Posted by Masterplan:

Posted by TMS:

i look at the trade like this:

Tim Thomas = complete & utter waste of space on this team & a disgrace to the Knicks' uniform... i wanted him out in the worst way imaginable

Mike Sweetney = highly overrated player by many on this forum that i never thought would grow into a dominant presence downlow for us... always struck me as a bit role player off the bench at best, & his defensive deficiencies were just as pronounced as Curry's also... you know i wasn't crazy about him being picked by Layden to begin with... wasn't unhappy at all that we traded him

#2 overall pick (Ty Thomas) = already stated i think Curry has bigger upside than Ty Thomas or anyone else we could have had at that spot last year, & that's including Gay, Morrison, Aldridge, Foye & everyone else

2 second rounders = didn't know that was part of the deal, but it is what it is... who knows what Isiah could have gotten w/those... could've worked out nice or could've been nothing to write home about too... he's a good judge of young talent, so i'm guessing he didn't think there were any great talents to be taken that low... i don't pass up on a Curry deal over haggling about 2 second round picks obviously.

in Eddy Curry, we finally have an exciting young player that literally dominates down low in the post... for the longest time people have been harping over the fact that the Knicks' biggest need was just that... he's 1 of the players on this team that really gives me hope for the future, & that's not something i've been able to say for a while... Curry, D Lee, Q Rich, Balkman & Jamal are guys i have no problem rooting for.

so it all comes down to whether or not the Knicks win the lottery & a chance at Oden (if he even comes out that is) for me... that will be the ultimate deciding factor, but as it looks now, i don't think we would have had a realistic shot at him to begin with.

[Edited by - TMS on 01-12-2007 11:45 AM]

you minimize each of those pieces we gave chicago one by one, but together do they add up to curry? ty thomas's D plus sweets' low post O plus someone this year (top-flight young PG?) plus a role player from one of the two 2nd rders. i think all that had the chance to give us a more complete team. i have more faith in IT drafting with those resources than banking in a marquee addition. but it's totally arguable.

I don't see things that way... you can package together 10 other inferior players if you like & say the combined package gives you more than Curry does by himself, but we all know that's not a realistic way to judge a trade... there are very few opportunities to get a young C like Curry who can dominate in the post unless u draft one yourself... so other than Oden (who again, I don't see how we would have had a legitimate shot at to begin with & who may not even opt to come out this year), i don't see how those players that we gave up add up to a better return than Curry does.

to build a legitimate team, you first need to get yourself that centerpiece & then build around that centerpiece... when Isiah came here, he took a gamble on Marbury being that centerpiece & he failed... now he's looking to build the team around Curry (or so it seems to me)... he now needs to focus on getting the right players to put around him that will take best advantage of his strengths & compensate his weaknesses... a shotblocking athletic F... a sharpshooting perimeter threat... a defensive orchestrator... these are the things he needs to focus on now... he already has his centerpiece, & so far he looks to be developing pretty nicely.

i don't think he could have gotten that centerpiece last season w/the #2 overall pick & a #6-10 pick in this year's draft... if we had both picks in THIS year's draft, then maybe he could have packaged them both to move up to #1 & a shot at Oden... then obviously i go that route... but it wasn't like that... i don't see a single centerpiece out of that package that the Knicks gave up to get Curry, & to me that's what makes me have no problem w/the trade... w/o Oden, i think the Knicks make out on that trade.

^^^ i guess it comes down to you considering curry that centerpiece. i love the strides he's made this season, but still think he's too limited to have that big an impact for us. i personally would go with the ensemble approach.