playa2 wrote:StarksEwing1 wrote:playa2 wrote:Nobody is denying taking draft choices and developing them isn't a good route, what I am saying is it won't happen under Dolan watch so just stop it !We are only going for proven vets, so what we should hope for is that we get guys who can still play the game the right way and launch us into a 1999 scenario.
This is James Dolans team, not fans on the Ultimateknicks site SMH, because some of you still don't get it.
True it is James Dolan's team...however the past 14 years have been a embarassment which shows how bad he is at going the "veteran route"
Do you remember the owner of the Clippers Mr Sterling, all he did was go for the young rookies for years and grabbed all the money he could. Those teams just became a farm system for other teams in the association looking for young talent.
YOu could not be further from the truth. Most of the talent he let go was not worthy of resigning. Look at most of the picks and determine if they were worth resigning to long term? They drafted bad, or made awful trades, or got unlucky with injuries!
Here is a sample from an old article:
Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers gave former general manager Elgin Baylor handfuls of opportunities to get it right in the first round during the draft lottery era, and he flopped almost every time.
In 1985, Benoit Benjamin was drafted 3rd overall (807 Games, 11.4 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.0 BPG, 1.3 APG),
Reggie Williams was drafted 4th overall in 1987 (599 Games, 12.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 SPG),
Charles Smith was drafted 3rd Overall in 1988 (564 Games, 14.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.4 BPG),
Bo Kimble was taken 8th overall in the 1990 NBA Draft (105 Games, 5.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG), LeRon Ellis was taken 22nd Overall in 1991 (91 Games, 3.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG),
Randy Woods was taken 16th in 1992 (151 Games, 2.4 PPG, 1.7 APG),
Terry Dehere was taken 13th in 1993 NBA Draft (402 Games, 8.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 1.5 RPG), Lamond Murray was taken 7th in 1994 (736 Games, 11.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.3 APG),
Lorenzen Wright was taken 7th overall in the famed 1996 NBA Draft (778 Games, 8.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG),
Maurice Taylor was taken 14th in 1997 (534 Games, 11.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.2 APG), Darius Miles was taken 3rd overall in 2000 (446 Games, 10.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 BPG),
Melvin Ely 12th overall in 2002 (343 Games, 5.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG),
Chris Kaman 6th overall in 2003 (385 Games, 10.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 1.2 APG),
Shaun Livingston 4th overall in 2004 (157 Games, 7.3 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.1 RPG), and Yaroslav Korolev was taken 12th in 2005 and hasn't played a minute in the NBA.
There are a few solid names and numbers, but year after year of opportunities to draft an above average player and the Clippers flopped all of them. In fact, the most respectable players drafted by the Clippers in the draft lottery era are Lamar Odom (1999), Tyson Chandler (2001) and Antonio McDyess (1995). Chandler and McDyess both had their rights traded to other squads before ever suiting up for the Clippers, and Odom didn't make it past four years with the Clippers. One glaringly bad selection is being saved for later in this countdown. God save Blake Griffin.
Danny Ferry, F, Los Angeles Clippers Drafted 2nd Overall in 1989 NBA Draft out of Duke University (917 Games, 7.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.3 APG) - Taken by the ill fated Clippers, Ferry refused to report to Los Angeles and after playing a year in Italy to protest, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers and given a very lucrative ten year guaranteed contract by Cleveland. The guy he was traded for? Ron Harper. A tremendous colliegate player with size and a shooting touch, Ferry was supposed to be a great player but hardly produced in Cleveland. He did, however, win a championship on the end of the bench for the 2003 San Antonio Spurs.
Michael Olowoakandi, C, Los Angeles Clippers drafted 1st Overall in 1998 NBA Draft out of University of Pacific (500 Games, 8.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG) - So big a bust that he deserves a slot all his own, seperated from the Clippers, Olowokandi is the worst of all of the draft blunders made by the doomed Los Angeles franchise. After only one solid season for the Pacific Tigers, Olowokandi was drafted to be the man in the middle of the future for the Clippers and rewarded them with mediocre production. He showed flashes of being a solid player, but once he signed to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Olowokandi hardly got off of the bench. Suffering through injuries his entire career, Olowokandi was drafted first overall in a draft that produced six different NBA All Stars in Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis.
So as you can see, many busts and bad trades add up. Sterling once he paid off his debts to own the team spent money. He told everyone this and now has a proper front office, coach and players. They made money and he was upfront about it. Don't get me wrong, Sterling is a scumbag.
