[Comment From George]
I know the Knicks want to take it slow and all but what exactly is going on? Are they going to enter the season with the current roster (minus maybe Marbury and James)? Personally I want most of these guys out but I'm also realistic and realize they are untradeable. What do you see happening between now and opening night?

1:05
sorry, just got off the phone with someone who knows stuff. here's some insight I can give you on your knicks question, George: they key going forward is moving zach randolph. right now, all they're finding in terms of a market for him is a bunch of teams hoping donnie will give him away. not going to happen -- at least not now. he'll wait it out until late august-early september and then take the best deal he can get. no rush to do it now.

This is from Ken Berger of Newsday in his chat. He answered my question and a few others:

[Comment From tim]
with the trade of ronaldo balkman do you think donnie has more trades up his sleeve and if so when do you think he will pull the trigger?
1:06
aside from randolph, tim, I think the rest is going to be more roster massaging. nothing earth-shattering. donnie needs to set the table and put himself in a position to do something big down the road if and when that presents itself. jerome james' situation has to be resolved, because he's taking up space on the cap and in front of the fridge. and marbury, of course, has to go.
1:06
[Comment From Ben]
considering all the knicks playrs have such a low trade value(besides D. Lee) doesn't it make sense to start the season with the current roster in order to raise their value by playing well for D'antoni?
1:08
yes. that's one of the biggest reasons they haven't torn the roster apart yet. d'antoni wants to see what he really has, and donnie wants the rest of the league to see what he really has, otherwise he can't make any fair-value deals. the only guys they're getting rid of now are guys who obviously don't fit, like balkman

Good find.

This is why people should not be killing Donnie. You don't take the first deal that comes your way. Donnie knows what he's doing and people need to realize that and give him his due respect and time.

Me asking another question under a different name:

[Comment From John]
Why does D'Antoni like Curry? Curry tries very little at both sides of the basketball. The only thing he can do is score and he's not the best at that either. Do you think he only wants to keep him to drum up his value and deal him? After all, his deal does interfere with our cap space.
1:19
I have not had occasion to speak with mike about curry. but I can only surmise that you are right. he's saying nice things about him to raise his value. what curry needs is someone to punch him in the gut and force him to lose 20 lbs. if he were in shape, he'd be more than serviceable.

It's pretty obvious that Walsh is trying to maneuver. Will he be successful? That of course remains to be seen. But it's obvious the guy has an idea about what he wants to do. It will be a looooong process for us. But fans just want blockbusters. Still hanging onto the savior principal

The moves right now have little or no meaning behind them. They are the kind of moves that you evaluate a year from now and say "wow that was some smart maneuvering" or "wow, what an idiot, he did nothing with all his maneuvering". But as of right now we have to understand that these guys have a plan and need time to implement it, and aren't going to go after the "best player available" I like Isiah spent his time doing. It's going to take that good old fashion NY patience.

So basically this is saying Donnie turned down the Clippers trade for the 2nd rounder. Thanks for the info.

Posted by EnySpree:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Good find.

This is why people should not be killing Donnie. You don't take the first deal that comes your way. Donnie knows what he's doing and people need to realize that and give him his due respect and time.

Nothing here but insight......but point taken and I agree.

I'm saying.....as the reigning Fantasy Champion of Playa's Ultimateknicks vs. Knickcity league.....trading is my thing. If it aint working fix it asap......if that aint working keep fixing until you get the right mix of guys in there. Chemistry plays a good part in fantasy too.

Anyway, donnie knows best, I guess

Eny knows best!

I am not surprised that the Knicks are not making any big changes. As a matter of fact this is what I wrote about the Knicks in the first week of July.

If you are expecting blockbuster trades to happen this offseason you might be a little dissappointed. The bottom line is the Knicks can not and will not start trading players left and right. After all isn't that what got Isiah in the big mess that he was in? Isiah made too many trades instead of playing things out. Now you have fans that want Walsh to have an itchy trading finger like Isiah? Why ask for a new general manager if you want the new gm to have a personality of the previous one?

If this team plays like trash next year 1. it will get another first round draft pick. 2. We also know that Marbury and Malik will be gone after next year.That's two players off the cap. So things are not as bad as they look. Isiah is gone and Marbury will soon follow. Or don't be surprised if Marbury has a great year because he has many things to prove still. He also will be playing for a new contract. There is much talent left in Marbury. If not he will be removed.



I do not expect major moves because I don't feel the Knicks will trade Jamal Crawford or Lee. Those are two players that other teams are interested in. I feel the Knicks will hold on to both players. These are two players with Nate Robinson, Chandler, Q and Gillinari that look likethey can benefit from Mike D'Antoni's system. So do not expect Lee nor Jamal to go anywhere.

I also think Curry will play out this year and then be assess. Zach Randolph is not going anywhere because his contract is too large and does not expire until 2011. Zach might be a guy the Knicks can get production from at the 4 spot. Q is going nowhere because there is no team out there that wants to take on a contract that is not insurable. So Q and Zach will here. Plus Q already knows what Mike D'Antoni expect and how to play in the new coaches system. Rumor has it that Q has already lost 15 pounds. He might shock people this season.


The only other players that you might see gone are Mardy, James, and Malik. The Knicks could also let Malik's contract to expire. Either way it does not hurt this team to have Malik for one more year. He will not get playing time anyway. The end result is the big change for this season will probably be no change. Unless you want to call buying out Malik Rose or Jerome James major moves.

Now you have a situation where you have players that other teams do not want because of their contracts and players the Knicks will not trade unless it is really is a good deal. So there most likely will not be any major changes in the roster, however a new attitude with the players is a plus.

The end result is the Knicks will have the same roster with a new positive environment and a system to bring out the best production from the players. These were things that were missing last year from the Knicks.

Posted by LBeast:

Walsh has a reputation around the league for waiting.....until it's too late.

Where do you get this from? Just write whatever you want and that makes it true? I never heard of this before.

I don't have a problem with beast stating Walsh deliberates on his moves but "waiting too long, until its too late"--thats just crap.

I agree. Great paragraph BigRedDog.