There is no Shaquille O'Neal in the June draft, nor are there any phenoms in LeBron James' class. But Knicks fans who think Isiah Thomas gave up too much to get Marbury might be right. The No. 1 pick that went to the Suns, and isn't lottery-protected, could turn out to yield a pretty good player, if the Knicks fail to make the playoffs and Phoenix gets lucky on lottery night. Right now, Atlanta high school big man Dwight Howard and UConn's Omeka Okafor are considered 1-2. Scouts say that Howard already has the offensive skills to be a major front-court player. Just the kind Thomas is looking for now.

Originally published on January 17, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/155792p-136917c.html

Are you kidding me? Dwight Howard might be another long term development project like Kwame Brown. You think Isiah Thomas or the rest of the Garden is looking to take that on? There is no prospect this year that is even comparable to Stephon. We needed a superstar PG and got one. We're talking about a guy that is only 26! Instead of taking chances in the draft, we did the sure thing and got what we wanted.

Exactly realhiphop.

IMHO Zeke didnt give up to much...other than Lampe, i thought it was a good deal. If we did keep the draft picks, or if we did keep ward/mcdyess for their contracts, we could only hope to sign or draft a player that is of Marbury's calibur. Not only that, we also got a very solid bench player in Hardaway.
With those additions, I see us handing phoenix #18-20 pick.

and.... Thomas doesn't really have a "hard-on" for international players. He saw Lampe's work ethic and publicly said something. If he saw a lot of potential in the kid, he would still be here.

I still agree that we should've held on to Lampe, but these no.1 picks are looking like no big deal now. The other one is protected from being a high pick, and this one might be a mid-late first rounder now that it looks we have a playoff opportunity. The best players in that range are PG's like Jameer Nelson and Raymond Felton, who we don't need right now. C David Harrison might be there, but he's a boom or bust type.

Posted by Andrew:

There are to many unknowns to grade the impact of trading away the draft pick....IF the Knicks don't make the playoffs....IF the Suns get lucky in the lottery....IF the young guys reach their potential.

I think the Knicks will have a hard time not making the playoffs in a veryu weak East and can't see the draft pick being any better than 16.

...And Marbury IS A STAR. The picks and LAMPE are potential. Even a Lottery pick is pure potential. Marbury is already a start in this league. That is why it was a good trade!

Posted by HARDCOREKNICKSFAN:

Instead of kicking a dead horse with all this Lampe talk, we need to focus speculation on what Isiah's next move to improve the team would, should, and could be.

Another deal is coming down the pipe. Let's deal with what is, and what will be, instead of what was.

Hardcore people can state their opinion on zeke giving up too much, the bad thing is Phoenix didn't even want Lampe and that is what people are mad about. We could have easily waived trybanski and kept Lampe!

What are you talking about, Lampe could of helped us Land another big man stop tripping. Why you think Zeke can't mess up boggles my mind

Posted by playa2:

What are you talking about, Lampe could of helped us Land another big man stop tripping. Why you think Zeke can't mess up boggles my mind

OK. We KNOW that already. STOP whining about it, man up and move on.

By the way, 2 + 2 boggles your mind, Playa.

this is so irrelevant. And Layden would have been a better GM if he drafted Lebron, Carmello or Yao Ming. Only problem is like Okafor and Howard will be those guys were SO gone by the time we pick. Even without the Marbury trade we are heading for a 9-12 pick at best (unless your holding out for the 1.4% chance of winning it).

Then if we DID win we might get lucky enough to draft Kwame Brown, Jay Williams or Marcus Fizer