nyknickzingis wrote:If you look back at all the criticism Phil got for trading Chandler even, it all had a purpose. He knew Tyson's defensive impact but wanted a guy in Calderon who would help team chemistry and improve ball movement. He wanted to sign a younger Center to a contract as Tyson would be getting another massive contract within a year. You look at Tyson Chandler right now in Pheonix, does anyone want that guy in New York making as much as he is? RLopez + Calderon > Tyson. And if we keep Tyson we likely win more games last year and don't get ourselves in position to draft someone like Porzingis.

Then you look at the Jr Smith and Shump deal to the Cavs, it brought us Lance Thomas and it opened up more capspace. Galloway got more playing time and has become a decent investment.

Even the Hardaway deal for a young draft pick in Grant - something to balance the roster and give potential for the future.

We've gone from being an old, declining, no defense, me first selfish playing team that was missing the playoffs (when Phil got the team in summer 2014 that's what we were) into a younger, improving, defending, sharing team that's playing .500 ball with potential to keep improving through improvement of younger players like Porzingis, Williams, Thomas, Galloway and Grant. And somehow along the way we've got Melo to buy in to playing team ball while he has NO all-star teammates (Porzingis is close, but not there yet). Melo wasn't playing team ball like this when he had great teammates in Denver or early days in NY. Yet he is now with lesser talent than those situations.

Truly remarkable what's going on in NY. All while the most important aspect of improving outside of Porzingis improvement as a player is that Phil has lined up capspace in 2016 and 2017. We're in position to pursue some top quality all-star free agents, or keep signing quality proven veteran support players. There can still be massive improvement with free agent additions, and Porzingis (Grant, DWill, Thomas, Galloway as well) improving in the next 1-2 years.

He won't win it, but he should be in line for executive of the year for the job he's done. He's completely re-structured NY Knicks basketball into something cohesive and that looks respectable.

Now, because the Aldridge gamble didn’t pay off, the young Suns squad is stuck with a 33-year-old Chandler on a four-year contract worth $52 million.

This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if Chandler was contributing at a high level, but he has struggled mightily early in his stint with the Suns. As of this writing, Chandler is averaging 5.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and .6 blocks – the worst stat line of his 15-year NBA career.

While hindsight is 20/20, it’s not like this is a huge surprise given Chandler’s age and the fact that he has always played his best basketball in contract years and then come back down to earth shortly after.

The fit is also strange, since Phoenix is still trying to develop Alex Len into their center of the future. Because of this, Chandler has come off of the bench for a number of games and he’s playing just 22 minutes per game.

In other words, Chandler hasn’t been the big offseason acquisition that Phoenix hoped they were landing. If anything, he has been a shell of his former self and is drastically overpaid since he’s making $13,000,000 this season.

Rather than taking Phoenix to the next level in the Western Conference, the team has struggled mightily. They are currently 13-26 (worse than last year), which puts them in 12th place in the Western Conference. After entering the year with playoff expectations, now it seems Phoenix’s best strategy may be trading off their veterans and taking a step back in their rebuilding plan.

There’s no question that Chandler has been a disappointment on the court and the fact that he’s owed so much money for three more seasons after this one makes him, in my opinion, one of the worst free agent signings of the summer.

– Alex Kennedy

Nalod wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:

Nalod wrote:"Thank God for a roster minus: Amare, JR, and Shump"

Don't thank God, Thank Phil!!!!
Soon you'll have to man up, suck it and thank Fish too!!!!!

A man creates his own luck.

Rest assured that I will once I see consistent improvement. I ain't to proud to apologize if I am wrong. Are you???

I hope you remember Why I criticise Fisher

Cuz your consistent.

I am very consistent. Can't you that once he settled on a 9 to 10 men rotation I backed off from criticizing him????