The Knicks Report: Knicks Questions and Answers
By Alex Labidou
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jun 26, 2005, 12:04

What a busy week it has been for Knicks fans. A draft promise has been made to Channing Frye, the Knicks are dealing for Quentin Richardson; things are starting to heat up for Knicks fans. I have been reading the Knicks message board on our website, and have decided to answer questions that I thought needed some detailed explanations. Before I continue, if everything goes to plan, this could be the possible Knicks starting five.

PG-Marbury
SG-Crawford
SF-Richardson
PF-Sweetney
C-Frye

Now lets get to the questions!

What is Isiah Thomas thinking with the deal for Quentin Richardson, why has he made the smallest team in the league a lot smaller?

In my opinion, I personally think that Isiah is taking the route that his former backcourt buddy Joe Dumars has. We can talk on and on about what has transpired in the past but what Isiah is doing is stockpiling pieces and first round draft picks. Over the next two seasons, the Knicks will (if the Richardson deal goes down) have 5 first round draft picks to work with. In addition, the Knicks have been talking about dealing Kurt Thomas for the past three seasons and each time, the deals have always fallen through. Point being is the Knicks don't see him as their fixture in the paint, if they did he wouldn't be traded. While most people have criticized Quentin Richardson for his playoff performances, people have to remember he played for the Clippers for 4 seasons. He has never dealt with pressure situations before. I think in making the deal for Q-Rich (if healthy), Isiah wants to take advantage of Q-Rich's skills in the post. It was just a season ago, when Quentin Richardson had a game of 30 points and 20 rebounds (a fantasy player's wet dream). While initially this deal makes the Knicks smaller, the Knicks have 4 other power forwards in Sweetney, Rose, Williams and Taylor. Sweetney was taken with the 9th pick of the NBA draft, he is the only person taken with the first nine picks who hasn't been a full time starter on their team. The Knicks need to see if he can be a decent starter for them. If not, in a size starved NBA, other teams will be willing to trade to gain more size in their frontcourt. A deal in my mind that compares to the Q-Rich for Kurt Thomas trade was the Pistons trading Jerome Williams for Corliss Williamson. At the time the Pistons were questioned for trading a fan favorite and taller player for horribly inconsistent Williamson. But Williamson provided what the Pistons needed, and that's the risk that sometimes GM need to take in order to win titles. It took 4 seasons of adding players who were all deemed inconsistent for the Pistons to finally win a title. With each deal the Pistons were questioned, now Joe Dumars is considered a genius. I was one of the many who questioned why Dumars traded away Jerry Stackhouse (at the time an all star great all around player) for Richard Hamilton (who had only a mid range game). Ultimately a good GM knows that it takes bringing the pieces together and then worrying about the spare parts. Kurt Thomas is a good veteran forward, which is exactly what the Suns need, but he doesn't fit the vision Isiah has for the Knicks. The fact that he was able to pawn away a first round pick and Q Rich for Kurt, when just a season ago a first pick would have been acceptable, shows how shrewd he can be. It would be foolish to think the Knicks will not try to upgrade their frontline, and with the expiring contracts and first round draft picks: the Knicks finally have the assets to do it.

Expiring contracts are overrated, last season both Atlanta and Portland had expiring contracts. They both didn't anything significant to upgrade their rosters, so why should we expect the Knicks to?

The Portland TrailBlazers could have made some deals but they raised the value of Shareef way too high. At one point, they were very close to acquiring Vince Carter but they didn't want to take on Jalen Rose's salary as well. In terms of Antoine Walker, his value was at a all time low when the Celtics made the deal. Expiring contracts alone can be a double edged sword. Remember last season, Baron Davis was acquired for Dale Davis (which was an expiring contract). However expiring contracts and first round draft picks can get you superstars sometimes. If say Utah, Boston, Lakers, or Minnesota get off to disappointing starts, players such as Carlos Boozer, Lamar Odom, Paul Pierce and even Kevin Garnett might be available for the combination of draft picks and expiring contracts. So while an expiring contract alone might not be enough, a team looking for a new beginning would benefit from having acquired a couple of first round picks.

Isiah Thomas is no different from Scott Layden!

Hmmm when Scott Layden was the GM of the Knicks, their most tradable asset was Latrell Sprewell. He also gave long term deals to veterans who weren't dominant like Clearance Weatherspoon, Shannon Anderson, and Howard Eisley. He stuck by the Don Chaney as the Knicks missed the playoffs for 2 straight seasons, and made the Knicks literally an snooze fest team to even the most die hard Knicks fans. While Isiah Thomas has his bumps on the road (Maurice Taylor and Vin Baker), Isiah also made the Knicks one of the leagues most desirable places to play again. He brought a style of entertaining basketball to the Garden again. While the wins haven't been there yet, Isiah has done something that his predecessor could never do: supply the Knicks with assets. The Knicks have 5 first round draft picks, 30 million in expiring contracts (Tim Thomas and Penny Hardaway), intriguing options in Sweetney, Marbury (who still has some value), Crawford, and Ariza. If the Kurt Thomas deal proves anything, its that anyone in the league can be dealt in the right circumstances (with the exception of Tariq Abdul-Wahad).

Why does Isiah Thomas see inconsistent Jamal Crawford as one of his few untouchable players?

You are right that Isiah's last wish is to trade Crawford but that might not be a bad thing. As I've said before if put at the one with another decent ball handler/defender as well, Crawford could be an borderline all-star at the point. He'll never be a great defender but he has a natural advantage over smaller guards at the point. In addition, the fact that Crawford can play both guard positions is valuable to Isiah if he decides to deal Marbury.

Why deal Marbury, he could possibly lead us to the promise land?

While I disagree with Marbury individually leading us to the promised land, if under the right coach (a strong willed coach like McMillan, Bill Laimbeer, Larry Brown or PJ Carlisemo) I think Marbury can be an All Star version of Chauncey Billups. It was only a couple of years ago when people called Billups a loser who just makes stupid mistakes on the court. All it takes is the right coach to motivate Marbury and turn Marbury can be a force in this league. I would be concerned if the Knicks hired a player friendly type of coach though. If Marbury has the right pieces around him like a good 3 point shooter and an athletic power forward or center, the league better watch out.

Can Kwame Brown be acquired for the mid-level exception? If not how can he be acquired and if he cant be, who else can the Knicks go after?

I don't think the Wizards hate Brown enough to let him go for free with just a Mid Level, he is a restricted agent. The Bulls didn't want to resign Crawford but they still knew that they better get something out of losing Crawford. I think if anything happens, they'll package Hardaway and a draft pick or 2 to acquire him. Brown and Frye in the same frontcourt could be the athletic front court the Knicks need. In terms of other options, I think there are so many available parts out there. Look at how the new CBA rule makes long term deals expendable. Who knows how much free agency is going to change because of this? You might have players like Finley, Brown, Blount, Ratliff all available for the Veterans minimum or Mid Level exception.

Hopefully Isiah doesn't disappoint on Tuesday, as it should be a very exciting week for Knicks fans. Be sure to watch the draft to find out.

Talk about being overly optimistic.

I thought he was pretty sane.

How was this article overly optimistic? I think this article was a fair and even-handed evaluation of what Isiah has done, but more importantly can do in the next year or two.

What? It's optimistic to say that draft picks and expiring deals are better assets to trade than Spoon, Eisley and Shandon? Did I miss something?

I thought this was a really interesting read...

Posted by crzymdups:

How was this article overly optimistic? I think this article was a fair and even-handed evaluation of what Isiah has done, but more importantly can do in the next year or two.

What? It's optimistic to say that draft picks and expiring deals are better assets to trade than Spoon, Eisley and Shandon? Did I miss something?

I thought this was a really interesting read...

Me too.