New York Knicks

Losses: Kurt Thomas (Suns), Jerome Williams (retirement)

Gains: Quentin Richardson (Suns), Channing Frye (draft), David Lee (draft), Nate Robinson (draft), Jerome James (free agent), Larry Brown (free agent -- sort of)

Offseason goals: Try to dump any number of the onerous contracts they've accrued, find a coach.

What really happened: For better (2005-06 and '06-07 seasons), or worse ('07-0, they found a damn good coach in Brown. His presence alone with the clipboard will mean an improvement on last year's 33-49 record. The initial complaint behind a deal that sent Thomas to the Phoenix Suns for Richardson was that GM Isiah Thomas should have gotten a little more for KT, and when Richardson's back injuries nearly jeopardized the trade, Thomas sweated the Suns into throwing dynamo rookie Nate Robinson into the deal. Thomas also presided over a solid draft -- his second in a row -- finding center Frye and power forward Lee in the first round. That said, he nearly mitigated a brilliant June by throwing $30 million at worthless big man Jerome James, and waiving the soon-to-retire Jerome Williams instead of Malik Rose or Allan Houston.


The Knicks are convinced Houston will soon take the Junk Yard Dog route and call it a day (with insurance picking up the rest of his deal), but as recently as Aug. 15, he told a New York paper, "I'm not going to retire, it's like people still don't know. I'm not going to retire. I'm still going to play."

Outlook: Brown has made a career out of turning lemons into a hearty beef stew, which should help the Knicks approach .500, but holes on the roster and discrepancies in the philosophy between Brown and Thomas will keep New York from building any lasting contender.

Thomas sweated the Suns into throwing dynamo rookie Nate Robinson into the deal. Thomas also presided over a solid draft -- his second in a row -- finding center Frye and power forward Lee in the first round. That said, he nearly mitigated a brilliant June by throwing $30 million at worthless big man Jerome James, and waiving the soon-to-retire Jerome Williams instead of Malik Rose or Allan Houston.

who's the author of this cheese??? fishmike? I love it when someone agrees with me... it tells me all the little voices arent ALL telling me lies.

Everyone has got their own opinion, but this is about the 5th person from a major media site to say exactly what I have been saying. We had a very solid draft (if not a great draft). Getting Q/Nate for 32 year old KT was equally solid. Getting LB was a coup. Now sure he comes with baggage but if the LB thing totally blows up it doesnt change that fact that it was a great move when it happened (how I feel about the Magic getting Grant Hill).
To bad those 2 junk moves are hanging over our heads. I just hope they dont hurt, but its the same hope I have that Frye is the next Tim Duncan. Mostly just hope.

Posted by Bonn1997:

[quote]Posted by fishmike:

[quote] The bold part is factually wrong. There was no "soon-to-retire Jerome Williams"; he's said clearly that he wouldn't have retired if he hadn't been waived. Using the clause on Rose would have been awful. We'd be losing 2 veteran PFs--one to injury until/if he got healthy (JYD) and one to the amnesty clause (Rose). This writer should pay closer attention if he's gonna write about the Knicks

I agree with you 100%. JYD would have stayed if not cut. Rose is solid and can add something positive . Just alot of pf's. They believe that houston will either come back and be a factor or he will retire. still like the JJ move and i guess time will tell.