Posted by TMS:

Posted by s3231:

I think Donnie has tried to make good deals but you can't fault him for not having the assets to get them done.

He's not going to overpay either just to bring some excitement to the franchise. We're still in that early stage where we have to acquire good assets and once that is done, then we can use those assets to make this team significantly better.

This team isn't going to make the playoffs this season, but at least Donnie is slowly improving our situation. People seem to forget how deep of a hole Isiah put us in.

thing is he had 2 great assets to use in trades at the deadline last season & he passed on using them (Lee & Nate)... now their values are limited because of the salary constraints many teams are under... he now has an excellent trade asset to use in Cuttino Mobley's contract, which will be paid off by insurance... teams looking to dump an expiring contract would be very interested in that big of a savings i'm sure... Donnie's also got a young up & coming player like Chandler along w/Lee & Nate still to make a move with... if he doesn't get anything done & let's those guys walk for nothing & still is unable to dump some dead weight off our payroll, i don't know how u can really make excuses for him this offseason.

I disagree with Nate and Lee being great assets at the deadline last season. Lee had a solid season last season, but it wasn't anything spectacular. If he put up the numbers last season that he did this season, then yes, he would have been a very valuable asset and we would probably have OJ Mayo right now. Nate has always been a decent asset but nothing to write home about. He just had his best season and he is still a free agent. I know the guy is a RFA but I think its pretty obvious Donnie wouldn't match a contract that exceeds more than one season (unless it was dirt cheap). I think that pretty much tells you other teams have reservations about Nate too.

Nate and Lee were pretty good assets last year but the truth is other teams have more to offer than we do. Even most of the teams that didn't make the playoffs have better assets than we do. New Jersey has Brook Lopez and Harris (and they had Vince which they used to get Lee). The Pacers have Granger. The Bucks have Redd. Toronto has Bosh, Calderon, Turk, and Derozan to boot. Washington has Arenas, Jamison, and Butler. Sacramento? They have Kevin Martin and now they also have Tyreke Evans. The damn Clippers even have better assets than we do. Oklahoma City has great young talent that can bring back a whole lot more than anything we can offer. Minnesota has Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, and hell Flynn is a decent asset. The Grizzlies have Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, and Hasheem. Golden State has Anthony Randolph, Monta Ellis, Biedrins, and now Curry. And finally, the Suns just happen to have Nash, Barbosa, and Amare (J-Rich isn't that bad of an asset either).

Look at all of the assets I just named on NON-PLAYOFF teams. When almost every non-playoff team has better assets than we do, how you can expect the world out of Donnie? I think Knicks fans just see other teams make deals and they get impatient. The truth is, our franchise is still in a pretty bad state. This isn't going to get better overnight. The only way this franchise can be turned around quickly is if Donnie scores big next off-season. And that is why everyone holds on to the hope that we get a Wade or LeBron. Our best asset right now is Wilson Chandler. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know. I'm not taking anything away from Wilson at all, but look at the names I mentioned above and see how Chandler stacks up against other teams' best assets.

Give Donnie some time. I think he's off to a pretty good start. Gallo, Hill, and even Douglas could all be good players in this league (and consequently, good assets). As far as the Mobley situation goes, I don't think you can grade Donnie on that yet because the truth is, he could still very well use that trading chip to bring in another player or pick.




[Edited by - s3231 on 07-10-2009 8:35 PM]

I think trading Q for Darko and buying a first round pick got the offseason off to a nice start. I don't think there was any chance that Kidd or Hill would sign with us. My advice is to have realistice expectations and not look for that big thrill that quickly passes on to be replaced by regret like the Craw, Curry, and Z trades. It was also nice not to have a season where a perennial malcontent, chemistry and team killer with a handcuffing contract was not acquired for cap space and unprotected first round picks or a potential star small forward.

Without really reading this thread I wish to just comment on the "boring offseason" and "even washed up vets ignored us" and "the 2010 plan is a failure fire Walsh" threads that permeate this forum today (why all at once today? Did I miss some epic shuffling of players that we missed out on?)

Just felt this was the best thread for all thoughts. Not really into replying to four simultaneous threads with the same theme.

.....

The plan is and continues to be about cap flexibility that coincides with the big FA market of 2010. Nothing more or less here it's business as usual.

As to Hill and Kidd and other veterans I don't really believe they are perceived to be saviors of a 34 win team but rather mentors to the youth we wish to retain 2010 and beyond.

I wouldn't look much in trying to acquire such players beyond a mentor role.

The fact they didn't sign shows they were still comfortable enough on their present teams to remain. Remember, these same free agents refused overtures from the top six true contending teams.

Posted by jimimou:

Posted by Allanfan20:

An impressive move was jimmimous post in this thread. I was impressed with that move and it had flash and excitement as well.

I appreciate the sentiment...

Ps: gettin allanfan'ed right now!

Commitment to the cause! Nice!

Posted by orangeblobman:

Posted by jimimou:

Posted by Allanfan20:

An impressive move was jimmimous post in this thread. I was impressed with that move and it had flash and excitement as well.

I appreciate the sentiment...

Ps: gettin allanfan'ed right now!

You're consuming alcohol at 12:46 pm on a Saturday? What is the cause?

He's got tattoos and lots of em... he's drinking malt liquor and collecting unemployment, draining the system, and not to mention jimimou is all about losing and not about winning

Posted by s3231:

Posted by TMS:

i think i've been very patient w/Donnie & am holding off on final judgement until he shows me what he can put together in 2010... but if u wanna start listing guys like Tyreke Evans, then we can include Jordan Hill & Gallo as assets at Donnie's disposal as well... he's got assets to make moves with now w/the young players, cap flexibility, expiring contracts, Mobley's insurance paid salary & both Lee & Nate as RFA's... if he can't make good use of those assets to put together a competitive team in 2010 then i think it's well w/in reason to start bashing him at that point.

TMS, I'm not saying he doesn't have assets, I just don't think he has good ones to work with (especially when you compare what he has to what other GMs have). I can't count how many times I've read other GMs quoted in articles as saying that we have nothing of value to work with. I listed Tyreke Evans because he was coveted by several teams in the draft (including us) and has more value than Hill and Gallo right now. He was the 4th pick in the draft, we don't have anything as valuable as that.

Nate and Lee used to be decent assets but right now, they aren't worth much because of that RFA status. Now, if we get Lee resigned to a reasonable deal, then maybe he becomes a good asset again. Nate right now isn't worth much and teams know that. If a team comes in and offers him more than 1 year for the MLE, Walsh probably doesn't even match.

Yes, we now have some cap flexibility and some young talent to work with. Donnie is the reason we have that though. He is slowly arming us with the assets we need to make a big splash. I agree with you on the notion that Walsh should be able to put together a competitive team by 2010. If he can't capitalize on the cap space next off-season, then his plan obviously was flawed. I just disagree with a lot of the fans who think Walsh is taking a nap right now while other teams are making moves to bring in top-tier talent.



[Edited by - s3231 on 07-11-2009 10:16 AM]

i'm with u on the being patient part... i was always under the impression that last year & this year were just gonna be throw away seasons getting ready for the 2010 FA blitz... Donnie's choice of Gallo is still under review & we haven't really seen enough of Gallo to say he's a busted pick or not... & i liked the Hill pick even tho i wanted Derozan there... i think Donnie's got a good plan & is putting it into action, but i do worry that he may have lost out on the opportunity to trade our best assets last year for future picks & increased cap flexibility... i hope i'm wrong... i do think guys like Harrington, Hughes & Mobley's contract are also pretty valuable assets to have right now at his disposal.

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by Bippity10:

Last year there was a buzz around Gallinari, yet there is no buzz around Hill or Douglas. Could that be because the buzz around Gallinari was negative and we prefer the bad stuff?

Last year was a deeper and better draft and Gallinari had higher expectations. I was always a Gallo fan so I'm not one of those people you are referring to.

Maybe. I don't remember too many people having high expectations of the guy. Maybe some of the cats that saw him in Europe but the majority of New Yorkers hated the pick and still do. Yet the buzz on this site was there for weeks before summer league. Yet with Hill and Douglas there is very little. We rather moan about the loss of Kidd and Hill, two vets that I wanted, but would not have made much difference here in terms of record.

I don't care about those guys, really. I care about how the franchise is perceived. We are being passed over by old ass players while offering more money. This means that our team cannot lure anyone here simply with money and "this is NYC". They're going to have to improve significantly on the court. Oh and Lebron or anyone wont come here unless we have enough cap space for 2 max deals. Nobody is coming here to play with Wilson Chandler.

That's what I mean no one cares about our own rookies, we only care about our failures.

Guy, we are a year removed from being one of the biggest embarrassments in the history of modern sports. I know you had expectations but your expectations are meaningless. As Bip said a year ago, it's going to be a tough ride and take a while to build this thing. But things can change. If Hill and Gallinari(two guys you dont' care about) turn into players worthy of being drafted 6 and 8 free agents look at us very differently. So maybe we should care about these guys.

Ny Fans really don't understand how far we had dropped.

[Edited by - bippity10 on 12-07-2009 09:35 AM]

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by Bippity10:

Last year there was a buzz around Gallinari, yet there is no buzz around Hill or Douglas. Could that be because the buzz around Gallinari was negative and we prefer the bad stuff?

Last year was a deeper and better draft and Gallinari had higher expectations. I was always a Gallo fan so I'm not one of those people you are referring to.

Maybe. I don't remember too many people having high expectations of the guy. Maybe some of the cats that saw him in Europe but the majority of New Yorkers hated the pick and still do. Yet the buzz on this site was there for weeks before summer league. Yet with Hill and Douglas there is very little. We rather moan about the loss of Kidd and Hill, two vets that I wanted, but would not have made much difference here in terms of record.

I don't care about those guys, really. I care about how the franchise is perceived. We are being passed over by old ass players while offering more money. This means that our team cannot lure anyone here simply with money and "this is NYC". They're going to have to improve significantly on the court. Oh and Lebron or anyone wont come here unless we have enough cap space for 2 max deals. Nobody is coming here to play with Wilson Chandler.

That's what I mean no one cares about our own rookies, we only care about our failures.

Guy, we are a year removed from being one of the biggest embarrassments in the history of modern sports. I know you had expectations but your expectations are meaningless. As Bip said a year ago, it's going to be a tough ride and take a while to build this thing. But things can change. If Hill and Gallinari(two guys you dont' care about) turn into players worthy of being drafted 6 and 8 free agents look at us very differently. So maybe we should care about these guys.

Ny Fans really don't understand how far we had dropped.

[Edited by - bippity10 on 12-07-2009 09:35 AM]

No. I don't care about Hill and Kidd. You have it all wrong.

That hill thing messed me up