Knicks shopping for K-Mart

BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Larry Brown valued Kenyon Martin's defense and his tenacity when the former Net played for him during the Olympic qualifying tournament in 2003.

Based solely on those two weeks, Martin is a player Brown would love to add to the Knicks' front line. But there should also be a buyers beware label on Martin's resume. He hasn't fully recovered from a debilitating knee injury. Plus, without Jason Kidd throwing him lob passes, his production has slipped over the past two years in Denver.

There are also lingering questions regarding Martin's attitude in the wake of the Nuggets' suspension of the volatile power forward for Games 3, 4 & 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Clippers.

The Knicks pursued Martin before the February trading deadline but were reluctant to include rookie Channing Frye in any trade. There are also whispers around the league that Brown, who is a lifelong friend of George Karl, was having second thoughts about adding Martin because of the problems Martin was having with the Denver coach.

The Martin-Karl relationship hit a low point during halftime of Game 2 when the player got into a shouting match with his coach over playing time in full view of his teammates. Martin didn't play in the second half and was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the series, which ended with the Clippers advancing in five games. Martin's teammates supported Karl's decision.

On Tuesday, Martin did not attend a season-ending players meeting with Karl. Afterward, Karl said that he would like to speak with Martin but added that the six-year vet needs to get "mentally and physically healthy."

The Nuggets will look to trade Martin during the offseason and the Knicks and Heat have emerged as potential suitors. Denver, which desperately needs outside shooting, may be willing to take Quentin Richardson and Maurice Taylor's expiring contract in exchange for Martin, who is scheduled to earn a whopping $71.9 million over the next five years.

The Knicks wouldn't blink at such a hefty number, which is both a strength and a weakness of Garden chairman James Dolan. However, a defensive-minded power forward who competes on every possession is exactly the type of player Isiah Thomas would want to pair with Eddy Curry. Having Frye off the bench to back up Curry and Martin is another plus.

But the risks may outweigh the rewards. Martin had micro-fracture surgery on his left knee last May and hasn't fully recovered. He appeared in 56 games this season, averaging 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds. Allan Houston had similar surgery and was eventually forced to retire. Chris Webber hasn't been the same player since having micro-fracture surgery.

There are also obvious concerns about Martin's behavior. As a Net, Martin once cursed out a reporter in front of a child from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He was fined by the Nuggets earlier this season for cursing a heckler in Denver.

A more reasonable alternative to Martin could be Denver forward Reggie Evans, a tenacious rebounder and defensive player with limited offensive skills.

giving up q makes some type of cap sense - not in dollars but in years. i would try to force jerome on them also.

but man....again, this is just more of the same...

No quotes from Brown or Isiah state that the Knicks are interested. To me, not even Isiah and Larry are stupid enough to go for Martin.

The Marbs, Larry Brwon soap opera wasn't enoungh this past year, why can't the seasonist add KMart to the pot to get this show going for another year...

Seriously, although I hate the guy and questioned how he used the players on the team all season long, I never questioned his intelligence...If he is pursuing KMart after having a hand in the JRose and Franchise trades, be warned this will be a theme of mine this coming year....When I thought the season was over and it couldn't possibly get worse....

Posted by fishmike:

read it again
"Larry Brown valued Kenyon Martin's defense and his tenacity when the former Net played for him during the Olympic qualifying tournament in 2003."

Its not 2003 and LB and KArl are NC alum chums. If Karl hates KFart you can bet LB isnt going to want him

Just in case you haven't been paying attention to New York press the last few years...Where there is smoke, there is fire...These articles are coming out on a daily basis now...So what happens to Frye now...WTF!!!! This blind love all you guys have for Larry is just mind boggling..When Larry manages to banish all the young players from this team and leave this organization in shambles with old malcontents with really really bad contracts, I will make it my task to bury all you Larry lovers on a daily basis in this forum if Andrew and Martin allows to....

Posted by tomverve:

Not to mention the injuries, attitude, contract.

haven't you heard the knicks slogan? give us your injured, your attitudes, and your contract.

Posted by tomverve:

Posted by djsunyc:

haven't you heard the knicks slogan? give us your injured, your attitudes, and your contract.

I don't know that Isiah has yet acquired a player who is problematic on all 3 counts. But Martin is, in the worst ways possible-- potentially career threatening/dampening injury, max contract, suspended by his own coach in the middle of a playoff dogfight. And most of the time, while Isiah's deals have had their downsides in terms of contracts etc., they also have had their upsides in terms of asset values and/or roster context-- but we already have a couple of promising players at PF, and on the whole acquiring Martin would not preserve or improve the team's net assets, but detract from them. Basically, getting KMart would be as bad as most people say all of Isiah's previous trades have been.

Please don't twist this one...There is a cloud over Franchise and JRose trade...This is all Larry..Please don't twist it....

No, I'm not giving up nothing...You can't come here slanted...If we are all in agreement that Isiah will get Larry his players in the offseason, It time to get off Isiah's back for the trades in the offseason...Larry gets credit for the good signings and Isiah get credit for the bad...Thats how you like it huh?

Posted by tomverve:

Posted by djsunyc:

haven't you heard the knicks slogan? give us your injured, your attitudes, and your contract.

I don't know that Isiah has yet acquired a player who is problematic on all 3 counts. But Martin is, in the worst ways possible-- potentially career threatening/dampening injury, max contract, suspended by his own coach in the middle of a playoff dogfight. And most of the time, while Isiah's deals have had their downsides in terms of contracts etc., they also have had their upsides in terms of asset values and/or roster context-- but we already have a couple of promising players at PF, and on the whole acquiring Martin would not preserve or improve the team's net assets, but detract from them. Basically, getting KMart would be as bad as most people say all of Isiah's previous trades have been.

Indeed.

Posted by Killa4luv:

Jalen Rose trade wasn't bad, btw, we got a pick and he expires this year.

kmart...here we come!!!

Posted by holfresh:

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by holfresh:

No, I'm not giving up nothing...You can't come here slanted...If we are all in agreement that Isiah will get Larry his players in the offseason, It time to get off Isiah's back for the trades in the offseason...Larry gets credit for the good signings and Isiah get credit for the bad...Thats how you like it huh?

like i said before, if lb asked for francis, he's a douchebag. in fact, i think that post was bronzed by marv, killa, and eny.

but ultimately, isn't isiah the one that's supposed to say yes or no? otherwise, isiah has no plan and is doing what the coach tells him. or isiah is in agreement with lb and they both thought it was a good idea. isiah...is he castrated or still stupid?

however way you look at it, it's TWISTED, SLANTED, TIC TAC TOED, CONNECT FOURED, YAHTZEED, whatever...it sucks.

it's a simple equation:

fire isiah + trade steph = happy knicks fans throughout the world


[Edited by - djsunyc on 05-04-2006 3:40 PM]

Isiah had a plan before Larry was hired...He went after the best coach available and I don't fault him for that...You Knicks fan are now talking out both sides of your mouths..You want Isiah to fill the roster with players that Larry wants...But you want to blame Isiah when you don't like larry's choices...What gives....

i want a gm that knows what the fcuk he's doing.

a coach can bitch and moan all day long. but the gm should still decide what's best for the roster. like fish said earlier, you think van gundy wanted to trade oak for camby? hell no. but grunfeld did it anyway, and it was a good deal for us. same thing applies here. the gm and coach should have the same vision on how the team should play and should come to agreements on players but if the coach wants somebody and the gm doesn't, then the gm shouldn't go get him. he has the power to veto. but if the gm wants somebody and the coach doesn't, the gm has the power to go over him...b/c that's how the heirarchy of power works.

and if the coach doesn't want to do what the gm wants, then the gm has every right to fire the coach. so if lb really isn't doing what isiah envisioned, then isiah should fire him. but he knows he can't...and he put himself in that situation. is it fair or not? i don't know, and i don't care b/c i wasn't too thrilled about things before lb got here either. bringing in somebody as volatile and hard ass as lb just brought this volcano to an eruption.

i never advocated lb to be gm. no coach should have total autonomy of the roster. but here, we have ZERO trust in zeke to get it done. so what the fcuk do we do now? that's why i'm such a stuanch advocate of removing zeke and letting somebody else make the decisions.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 05-04-2006 4:03 PM]