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BlueSeats
Posts: 27272
Alba Posts: 41
Joined: 11/6/2005
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Kosmovitelli is premier realgm poster.
A typical Isiah trade
I came here this morning knowing already what I would read on this board.
I knew this trade :
- would be hailed by Isiah’s fans who seem to show unconditional love for their hero no matter what he does
- would be criticized by the doubters who don’t think Isiah’s the right man for the job
After opening a few threads and reading some of the posts, it seems I was right with my expectations of what the reactions would be.
It’s indeed a typical Isiah trade. It has Isiah written all over it :
- traded unwanted parts for better talent
- traded shorter contracts for longer contracts
- traded for a disgruntled player with baggage and a bloated contract
- made the trade like he was assembling a fantasy team or playing NBA Live on PS3
- pulled the trigger on the trade without any regards for the salary cap situation of the team
Where exactly should I start ?
First, I will point out that we know now where we are going : nowhere.
The LB saga ended one year ago with Jimmy Dolan, for the first time ever, putting budget restrictions and the sword of Damocles over Isiah’s head. Isiah made another blunder (signing Jared Jeffries for the full MLE and 5 years) but he spent 16 months without making any trade. This allowed the team to drop $50M off the payroll and say goodbye to the contracts of Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor, Shandon Anderson and Allan Houston. One thing you will obviously notice is that we didn’t let any of those contracts expire. Allan Houston retired, Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor and Shandon Anderson were bought out way before the expiration date of their deals.
This raised a question : where we would be headed after 2007 ?
Were these 16 months of fiscal responsibility a sign that the team was headed in a different direction where better cap management would be one of the goals of the front office ?
I had that question in mind since the february trade deadline where Isiah didn’t pull the trigger on any trade for the first time since he was named GM in December 2003.
When Glen Grunwald was hired as Senior VP, basketball operations, in September 2006, I thought it was a good sign. When Isiah refrained from making a deal at the trade deadline, it was another good sign. When Isiah said he was leaning towards fiscal responsibility and pointed out that we would get a lot of cap relief in 2009, it was another good sign.
Obviously, everything changed on march 12 when Isiah received an extension. Everything changed after that date. Isiah Thomas was free again to do what he wanted on the market. No more restrictions on the budget.
The Knicks went on a losing streak and missed the playoffs. Injuries to Jamal Crawford and David Lee were used as the main excuse for not making the post-season.
David Lee has been named MVP of the rookie game. He was used as a back-up and Isiah’s fans found an excuse for Lee not being a starter : he was supposed to be the 6th man of the year so it was a favor to him by Isiah. As you all should know Isiah is a really nice man.
I guess trading for Zach Randolph, an event which is a guarantee that Lee will remain a bench player (unless he’s traded) next season, is another nice gesture to Lee by Isiah Thomas.
Anyway, back to my original question : were these 16 months of fiscal responsibility a sign that the team was headed in a different direction Now we have the answer : it’s a clear NO. It’s back to business. Back to “adding talent for the sole purpose of adding talentâ€?, “adding names to makes fan excited and fill the seatsâ€? strategy.
If you take a look at the trade : Zach Randolph (4 more years) + Dan Dickau and Fred Jones (expiring contracts) for Steve Francis (two more years) and Channing Frye (rookie contract), obviously in terms of talent, the Knicks are the winners. Just like we won all the previous trades talent wise (Marbury, Tim Thomas + Nazr, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Steve Francis and Jalen Rose). In all these trades, we gave away garbage or lesser talent and got the better player out of the deal.
Did that make us a better team ? The answer is another clear NO.
This is not Fantasy NBA. It’s the NBA. You have to take into account chemistry, team defense, the system played, how the pieces fit together, how they can win together.
From a financial point of view, this trade is another ill-advised trade that makes no sense just like some of Isiah’s previous trades. Isiah didn’t learn his lesson when it comes to the cap department. But the most astonishing thing for me if he’s making the mistake all over again basket-ball wise : when he traded for Francis, he created a ridiculous backcourt tandem of Marbury and Francis. Two similar players with offensive skills, poor defense and having trouble playing in a system where they’re not the focal point of the offense. Randolph + Curry is the frontcourt version of Marbury + Francis.
I’m glad to see Francis go but let’s get real, Zeke swapped a horrible backcourt tandem for a horrible frontcourt tandem.
Everyone wanted Francis gone, lot of people already fell out of love with Channing Frye. The problem isn’t really what we gave up. No problem with that.
This trade creates two major problems :
- Zach Randoplh’s deal is two year longer than Francis, now we’re capped out until 2011
- Zach Randolph will be the starter at PF and will take playing time away from David Lee, probably the most respected player by the fans as the guy is skilled, is just coming from a season where he was in the running for 6th man of the year and named MVP of the rookie game and above all he’s the only real Knicks player. Meaning he’s in the mould of the 90s team : work ethic, plays defense, desire to win, great team player. Qualities we haven’t seen in a while on this team. Ever since Isiah was hired. We needed a rugged defensive PF to complement Eddy Curry in the frontcourt. If we add that player (don’t know if we even have the assets to do so now), there will be no room for Lee. So he will likely be used as a trade bait.
This trade also opens room for another trade : we have 17 players under contract, Dickau and Jones are expiring contracts. Combined they’re worth $5.8M.
It can be positive If they are used to trade for a good role player with a short contract.
It can be also negative if they are traded for another giant deal. For example, Thomas could trade those contracts + David Lee and a pick for Rashard Lewis.
As usual with Isiah Thomas, it’s not that it’s a horrible trade where we traded away a talented player, or traded for a bum, it’s just that it makes no sense, it doesn’t make the team really better and the most important thing is it just proves once again Isiah has no clue what he’s doing and how to build a winning team :
- no plan
- no direction
- no patience
- no understanding of salary cap, players management and what’s going on in the NBA.
1/ No plan : first Isisah Thomas sold the fans he was building around Marbury, then came the lottery the season after, so Isiah sold us Frye was the best player of the 2005 draft and he would have picked him even if he had the #1. He said he was a building block for the team. Now he’s gone. He also said Eddy Curry was our franchise player. So to build around him, Isiah trades for a duplicate player with the same flaws. He’s making trades for the sake of making trades and keeping the fans excited. All these trades don’t make the team better. A rugged PF and a shooter were the two main needs of the team and asual Isiah couldn’t help himself. He doesn’t care about role players, he wants to pull the trigger on the flashy trade where he can bring a big name, a player with good stats. No need to think about how the player will fit within the system, only stats matter. It’s Isiah’s Fantasy League. Isiah and Dolan claimed Francis and Rose were here only because of Brown and without LB they would have let Penny Hardaway and Antonio Davis contracts expire. Obviously it was BS. These cats cannot let a contract expire.
2/ No direction : not really true, Isiah has one direction, one mantra : making the same mistake all over again. One year he’s building around Marbury, the next he’s rebuilding. One year’s he’s tradings picks for veterans, the next he’s doing the opposite. One year, he’s reducing the payroll a little, the next he’s making it explode again. He has really no clue what he is doing.
3/ No patience : after making so many blunders and making the salary cap of the team reach an unprecedented level of $140M, we were leaning towards salary cap relief in 2009 and maybe a shot at free agents. More importantly FLEXIBILITY. We were only two years away. Now we’re 4 years away thanks to this brilliant trade.
Isiah pointed out at the end of the season that we had a better cap situation with all the contracts coming off the books, rumors were flying that he may not use the MLE. Now we’re back to the same situation : the garbage of the NBA. Whenever a team wants to get rid of a disgruntled player with baggage or a bloated contract : CALL THE KNICKS. I was hopeful this was over but it seems it will remain like that as long as dumb (Dolan) and dumber (Thomas) are in charge.
Scoot Layden was fired in december 2003. Isiah Thomas always tried to find a scapegoat for his poor results. First it was the so called horrible team he inherited (a team that won 37 games), two years later, after a complete overhaul where almost all remaining Layden’s players were replaced, Larry Brown was the scapegoat for the failure.
All remaining Layden contracts expire tomorrow (june 30). Layden’s name is now completely erased. Basically, the $95M payroll next season is all Isiah Thomas doing.
It raises two observations :
- even though all remaining horrible Layden’s contracts expire this month, we will still be way over the cap for the next 4 seasons
- when Layden was fired in December 2003, Isiah Thomas needed to wait 3 years and half (june 2007) if he wanted the team to fall under the cap. He had little flexibility. Now if Isiah was fired now, it’s the same, the next GM would need to wait 4 more years (june 2011) if he wanted to achieve that goal. The talent is better but is there really a market for Marbury, Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry ? Obviously, amongst players acquired via tardes or free agency, only Crawford and Curry have real value on the market. Despite all the "the best 33 win team ever assembled" crap, this team isn't that much better than the one we had 4 years ago.
More talent is added to the team each season but the result is always the same : another losing season : 39, 33, 23, 33.
How you can keep adding more salaries every year with such unimpressive records is beyond me. Instead of building slowly piece by piece, waiting for the right trade to come along, acquiring short reasonable contracts, adequate role players, it’s always panic mode with Isiah, he has to make a trade.
The sad thing about Thomas is he has an area of expertise : the NBA Draft. He has en eye for talent. It’s his main asset but he cannot take advantage of it.
He traded away two picks for Marbury, two lottery picks for Curry (last season and this one), he traded for mid to late 1st round picks (Kurt Thomas and Nazr trades). In 2003-2004, he trades away two picks (still owing one to Utah, that pick may become a lottery pick), in 2004-2005 he trades veterans for late 1st round picks (Nate, Lee), in 2005-2006 he trades two potential lottery picks for Curry and trades for another late first round pick (Davis/Rose trade).
He traded two of the players he drafted (Trevor Ariza and Channing Frye) and cannot make room on the starting 5 for his most promising young player (David Lee). No consistency and no direction seems to be trademark of Isiah.
Basically, Isiah’s main asset is becoming almost worthless with all his negatives.
If Isiah didn’t make any trade and rebuilt the Knicks only through the draft, we would be in much better position now. He really wasted his eye for talent.
4/ No understanding of cap management and how to build a winner
a) The financial aspect of management
Most losing teams are trying to lower their payroll and avoid the tax. Even winning teams manage their cap situation. The Pistons have let go Ben Wallace last season, the Spurs have let Nazr walk as a free agent, they traded away Nesterovic’s outrageous deal, the Suns ($77M) want to get rid of Shawn Marion’s albatross deal to avoid the tax.
At the same time the Knicks ($95M), the highest payroll in the league, a lottery team the past three seasons, just can’t stop adding more salaries every year. There was some kind of moratorium after the LB fiasco but now it’s almost as we’re back to 2005. Coincidentally the Knicks won 33 games in 2005, same number in 2007.
It’s like the 23 win season and this one never happened and the brass still believe this is a good team only one player away from being a contender. Unbelievable.
b) The basket-ball side of the game
The Pistons won the championship in 2004, they’ve made it to the ECF the past 5 seasons. By far, the best team of the East the last 5 years. The Spurs won the championship in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Best team of the West the last 4 years.
Defense, cohesion, chemistry, team first players and a good management aware of the salary cap constraints are the main qualities of these two teams.
Yet what do the Knicks do : assemble a collection of offensive players who play no defense.
It worked one season with the Heat when they brought Jason Williams and Antoine Walker but look where they are now. And it worked because they had Shaq, Wade and somehow adequate role players (Haslem, Posey, etc).
Quite frankly you have to wonder what Isiah is trying to achieve. He claimed he wanted to copycat the Suns, run and gun when he traded for Q. Then he signed a coach who preached defense and team play first.
The most successful teams the past 5 seasons have a system based on defense and team play first, yet Isiah can’t help himself, he has to trade for flawed players who can only score. A system that has proven to be not good enough to win a championship.
With Isiah Thomas you really have to wonder what’s wrong with him. He won a couple of championships with a defense oriented team, the bad boys. He said before the AS Game he voted for all Piston players and claims he loves that Detroit team. Yet what does he do for the Knicks : the opposite of what the Pistons do !
Obviously, a fair share of the blame has to be put on the ownership who constantly need to sell big names to the fans and keep them excited for next season but Isiah Thomas has proven again that he’s a terrible GM and not the right man for the job.
I won’t shed a tear for losing Frye and Francis, I really don’t care but this trade is another clear indication we don’t have the right man for the job and Isiah doesn’t know what he’s doing at all. No direction, no strategy, no understanding of how to build a winning team.
The problem is, as usual with Isiah and his fans, there will be a honeymoon. Explanations will be given for this trade. Even though fans from other teams and analysts will laugh about that trade, even though some Knicks fans will give reasons why it’s a bad trade, as usual they will be called haters. It will be the “us against the world” strategy as usual. Good old polarization that worked so well in the past with layden and brown. Spin machine full force.
First this trade will feed hope amongst a large portion of the fans, it will make them excited to see how Curry and Randolph will mesh just like they were excited to see how Marbury and Francis would create impossible match-ups for opposing guards. And as usual in two years, it will be clear that this was another stupid trade. Then Isiah Thomas will trade Randolph for another disgruntled star, a longer contract and this vicious circle will go and on, just like the mediocrity Dolan and his brass have made the fans accustomed to.
Groundhog day. Hope in the summer, delusional expectations in the off-season, back to Earth after 20 games into the season, disenchantment and expectations for a big trade at the February deadline and finally excuses at the end of the season when it’s just another disappointing losing season. We’re living the same season all over again each year and I really don’t know when it will end.
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6/30/2007 7:53 PM
