my theory is that when isiah showed up to GM the knicks, dolan gave him a mandate. dolan wanted stars, big splashes and wins now. isiah told dolan the risk involved. maybe he even advised that it'd be better to wait for cap space to clear.

dolan wouldn't listen. isiah said, "my career is on the line here and i don't think this is the right move." dolan said, "do what i suggest and i'll take care of you no matter what." isiah did what he asked and it failed harder than either of them could imagine. and with every move they made to try and recover, they dug deeper and deeper into the hole. failure upon failure.

it failed so hard dolan couldn't keep isiah on as promised. so dolan hired a placeholder. he hired walsh who could come in and make all the cap-clearing moves that the fans and media would have never allowed isiah to do. dolan knew walsh had limited time left so it was perfect. he'd reset the franchise and hand it back to isiah when he was done.

this is dolan's way of "taking care of isiah." he feels the guilt. dolan urged isiah to go against his own inclinations. isiah showed his loyalty and he did dolan's bidding despite being in position to destroy all that remained of his post-basketball career. now dolan is showing his own form of loyalty and hiring the man back with the plan to hand him the keys down the road when the placeholder retires.

eViL wrote:here's a theory i just came up with regarding this bizarre isiah / dolan relationship and this disaster that is now unfolding before us. i am not trying to apologize for isiah's tenure. i'm just trying to make sense of this ridiculousness:

my theory is that when isiah showed up to GM the knicks, dolan gave him a mandate. dolan wanted stars, big splashes and wins now. isiah told dolan the risk involved. maybe he even advised that it'd be better to wait for cap space to clear.

dolan wouldn't listen. isiah said, "my career is on the line here and i don't think this is the right move." dolan said, "do what i suggest and i'll take care of you no matter what." isiah did what he asked and it failed harder than either of them could imagine. and with every move they made to try and recover, they dug deeper and deeper into the hole. failure upon failure.

it failed so hard dolan couldn't keep isiah on as promised. so dolan hired a placeholder. he hired walsh who could come in and make all the cap-clearing moves that the fans and media would have never allowed isiah to do. dolan knew walsh had limited time left so it was perfect. he'd reset the franchise and hand it back to isiah when he was done.

this is dolan's way of "taking care of isiah." he feels the guilt. dolan urged isiah to go against his own inclinations. isiah showed his loyalty and he did dolan's bidding despite being in position to destroy all that remained of his post-basketball career. now dolan is showing his own form of loyalty and hiring the man back with the plan to hand him the keys down the road when the placeholder retires.

Right, except that you left something out:

When Layden showed up to GM the knicks, dolan gave him a mandate. dolan wanted high-character guys. Layden told dolan the risk involved. maybe he even advised that it'd be better to keep Spree and sign some other overpaid, talented but flawed players.

dolan wouldn't listen. Layden said, "my career is on the line here and i don't think this is the right move." dolan said, "do what i suggest and i'll take care of you no matter what." Layden did what he asked and it failed harder than either of them could imagine.

it failed so hard dolan couldn't keep Layden on as promised. so dolan hired a placeholder. he hired Isiah who could come in and sign all the overpaid, talented but flawed players that the fans and media would have never allowed Layden to do. Once Isiah finished overhauling the roster, he'd reset the franchise and hand it back to Layden.

So, once Dolan hands the keys back to Isiah, he has to take them right back, and give them to Layden.

eViL wrote:here's a theory i just came up with regarding this bizarre isiah / dolan relationship and this disaster that is now unfolding before us. i am not trying to apologize for isiah's tenure. i'm just trying to make sense of this ridiculousness:

my theory is that when isiah showed up to GM the knicks, dolan gave him a mandate. dolan wanted stars, big splashes and wins now. isiah told dolan the risk involved. maybe he even advised that it'd be better to wait for cap space to clear.

dolan wouldn't listen. isiah said, "my career is on the line here and i don't think this is the right move." dolan said, "do what i suggest and i'll take care of you no matter what." isiah did what he asked and it failed harder than either of them could imagine. and with every move they made to try and recover, they dug deeper and deeper into the hole. failure upon failure.

it failed so hard dolan couldn't keep isiah on as promised. so dolan hired a placeholder. he hired walsh who could come in and make all the cap-clearing moves that the fans and media would have never allowed isiah to do. dolan knew walsh had limited time left so it was perfect. he'd reset the franchise and hand it back to isiah when he was done.

this is dolan's way of "taking care of isiah." he feels the guilt. dolan urged isiah to go against his own inclinations. isiah showed his loyalty and he did dolan's bidding despite being in position to destroy all that remained of his post-basketball career. now dolan is showing his own form of loyalty and hiring the man back with the plan to hand him the keys down the road when the placeholder retires.

I have been thinking there is more to this thing as well, except I cannot assume that Dolan made all the mistakes and IT took all the blame. But, clearly there is more to this thing... I cannot otherwise explain what is going on. This article has another theory -- that there is hush money being paid-- but for what?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/432381-is-isiah-thomas-being-paid-by-james-dolan-to-keep-a-secret

Who knows, but I guess eVil's theory is as good as any. Or, there might be that weekend with the dead hooker.

I always supported IT as a talent scout-- I thought he has a good track record of identifying talented players. I just don't think he does a great job of managing personnel or negotiating contracts. Nobody really says what role IT would play, but in a limited capacity, I think he can have value.

I also don't support an owner going around the GM. He can fire the GM and do whatever he wants, but I think to go around him is ridiculous.