Posted by Silverfuel:


I really dont think we should've taken a chance on this guy. He reminds me too much of TT. All the potential, no motivation. I am happy we didnt get him.

What other Cs would they be able to get with such a high ceiling? True, he is a boom/bust proposition, but James is a dog, and the Knicks are giving him a five year contract. He could be like TT too.

Posted by Rich:

Posted by Silverfuel:

I really dont think we should've taken a chance on this guy. He reminds me too much of TT. All the potential, no motivation. I am happy we didnt get him.

What other Cs would they be able to get with such a high ceiling? True, he is a boom/bust proposition, but James is a dog, and the Knicks are giving him a five year contract. He could be like TT too.

Dude, you are absolutely right. There is a very good chance JJ turns into a bum too. But Washington got a better offer for Kwame (Butler is better than Q) than what the Knicks could give them, so they took that offer. I dont like Kwame because he underachieves. The Knicks have rarely been able to motivate underachievers so I dont think Kwame would be very different. I think the potential thing is kinda scary cause we tend to forget that he doesnt play very hard.

It's obvious Isiah's still trying to both win now (at least enough to make it to the playoffs) and get young, talented players to go deep in the playoffs in the long-term. That's been his plan from the beginning and he's consistently followed that plan, which means getting veterans who can help you now and young players who can help you in the long-term and maybe short-term as well. I don't see any contradiction. Am I thrilled about the James signing? No. I think he'll be a respectable role player. I wouldn't have signed him unless I was convinced that I could not get Stro or Kwame for the MLE.

It's funny how some people say they don't want James nor Kwame and then when we get James it's like "WE SHOULD OF GOT KWAME!" Oh boy, here we go again.

We had no center on our roster period. Not that could play for any extended period of time. That's a fact

LASTLY, WHEN WILL PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THE OWNER OF THE KNICKS WANT THEM TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS NO MATTER WHAT? WHEN WILL THIS GET THROUGH PEOPLE'S THICK SKULLS? ISAIH THOMAS HAS BROUGHT IN AS MANY YOUNG PLAYERS AS HE POSSIBILY COULD UNDER THESE REGULATIONS.

It's really not that hard to understand why we got about 6 or 7 players who are under 25 but then we get players who have playoffs experience as veterans. It's truly not rocket science. You may not like it, but it makes perfect sense if Dolan is the prez.

Posted by Allanfan20:

To me, this the Jerome James signing just adds to the cake. He is constantly saying that he wants young and athletic players, but he goes after old guys who just hinder the future.

Then, he said something close to "We got the big names making the big dollars, but they aren't having the big games anymore." So you're gonna sign a crappy name and give him big dollars instead?

What is the plan? What is his plan for the frontcourt? We need an absolute star frontcort player for now and the longrun not named Antoine Walker. What if Frye doesn't pan out? This is the way I see it. Isiah Thomas is being extremely careless right now.

I wasn't a big fan of signing Kwame to start, b/c I didn't think NY would be good for him, however, having him is looking mighty swell compared to Jerome.

The plan is to get someone, anyone, who is a center, to take the midlevel exception to help hold down the fort until Frye is ready. What, you think that we can get anyone else for Sign & Trade or the mid-level that is 7 feet tall? No.

James, at the midlevel exception even for 5 years, is a bargain. James is about as good as Nazr, for the same (or less) money, James is bigger, has a higher ceiling than Nazr, and equally as tradeable to a contender.

If San Antone gave up 2 first rounders (yes, the last picks in this years and next years terrible draft) for Nazr, imagine what we will get for James. Plus James will be the starting center for NY. Every year a playoff bound team will need a Center and we can always trade a 7 footer making 5 mil a year. Look at the other contracts loaf 7 footers have gotten this year and in the past. They were huge.

Please. Who would you have preferred we get? Stromile Swift? Then everyone would have complained that Stromile is only 6-9... we have a glut at PF already... stromile is not an intelligent player... yada yada.

IT locked up a TRUE center for the midlevel exception. The guy is not a super stud, but he's serviceable. For even 15-20 minutes a game, for the midlevel, he's fine. Better than Rasho Nesterovic I would say...

Posted by Bonn1997:

if Isiah wanted to get bigger & more physical, then signing James makes some sense...but then they should have kept KT as well, & traded Crawford for Q

What? Why would Suns consider paying $50 mil to Crawford who is inferior to Q, whom they would have owed $39 mil?

whatever dude...the point is you make moves that follow along a line of thinking...being CONSISTENT...all the contradictory moves Isiah's made that don't follow along w/that vaunted plan of getting younger & more athletic is the frustrating part of it.

Posted by Allanfan20:

I wasn't a big fan of signing Kwame to start, b/c I didn't think NY would be good for him, however, having him is looking mighty swell compared to Jerome.

maybe, but i dont think we really had a shot at kwame, and there is really no one else to get.

The James signing is a contradiction only if you assume getting younger and more athletic means that *every* player on the team has to be young and athletic and there can be no veteran role players

Exactly right!

Posted by Ira:

The James signing is a contradiction only if you assume getting younger and more athletic means that *every* player on the team has to be young and athletic and there can be no veteran role players

Exactly right!

what, you want to be the baby bulls and lose for the next 5 yrs? you need some players with experience on your team.

Posted by TMS:

JYD = veteran role player who fits into the style of play Isiah is looking to achieve

Jerome James, Malik Rose, Mo Taylor, Vin Baker, KT (signed to an extension) = veteran role players who do not fit into the style of play Isiah is looking to achieve

i wonder why i feel that Isiah's been inconsistent in his plan.

I assume Malik Rose was obtained just to get 2 draft picks, not because he was actually a part of the plan and Baker was a part of the Crawford deal implicitly. So you can cross those two off the list. Kt's extension allowed us to get Nate and Q. I don't think Isiah ever intended to keep Kurt for the length of his contract. I think he extended him so that he could find the right time to trade him for young and athletic players like Q and Nate. The Mo Taylor is the one move that apparently doesn't fit with the plan. I don't expect a GM to be perfect, and I think that trade was a mistake. Jerome James can at least be a nice role player at C for 20 mpg. I don't see why that doesn't fit in with Isiah's plan.

People who come back with an argument that rebuilding makes you loose for 5 years, wake up!

HE ALREADY LOST FOR 3 STRAIGHT YEARS!

If we rebuilt like any team should, we would have had only 2 years or so left of sucking at this point, instead of infinitiy!