I like the Walsh plan, but I'd like to see a few more flashy moves. I think he should bring a troubled home town hero back to the team. A point guard who's had difficulty getting along with his teammates where ever he has been. I think it could be a real feel-good story if he could come back home and show everyone that he's a winner. Bring back Marbury. I'd like to see him get 10 assists, 20 points and 10 dimes.

Second, I'd like to see him take a chance on a talented big man with heart trouble. Everyone thinks he's lazy and that he loves donuts too much. I think it would be a real feel-good story if the fat man could show everyone that he is passionate about basketball. Play Eddy Curry. I expect him to score 30 points a night with four or five blocks and 4 assists passing out of the double teams he'll command.

And isn't it really time that we gave the Steve Francis / Stephon Marbury backcourt a chance to succeed? I don't think we really had enough time to let things gel. Bring back Steve Francis. I think it would make a real feel-good story if two guards with similar and non-complimentary styles could show everyone that they can learn to play together.

I'd also like to see Walsh take a chance on another talented big man who is a ball hog and has had some problems with the law. Bring back Zach! I think this would make a real feel-good story.


[Edited by - basketballjones on 09-05-2009 19:46]

This isn't even a question. I agree with the plan, see nothing wrong in Walsh's dealings so far, and I think we will be happy with the end result. He is doing everything he can and going about things in a very smart way.

Walsh's plan is flawed. Instead of targeting free agency he should be targeting the draft. That is the best way to build a championship team.

Walsh is doing the right thing.
The draft is a crap shoot from year to year the top player may not be a Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, Wade or (Lebron?) ie the only few guys to have a real shot at winning the title each year. Even when you get the worst record you can get screwed by the ping pong balls.
MDA was the best choice period. No one else had the credentials and wasn't already burned out.
Gallo will be a great Knick. All those who doubted the kid are gonna be sorry they did. Get on the bandwagon early, cuz the only thing that caused the second guessing was his injury and not his talent, Skills or leader mentality. The kid has those things and thinks like a stud. He's got that swagger you need to be a great player in this league.

Back to Walsh. He's done no harm to the cap and that is a big positive. The hardest thing to do is the not pull the trigger when you have a deal you can make. Just cuz you can, doesn't mean you should. None of the moves he didn't make are fatal. Sure it's possible that he could've made a deal to move salary a bit sooner, but then again we don't really know that. What we do know is that he's on target to have the cap space we need to get someone and you can bet that there's gonna be someone out there looking to make a move.

I voted C and here's why: everyone seems to consider it a colassal failure when Walsh failed to pull the trigger on the Nate & Jeffries for Kenny Thomas deal with Sacramento and I'm not sure I see it that way. Yeah it's easy to say it was a mistake now (I've been guilty of it from time to time myself), but at the time I'm sure Donnie never thought there would be absolutely no market for Nate like we've seen this off-season. He probably thought he could at least pick up a pick or another young player in the process for Nate... Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a trade like that to make out there with either Nate or even Lee for that matter. I'm sure at the time Donnie didn't want to just give away one of his only young assets like that just to move Jeffries whose contract is bad but not terrible (remember, at the time, the team was completely devoid of young talent - he didn't have Hill or Douglas & Gallinari was basically hobbled/pre-surgery). He probably thought he could do better at the time and who could really blame him --- the man remained patient when initially the only trade out there for Zach Randolph was a second round pick (not even any players coming back, as I remember whatever team it was at the time, either the Sixers or the Clippers, had enough cap room to add Zach w/o even going salary for salary). Eventually he got what he thought were two viable rotation players that expired by 2010 (Mobley retired but turned into the big money-saving trading chip he thought he could still use). Randolph could play and produce but he was saddled with the albatross contract - let's be honest, they were luckly to move him. Nate, however, is a guy who wound up being very productive (he did put up over 17 a game last year) and was still on his rookie contract at the time (Nate's about 3 years younger than Zach). My only point is, knowing what we know now, yeah, he should've made that trade but hindsight's always 20/20, never more so than in this case. Looking back on it and on the thought process involved at the time, I can't say I would've done it any differently. I don't think I would've just given Nate away to Sactown like that either. When you consider the man's solid body of work as Knick GM, if choosing to hold onto one of his young assets with the idea of eventually trying to maximize a return is his biggest "blemish," I think it's safe to say he's done a solid job thus far...

[Edited by - finestrg on 09-06-2009 1:52 PM]

Posted by Nalod:

I know Dolan created this mess but he has put good people in place and cleaned house. A reformed Dolan is better than a cash starved new owner.

Word. A very important point for all of us Dolan-haters out here. On the other hand, I still loathe the guy. But if he stays far away from the guys he hired, I can live with it.

And I will repeat that you will never get a draft pick for Zach Randolph or Jamal Crawford.

Isiah really blew it with Balk. In my opinion he did not expect the talent to be available that was and he wanted to shock everyone and show what an amazing drafter he was. The Lee pick was smart but not amazing. Lee was a fantastic high school player and was projected to possibly go in the top 15 in the draft if he entered the draft coming out of high school. I really like the picking of Chandler also.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by GKFv2:

And I will repeat that you will never get a draft pick for Zach Randolph or Jamal Crawford.

we got Al Harrington for Jamal... u don't think we can get at least a late 1st round pick for Al Harrington in a trade? i do.

Uh. We got Harrington from a lottery team. They weren't trading us their current or future picks for Jamal.