This is ideal and I've said the Knicks should consider this as well.
Don't forget Isiah said he wants to be competitive and at the same time rebuild, and this would be the perfect move. A project is an 18 YO out of high school, not a 21 year old with 3 years of big time college ball under his belt. He's got the size and the skills, for some reason his stock has kind of drifted down to last 1st/early 2nd.

Why does anybody want this loser Erick Dampier?
2000-2001: 7.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg
2001-2002: 7.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg
2002-2003: 8.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg
2003-2004: 12 ppg, 12 rpg
If anybody can't see thru the fact that he worked his ass off so he could put up good numbers, opt out of his contract, and get one more big deal before his career ends, you are an idiot. Plus he turns 30 in July. THESE ARE PLAYERS THE KNICKS NEED TO AVOID.

Obviously the goal is a championship, but is Erick Dampier going to push them to the championship level? No. A player like Tyson Chandler or David Harrison or Jamal Crawford, younger players who can be obtained cheap and then can develop INTO these players who are 30-something are the players who help you win a championship. If Harrison becomes a 12 and 10 guy or Chandler who could become the best shot blocker and a top rebounder or Crawford who might become a terrific scoring 2, those players should be targeted, not the Erick Dampiers and Chris Webbers of the world.

BIGSMOOTH, u have 1,000 + posts and u wonder why we want dampier?
1) he will be our best rebounder
2) he will be our best post presense
3) he will be our best defender down low
4) he will be our biggest useful body

the numbers u put up, through his career dont mean anything...
he splits his minutes with adonoyle foyle and the coaches doesnt run anything for dampier.

Stats doesnt mean everything, look at the numbers j. crawford puts up, they are quite good, but i think he isnt wat N.Y. needs
1) hes quite streaky
2) horrible shot selection *killing team momentum if he misses shot*
3) not a great defender (not bad, but certainly not a good one yet)

with the players we have, i dont believe there is room for someone like j.crawford. not unless we can trade houston, and even if we could, i would try moving tim thomas to sg and obtaining a 3 which can play defense and grab rebounds or/block shots yet being able to run and playing a role players position
1) i have no clue how we our able to obtaining him but shane battier fits that cat

i dont know about u guys but im one person that believes u need a good amount of defense mixed with offense to win. Dallas can only go so far...thats the best example

in other words, we have houston,marbary,tim thomas, which all dont play D, i say we need a balance of 3 players that can play D and contribute with other things at all times...

one has to be kicked out and 2 players we add must be able to play D and run,

Stats don't mean everything but they can gauge how good a player is. Do you need see the ONE good year Dampier put up? I don't know why nobody can see this.

Last year Adonal Foyle played 13 minutes per game, Dampier played 32 minutes per game. He's not splitting time.

And what are you talking about that plays aren't run for him?? I probably watched 20 GS games this year on NBA League Pass and Musselman routinely gave him iso on the low post to score.

The best post defender on this team is KT, not Dampier. That's an opinion but they both can defend on the post. You can't say defintively Dampier is better. What the hell is the "biggest useful body" what does this mean?

I'm just saying this is the typical Knicks garbage move. Signing Erick Dampier, age 30 with 1 good NBA year, for 6 years and $35 million. In 2 years he'll be averaging his normal numbers of 7 points 6 rebounds and the Knick will be paying him $6 million a year. Apparently you want this.

What about Mike Sweetney? He had a much better year than Zach Randolph, they play the same way. Randolph was averaging 20 and 10 by the end of year 2. Why can't you wait on Sweetney?

I know Crawford has cons to his game, but Allan Houston is now 32 years old with a bad knee and will probably miss all of next year. Who's going to play 2? Shandon Anderson? I'd like to have some insurance there, whether its Crawford, Stephen Jackson, or a SR or JR SG from college who they can find in the second round (see: Dallas Mavericks with their 2 rookie studs).

I don't dispute the fact that Dampier had a great year. He should've been an All-Star, rebounded great, etc. But this happens in all sports. Guys have 1 great year, SURPRISINGLY in their CONTRACT years, get a big contract, and regress back to their mediocrity. This happens in every sport, NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL. If you see through it then you realize "Hey, this guy had one good year. He's notorious for a bad work ethic, being lazy, and clashing with management. He's had 1 good year, he turns 30 in July, let's throw a multimillion dollar 6 year contract at him!" Does this go through Isiah's head?

Why not go after Etan Thomas. He's active on the glass, is a good defender down low, plays hard, and IS ONLY 26! That way, you can see, as Nalod said, "upside instead of downside."

I'm sick of watching players come to NY to decline. The Knicks should put a huge banner on MSG that says "Madison Square Garden: Where Careers Come To Die."

That's my whole point. I don't dispute Dampier's talent, I dispute that he'll make this team much better.

I'm with you on finding defensive players to help this team. Houston is untradeable, he's here until at least a team makes a mistake and sign a guy to a huge contract and then try to trade Houston b/c his contract ends earlier.

Sign Stephen Jackson, he's a great defensive player who can guard the other team's best G. Put Houston as 6th man, Thomas is decent at least at the 3 and Marbury's a mediocre defender at PG. Downlow obtain a shotblocker. Chris Andersen, Tyson Chandler. Young guys who can improve and can be had for cheap. Andersen averaged 5.1 blocks per 48 minutes, he has the talent to be a great weak side blocker. You need a shotblocker if you don't have great perimeter help. KT is an above-average defender at 4. Sweetney will progress, he was good on the defensive end at GTown.

That'd be my plan to get better. It wouldn't be trade Sweetney and Houston for Chris Webber, who has 1 usable knee and is the worst clutch player in history I really can't beleive this was proposed, and sign Erick Dampier. That's a recipe for disaster, not success, in my opinion. You can't get better in the NBA by adding guys who are in their 30s, you just can't. You have to take chances, take some risks, and go after guys who are young and might break out (see: Indiana, after their Finals run, trading Dale Davis for a young HSer named Jermaine O'Neal. see: Orlando throwing a ton of money at a relatively unproven Tracy McGrady. see: Detroit trading Grant Hill with a bum ankle for some guy named Ben Wallace.) You've gotta take risks.

[Edited by - bigsm00th on 05/18/2004 17:20:08]

i hope no one is confusing dampier with shaq, but in the east where you play nearly 2/3rds of your games, a player like dampier would be a BIG benefit, even if he gave you the same numbers he did as last year. theyre are also downsides with dampier he gets hurt he doesnt give 100% all the time etc... but the bottom line is for the MLE you arent going to get much more of an impact player than Dampier. A player like Dampier would go well[or better] with an athletic PF like Kenyone Martin rather than a slow KT, but he still would represent a huge target an intimidating force in the middle who can rebound block shots and score. I dont believe he would give full service of 6 years, but again we are not talking big bucks in NBA $.
The word championship and knicks should not even be spoken. We have way to many defecincies that will take more than 1-2 years to correct+ the playoffs are a process. We havent won a playoff game since 2000 and we havent been .500 in 3 years. This tema has a LONg way to go with many many ????

agreed...& no one is confusing Dampier w/Shaq (at least, i'm not)...we just realize that he's the best of the realistic options at this point...the Knicks aren't going to have a shot at getting anyone who's much better that plays the C position in the offseason...& i still say there's no way he'll sign for the MLE...if anything, you could probably sign a guy like Adonal Foyle for a portion of the MLE, but not Dampier...it will take a sign & trade...i'm hoping Isiah can work a deal, maybe involving another team like Utah, to get Dampier by using KT or Nazr in the deal...then use the MLE to get an athletic frontcourt player or backup SG to come off the bench & be that X factor this team missed all of last year.

Looks like Harrison didn't get dominated.