we traded Kurt at the absolute best time to trade him... he gave everything he had to the Knicks all his best years and he had nothing left as soon as we let him go.

He was and is finished....... I think getting Q Rich a leader with some heart that plays D is pretty good Nate was a throw in and honestly i still like the little guy

looking back on any draft, obviously there are things we can point out & say that Isiah shoulda taken this guy or that guy at this spot... if we could do it all over again right now, i bet D Lee would be the unanimous choice to be taken #8 overall instead of Frye for that matter... but then again, he probably wouldn't last beyond the #6 or 7 pick if teams knew what they knew now.

as for the Nate pick at #21, maybe if Isiah planned on running a half court style offense, he woulda taken Jarrett Jack... i think his plan was to make this a more uptempo run & gun style team that would bring excitement back to MSG, so he went w/the flashier, highlight producing spark plug type player in Nate... on the other hand, maybe he would have been smarter to go w/a guy like Daniel Ewing out of Duke who was compared to a Chris Duhon type player in the scouting reports who would give you an all out effort on defense every night, but that kid hasn't got any burn in LA as it turns out.

it's hard to say Isiah made a mistake by taking Nate right now... we need to see how he turns out after another season or 2 is under his belt to really be able to judge the pick, just like we have to wait on judging a guy like Balkman taken last season when alot of people were killing the pick.

D Lee makes the entire draft for me... if Isiah didn't take him, it would have been a pretty average draft overall if you want to judge these players as they are right now compared to some of the other players that were taken in that draft after they were... but again, we'll know a lot better in a year or 2 whether or not Frye & Nate ever live up to their potential... i have zero doubts that D Lee will, so i at least have that to hang onto as a Knick fan.

nate, at best, is a 6th man energizer. we passed on 2 point guards in consecutive drafts, in jack and marcus/rondo. i thought we're supposedly rebuilding. if we are, then you have to draft a point guard that can run a team. nate looks like "wasted" pick in that he will probably be "throw-in" in other deals.


[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-27-2006 2:28 PM]

Back in the day, I think we may have given KT too big a contract (he's more of an MLE-type player), but the Suns foolishly overvalued him and gave us something in return.

Of course, part of that deal was Q-Rich, who the Knicks wanted but had a pre-existing back condition. In his 2nd season w/ the Knicks, he's put up the numbers we expected out of him, but nagging injuries have sidelined him again. The back trouble seems like more of a trend than mirage, unfortunately, and we're stuck w/ him for a number of years.

I think Nate would put up surprisingly great numbers if he were given the reigns of the team. I wouldn't doubt him putting up vintage Damon Stoudamire-type numbers (20ppg/8apg/4rpg/2spg) elsewhere as a starting PG. I think he's that good. I remember Herb Williams/Larry Brown talking about him glowingly before his rookie season, and he was draining 3 pointers with ease using his off hand. He's very ****y and has unbelievable skills, but with our current lineup, he's going to have trouble getting much more than 20-24 structured minutes per game. One day, he's get a starting job and watch out... we'll probably end up getting another 1st round pick for him in a trade one day.

Back to our other picks & their potential:

David Lee may have realized most of his potential already. He's 23. He's already got a high basketball IQ and he's merely a very good, not great athlete. He may simply not have as much upside as some other young players-- I don't think he's got the innate skill/quickness to add a killer go-to-scoring move to his repertoire (I could be wrong though). If David Lee peaked as a 13ppg/10rpg guy the rest of his career, I think we'd be very satisfied.

As far as Frye goes, he's the toughest one of the bunch to gauge. In a worst case, maybe he'll be like Marc Jackson-- a mid-range shooting journeyman big man. A middle of the road scenario is a Rasheed Wallace or Drew Gooden type. In a best case scenario, maybe even a junior Duncan/Nowitzki/Gasol.