|
djsunyc
Posts: 44929
Alba Posts: 42
Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
|
Steve Popper
Knicks stake their claim on draft night
Jun 29, 2005
Whether the Knicks were the perennial contender that they were for more than a decade or the struggling lottery team that they have been in three of the last four years, there was one constant.
The Knicks have been strangled by the salary cap, spending at a rate among the most extravagant teams in the NBA. And with the cap in place, the Knicks have been limited in what they could do to change their team, needing to gamble on high-priced players picked up from other teams and usually explaining away the added payroll for years to come.
But the only way around that is a once-a-year free for all. And Tuesday night, the Knicks staked their claim to a new direction. On draft night, there is no salary cap – if you’ve got the pick, you’ve got the player.
The Knicks got the big man they needed, picking up Arizona’s Channing Frye with the No. 8 overall pick. Then, the Knicks got the No. 21 selection from the Phoenix Suns – a part of the deal that sends out Kurt Thomas and brings Quentin Richardson to New York.
With that pick, the Knicks got a backup point guard in undersized, but super-touch point guard Nate Robinson. And at No. 30, the Knicks finished off their first-round restructuring of the franchise by plucking Florida’s hard-working senior David Lee. A final piece of the evening came when the Knicks used their second round pick at No. 54 on Dijon Thompson – the player who essentially took Trevor Ariza’s place at UCLA and is another long, lean swingman.
The Knicks didn’t have to go on a spending spree to reshape their roster. The three players, all sporting guaranteed contracts, along with Richardson, will add athleticism to the team, dramatically changing the face of the franchise.
“We are excited to be able to add Channing Frye to the Knicks,” Isiah Thomas said in a statement after the No. 8 pick. “We knew that we needed to add size to our team once the summer started – that is exactly what we did. Everything this team needs, he brings to the table. It is a great first step for what we think will be a productive summer and a good night for us.”
If Allan Houston is gone before the season starts, coupled with the departure of Kurt Thomas, it will mark a complete makeover of the Knicks from just a few years ago. The plodding teams of the past have been reborn into a team that aspires to run and gun like the Phoenix Suns did this season.
How it will all fit together is for whoever is coaching the team to figure out, but it is without question that this team is far different than the team that limped through the 2004-05 season.
If you wanted to feel the pulse of the new team all you had to do was listen to Frye.
“With the tools and the veterans that we have here we can definitely get a winning team here in New York,” said Frye, who was born just a short jump shot from the Knicks training site in Westchester. “I feel like I can definitely contribute. I’m not going to make any promises except for this one – I know that every night I’m going to give you my heart and soul and give it all I have. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, playing in the Mecca of basketball, and to take that for granted would be a real slap in the face.
Richardson is ready to join the changing face of the Knicks. (AP)
“I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him yet, but I feel like his expectations are that he wants a winning team and that’s fine with me. If he wants me to stay in the gym, I’ll set up a cot. I’ll shoot free throws at 2 in the morning. I’m being dead serious. I like winning. Winning feels good and I think the city needs to start winning.”
It is a good indication that Thomas thinks so, too, in his decision to grab Frye and Robinson, well established college stars. When the Knicks first pick came up, a number of intriguing prospects were still on the board – Gerald Green, who has been compared to Tracy McGrady and might be the best athlete in the draft; Danny Granger, a dangerous small forward; and Andrew Bynum, a high schooler who has the size of Shaq and skills and smarts that don’t come along often.
If the Knicks were planning for years from now, maybe Thomas would have taken a shot at Bynum or Green. But instead, he went for the ready to contribute and as close to sure things in the draft. The Knicks needed size, no question about that. But they needed a makeover in attitude and exuberance, too, and they got that in all three players.
Frye didn’t care how he got there – just that he did.
“Whoo man, my emotions,” he said. “I was sweating so hard. When Charlie Villanueva went to Toronto my whole family started standing up and cheering. I felt like there was a 99.9 percent chance they were going to take me. You kind of know you’re going to go there but until they say your name, there’s a rush of emotion.
“There’s not really words to describe how happy I am right now. It’s just a blessing. It’s an opportunity that I need to take advantage of every single day I go out there on the floor. I think that the pressure from Isiah Thomas and the Knicks organization is not as much as I put on myself, no matter what role I’m playing, whether I’m coming off the bench or I’m starting I’m going to give it my all and try to help this team win.”
|
6/29/2005 3:33 PM