He needs to admit to past mistakes, accept whatever criticism comes his way, and do what's in the long-term interests of the team. It's easy for me to say that when my job isn't on the line obviously but here's what I have in mind.

(a) buyout Jerome James. Even if you don't care about the salary, he is not worth a roster spot that could go to Woods, Butler, or one of our first round draft picks.

(b) At least explore the possibility of trading Curry. Frye is a finesse PF and we need a tougher team. Curry's defense and instincts are poor. He certainly won't get back nearly as much as he gave up to get Curry, but the smart move going forward is to get a tough player who will help the team more than Curry will. Maybe it's Dalembert or trading Curry to a team like Atlanta (which needs to meet the league's minimum payroll requirement) along with something to sweeten the deal for their 1st rd pick. The team will win more games if they do this IMO and Isiah will have the last word with the media by focusing on the improved win total.

(c) Trade Marbury AND Francis. Neither is the kind of player I want on my team. They don't play hard defense and both have a lot of baggage. Again, Isiah won't get back as much as he gave up for Marbury, but see Curry comments for my view on this issue. I still think Minny and some other teams would give up something valuable to get him. Regarding Francis, we saw what little trade value he has now. I'm not saying we have to trade him this offseason, but once he has a strong stretch, Isiah should see if he has any trade value. I suspect he'd have some after a strong stretch to a team looking for a player that will put them over the top.

[Edited by - Bonn1997 on 03-25-2006 5:42 PM]

Just to add to this--some more things Isiah should do:

If we're not planning to get under the cap, then move Rose and Mo Taylor this offeason in deals where we take back salary and move up in the draft or get good young players. BUT make sure the salary we take back is on players who are worthy of roster spots. They can be severely overpaid players but they need to be able to contribute on both ends of the court or at least have the right attitude. I'm talking about guys like Malik Rose and JYD. Theo Ratliff might be another example. No more Mo Taylors, Penny Hardaways, or Jerome James.

I do think you'd get something valuable back for Curry; just not as much as we gave up. I understand what you're saying about Frye. He has much more trade value than Curry. I would prefer to trade Curry because I think he's soft and lazy and doesn't have a winning attitude. Even if we traded Frye for a tougher, shot-blocking PF, I'd still want to trade Curry because I want all the key players on the team to be hard workers who care about winning.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Just to add to this--some more things Isiah should do:

If we're not planning to get under the cap, then move Rose and Mo Taylor this offeason in deals where we take back salary and move up in the draft or get good young players. BUT make sure the salary we take back is on players who are worthy of roster spots. They can be severely overpaid players but they need to be able to contribute on both ends of the court or at least have the right attitude. I'm talking about guys like Malik Rose and JYD. Theo Ratliff might be another example. No more Mo Taylors, Penny Hardaways, or Jerome James.

Easier said than done. Its akin to selling low an buying high. And your not suggesting what can be returned.

And you not clear as how you pawn off these high salaries and how many players you'd have to recieve to make it work.

trade Marbury & i guarantee alot of the chemistry problems will be solved... but you'll have to bring in at least 2 guys who play defense all the time in order to fix the lack of defense this team has displayed the entire season.

completely agree on parts 1, 2, and 3.


buying out james is easy enough.

trading curry, well, is easy -- but selling low is stupid. i'd say hold off on that for now.

getting rid of marbs AND francis would be almost impossible, but i def. expect 1 of them to be gone by the end of the summer.

Posted by Nalod:

Funny, this team could have really used Shandon this year.

And we paid him anyway.

Knicks are a funny bunch.

we're paying for two shandon's.