Panos wrote:Funny, I remember being so excited to draft Lampe who was slotted #5 in some predraft predictions at #30, thinking he was going to be a steal.
He stole alright.  Par for the course for that era.  Hated Tim Thomas.  Both times.  Soft ass punk.  He was the anti-Knick.  6'10" and couldn't grab a rebound. 
He was the Anthony Randolf before Rokus J was Andy Rautins.
Early 2000’s the nba and media were absolutely beyond desperate to find the next Dirk.  The next big Eurostar that would put asses in seats and eyes on the tv in the post-Michael era.  Michael even came back 2 years and couldn’t get enough votes to start in the all star game because his fans in the 90’s were a bunch of goofy frontrunners.
That’s why Darko was drafted over Carmelo, Pavel Podkolzin was hyped up for a workout in which he played HORSE with his agent, and this piece of crap Lampe Knicks fans got sold was the unicorn.
All the knicks had to do was nothing.  Let Ewing’s contract expire, draft Amare and keep Camby and/or tank the 2003 draft when it was obvious to everyone with eyes that it was going to be the greatest draft ever if you had a top 5 pick.  FML