Rembee: Let me preface my remarks by saying thank you for having a rational conversation about this. Agree or disagre I appreciate your points.
Now here are all the areas where you are wrong
1.) Walsh is on record as saying that after #1 there was not much difference between the top picks and those you'd get further down the draft. He felt you could get a good player in the teens as well. Whether you and I agree with him is irrelevant. This is what he felt so he was not concerned with trading to lose more games. His thought(because he said it) was to earn a playoff spot and try to change the culture here. Get rid of the sting of losing and let the young guys experience success. It appears that your definition of "building through the draft" is different than mine. To you, it's lose games and get a higher pick. To me, it's use the draft as a tool for improvement. Whether that is to pick wisely or trade for quality it really doesn't matter. There is no formula to winning. What I do know is that he used a lottery pick two straight years and traded for a 2nd first rounder this year, so despite all the trades he still is appears to be using the draft. The only thing he did not do was tank.
2.)the only players that have somewhat of a guarantee of being part of the long-term plans is Gallo and Chandler(and by virtue of being new, Hill and Douglas). That has not only been implied it has also been said by Walsh. It is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that this team is chandler's and Gallo's. Whether they choose to take it, is up to them. It is there team.
3.) When you rebuild why is it a requirement to find someone that isn't the highest paid? You still haven't answered the question. If Phil Jackson decided he wanted to coach here over the last summer do we turn him down because his salary will be high?.......... Do you hear D'Antoni complaining? Everytime I hear him he seems to be on the same page as Walsh. So what's the problem? Walsh has been 100% up front with us about his plan, do you think he lied to D'Antoni? There was no mystery in NY. It was going to take time to rebuild this thing. No coach was coming in thinking differently. It only seems to be the fans that think we can improve this thing overnight.
4.) I think in NY part of the problem is we clamor for winning year over year. If we stunk last year, than go out and get someone that makes us better this year. But in reality when you rebuild it's not that simple. That's what Isiah tried to do. To truly rebuild you map out a long-term plan. You then guide yourself in that direction. Opportunities will come up that may make you alter your plan or they may not. To be successful you have to always think about the long-term. I have no doubt that without a pick this year Walsh wanted to improve the team this year. But I also have no doubt that he was not willing to sacrifice a long-term true chance at success to bog down the salary cap again. Why do I know this, because he has told us this. I'm okay with that. I wanted to make a move that made us better this year. He-ll yeah I did. But I'm also aware of the situation Laymas put us in and realize that this will be a tough go.
Regardless of how little Walsh did this summer, if you pull back and look at the big picture: 2 lottery picks, 2-4 recent first rounders and ending contracts galore I'm still not sure what the issue is. It's the anti Laymas situation.
[Edited by - bippity10 on 15-09-2009 3:43 PM]
9/15/2009 7:36 PM