Isiah deserves some credit for pulling the trigger on many of the blockbuster deals
By Paul Perdichizzi | August 1st, 2007

http://mvn.com/nba-knicks/2007/08/01/isiah-deserves-some-credit-for-pulling-the-trigger-on-many-of-the-blockbuster-deals/

During his tenure with New York, Isiah Thomas has had to endure a lot of losing. He took over an ugly situation left by former general manager, Scott Layden. A roster with no talent, no athleticism, no potential, and a lot of overpriced contracts. Isiah had a choice to make, rebuild completely or try and retool.

Looking back now, it is easy to say that he should have just let the contracts expire, been really bad for a few years, and got way under the salary cap. The problem is, that this is New York City, and the owner, James Dolan only cares about making money, not about winning championships. Rebuilding and throwing away seasons, does not usually fly in New York when you are just concerned with making dollars.

Many passionate Knicks fans though, who have struggled with this team since the Patrick Ewing days, understand that by not rebuilding completely, it has set the franchise back for many years. The Knicks have been stuck in this stage of being bad but not bad enough to get a top pick in the draft. The one year they had a top pick, they sent the 2nd pick in the draft to Chicago as part of the Eddy Curry deal. So without a top pick to draft a franchise player and without the salary cap space to sign one, the Knicks have been forced to gamble and make some risky trades.

Since his arrival, many of his decisions have been questioned. The acquisition of Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, and Zach Randolph signify his three biggest moves. Unless the alternative was to fully rebuild and clear cap space, it is hard to argue with any of those three.

Marbury was a big name, and the Knicks craved a star on Broadway. Marbury was born in New York and when Isiah saw a chance to bring him home, he did just that. The deal for Marbury was actually laid out by Scott Layden, before he was fired.

The Eddy Curry deal was a gamble well worth the risk. Even with his heart condition, this was a 23 year old, possible franchise center on the move. Centers with his talents and abilities are extremely rare. There are very few legitimate centers in the NBA today. In addition, centers with strong back to the basket, post up moves, who can score 20 points a night are an even rarer commodity in today’s game.

The only negative that you can put with the Curry deal is that Isiah should have made the draft picks either lottery protected, top eight, top five, or at the very least, top three protected. Only John Paxson, general manager of the Bulls knows whether he would have accepted the deal with those conditions.

His last big move, came just a month ago when he brought the often troubled Zach Randolph to New York. Isiah is banking on those issues being in the past and is convinced Randolph and Curry can work together to form one of the best inside scoring duos in the entire league. Besides taking on his salary, the Knicks gave up very little in value, by sending Channing Frye and Steve Francis to Portland. Most members of the media have been high on the deal and believe Isiah had to pull the trigger on that one.

While some deals have worked out, others have not and that has hurt Isiah’s reputation around the league. The Larry Brown fiasco has been the ugliest moment of the Thomas era. After all the hoopla and attention that bringing Brown to New York got, it was a major disappointment. Brown and New York did not go well together and there was a power struggle between him and Isiah. The Knicks only won 23 games, and gave Chicago the 2nd pick in the draft as part of the Curry deal. Brown was bought out, one year after arriving to save the day in New York.

While bringing Brown to New York did not work out, it is hard to blame Isiah for bringing him in. When given a chance to get the best coach in basketball, any team or general manager would take that chance. Brown had won, wherever he had coached during his career.

Other deals that have not worked out for Isiah have been the use of his mid-level exceptions. All three times he has used it, the Knicks have brought in a player and wasted their money, while getting little back in terms of production on the court. The three names all Knicks fans know are Vin Baker, Jerome James and then last year, Jared Jeffries. James and Jeffries were suppose to be big assets to the team, but have struggled upon there arrival to New York.

Another deal that is looked upon badly is the Steve Francis trade. The Knicks acquired Francis for basically Trevor Ariza. While Ariza has developed into a solid player for Orlando, Francis never fit in New York and was shipped to Portland in the Randolph trade. Once again, I find it hard to put all the blame on Isiah for this one.

His legendary coach, wanted the deal and told him he could make Francis and Marbury work together. At the time, Brown was in year one of his five year deal, so Isiah was trying to appease his coach and bring in a player he wanted. The move did not work out, but without that contract, Isiah would have never been able to land Randolph this off-season.

Other deals that have worked out for Isiah have been the Kurt Thomas to Phoenix for Quentin Richardson and the rights to Nate Robinson and trading Antonio Davis to Toronto for Jalen Rose and a number one draft pick. While Rose did not fit in and had a hefty contract that was eventually bought out, getting that draft pick was important as it turned into Renaldo Balkman.

Another deal that has been looked upon as a bad one, was the Nazr Muhammad for Malik Rose trade. Rose had a big contract, and still has two more years remaining on it. If it was just a one for one swap, Isiah would have came out on the losing side of the deal. In addition to Rose though, the Knicks got two first round draft picks. The picks have turned into David Lee and Mardy Collins. With Isiah’s eye for drafting talent, getting draft picks in any of these deals have turned out to be the silver lining in them.

While Isiah has not been able to turn the Knicks around yet, he seems to get all the criticism thrown at him. Yes he has made some very bad deals during his tenure, but at the same time he has made some good ones as well. Even many of the questionable deals, at the time looked like moves that the gamble was worth the risk.

While the record and image of the team is still far off from the glory days of the Patrick Ewing era, Isiah has made this a better team. The team Isiah has put together has more talent, athleticism, and youth than any Knicks team in a long time and he deserves some credit for that. The Knicks now have a good mixture of veterans, young stars, and rookies to possibly become a consistent playoff team again.