. OK, so maybe New York got smoked by the Nets in the first round. At least Zeke was trying.

This summer Thomas has not slowed up at all. He courted Kobe Bryant and Rasheed Wallace even though the Knicks didn't have any room under the salary cap. He has wined and dined Erick Dampier so effectively that the free-agent center is reportedly considering the Knicks for a lot less money than he could make in Atlanta. And after discussions so long they rival the Middle East peace process, Thomas finally landed guard Jamal Crawford from the Bulls. Now Isiah supposedly will turn his sights on Raptors star Vince Carter, who reportedly wants out of Toronto and might be available to the Knicks in a trade for Marbury.

Thomas' energy is impressive, and it surely plays well in the New York newspapers. But as former UCLA coach John Wooden used to say (and Bill Walton loves to repeat), "never confuse activity with achievement." As much as Thomas deserves credit for roiling the waters, he's still paddling against the tide.

Take the Crawford acquisition. Thomas got the 6-foot-5 combo guard, along with journeyman Jerome Williams, for a seemingly low price: Othella Harrington, Dikembe Mutombo, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski. But Crawford will cost the Knicks $55 million over the next seven years. That's a lot for a career 39.1 percent shooter. Throw in the four years and the $25 million owed Williams, and New York's payroll is more bloated than ever. Isiah, in fact, is starting to veer dangerously close to former GM Scott Layden territory.

Armed with Cablevision's massive checkbook, Thomas keeps throwing big money at players who haven't won a thing in their careers. He reportedly is even considering re-signing Vin Baker for $3 million per year. With Marbury, Tim Thomas, Allan Houston and Shandon Anderson all having multiple years (and big dollars) left on their contracts, the Knicks are capped out for years to come. That means little flexibility to sign future free agents or work other trades. In other words, this New York cast better work out.

Crawford could turn out to be the make-or-break deal for Isiah. Yes, the Knicks needed another shooting guard, especially with Allan Houston still bothered by sore knees. And it's true that the 6-5 Crawford is a tantalizing prospect who can put the ball in the basket (he scored 50 points against the Raptors last season). It's also true that he can switch over to the point when Marbury needs a breather. But Crawford is wildly inconsistent. For every 30-point explosion, he seems to throw up a 3-for-15 clunker. He shot just 38.6 percent from the floor last year, while racking up 2.41 turnovers (with 5.1 assists) per game. Defensively, he's got all the tools but little clue how to use them.

New York won't miss any of the four players he gave up, but they were trade assets. Isiah could have saved those pieces for a later deal down the road that would help the Knicks more than Crawford. After all, the Bulls -- who will now be able to clear some $18 million in cap room off their books next summer -- didn't think Crawford was worth the big investment. He might blossom in a new home, with a better supporting cast. He might end up joining with Houston and Marbury (or Carter) in a high-scoring Knicks perimeter attack. But New York is going to need more than excitement to get back to a championship level. It's Knicks are going to need players who can defend and rebound and stay healthy. It's going to need players who do the little things and know how to win. It's going to need a big man who can put the ball in the basket. The Knicks didn't have enough of those players before Isiah got there, and despite all his activity, they still don't

He wasn't thinking about Miles, he wanted the deal done, Nash rejected it.

Are you really using that article to say that isiah is the WORST GM in the league? A trade that could be construed as success or a failure depending on who you are talking to?

That article was in reference to the salary cap situation that mistereal was mentioning above, and that just displays that he made a few deals without evaluating the market and the crawford deal with not looked up on highly by a lot of people including myself, when you factor in additional salary, which is what isiah does every move.....

Adding 45 million in salary to a payroll is no small feet

Isiah was all over K-Mart, but Kiki at least has a few good moves under his belt when your talking about making deals......Isiah? I guess you could say Q, Nate deal turned into a good one, but other than that?

Camby and Nene was a great move (he could have had two nice players in the draft, but they would have knocked denver out of the melo draft)
Miller was a good move
Boykins was a nice signing
Drafting Melo, was obvious.....

Jerome James defies logic not one would have given him a five year deal

As was discussed in another thread, the only truly great move was Camby/Nene. You still havent answered me as to which move was worse. Would you rather have JJ or KMart? And we know that Kiki botched some draftpicks, but this conversation was on another thread.

So which GM made the worse deal, Isiah for JJ or Kiki paying MAX DOLLARS to KMart?

LOL Yes look at their future vs ours. We have a whole crop of players who at younger than 24 years old are alreay solid. A WHOLE GANG. You minus Carmelo and they SUCK. Our cap will be under control in a couple years, right as our youth reaches their prime. Cmon man, our future is much better than theirs

Detroit?