Mission Accomplished by Isiah? Hardly
by Chad Ford

Picture Isiah Thomas, in February, standing on the deck of an air craft carrier, waving to the cheering New York media with a big "Mission Accomplished" banner waving in the background.

In a series of blitzkreig-like moves, Isiah transformed a team that many thought was untransformable almost overnight. Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley, Antonio McDyess, Keith Van Horn, Clarence Weatherspoon and Maciej Lampe were out in the space of eight weeks. They were replaced with big names like Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed.



Isiah was the anti-Scott Layden. He was articulate, decisive and loved the spotlight. The Knicks made a nice push at the end of the season and improbably finished in the No. 7 playoff spot in the East. The Knicks were getting better!

Now read the fine print.

Isiah has moved the Knicks from the level of bad to mediocre and then locked them in there with a quagmire of long-term, untradeable contracts and players whose games don't really match.

His effort to win the hearts and minds of the New York fans and media was a short-term home run. Long term? Expect the NBA equivalent of Vietnam.

We're all just waiting for the Michael Moore documentary at this point.

Isiah was expecting to walk into free agency this summer and convince a player like Rasheed Wallace that he was the missing piece of the puzzle.

Instead, they'll likely be left with a couple of bit players.

"We have to sell the Knicks and we have to sell our vision moving forward," Thomas said. "The city sells itself, but the players want to see what strategies you have in place and is this a place you can build a dynasty and win for a long time. That's the story we'll be telling."

At best, Jamal Crawford can become the sixth guard in the backcourt. Kobe Bryant isn't walking through that door. Neither is Shaq, Kenyon Martin or another superstar who you read about in the daily tabs.

The Knicks' flexibility is gone. In the process of cleaning house, Isiah played almost all of his cards. He used expiring contracts and rookies to obtain good players with max contracts. They're essentially bound to the team that Isiah has built. Is it enough to save the Knicks from another five years of mediocrity?

That's the question every New Yorker should be asking themselves right about now.

Now that Isiah has painted the Knicks into a corner, can the players he added paint their way out? Here's a look at what to expect as Insider continues its summer blueprint series.

Knicks Summer Blueprint

DRAFT: The Knicks traded away their first-round pick to Phoenix (which in turn sent it to Utah) in the Stephon Marbury deal. Isiah isn't into rebuilding, and having a mid-first-round pick wasn't really going to make much of a difference anyway. . . well sort of. The Jazz used the pick to draft Kirk Snyder, who just so happens to be the type of tough, gritty do-it-all backcourt player the Knicks could use.


The Knicks had one second-round pick, and added Trevor Ariza to the lineup. It was a good call. Had Ariza stayed at UCLA, he would've had the chance to become a lottery pick in two years. The Knicks just got him on the budget plan.

To Isiah, moving the pick (along with two other coveted young assets, Maciej Lampe and Milos Vujanic) was a slam dunk. The only thing Isiah seems to have inherited from Scott Layden was the belief that you can't rebuild in New York. It could haunt them down the road, however. Lampe showed signs of real life toward the end of last season and Vujanic is still considered one of the best point guards in Europe. Add that along with Snyder and the Knicks' roster would be set for long-term renewal. As it stands now, Mike Sweetney and Frank Williams must hold down the rookie fort.

FREE AGENCY: The Knicks aren't losing any significant players to free agency this summer. At one point, it looked like forward Kurt Thomas would bolt, but the team signed him to a four-year extension this spring. The team is obviously capped out, leaving just its mid-level exception to play with.

Everyone already knows that Rasheed Wallace was Isiah's primary target this summer. However, it seems very unlikely that Wallace will settle for the mid-level in New York when he can get close to twice that in Detroit and play on a better team with a coach who seems to be his biggest fan. That's tough to compete with.



Thomas' primary target appears to be Jamal Crawford. The Knicks are showing strong interest in Crawford, but it isn't clear why he'd want to play in New York. The Knicks' backcourt is loaded, and there's very little chance he gets starting minutes ahead of Marbury and Allan Houston. The team also has Penny, Shandon Anderson, Moochie Norris and Frank Williams who play back there.

Given that the Knicks can only offer him the mid-level exception, what's the point for Crawford or the Knicks for that matter? A big like Erick Dampier or Adonal Foyle would make more sense, but both appear headed elsewhere.

TRADES: With the free agency and draft avenues closed, Isiah has no choice but to pursue more trades if he's unhappy with the current make-up of the team. Kurt Thomas is probably the Knicks' best trade bait -- at least he was before he signed that extension. The Mavs have offered Jerry Stackhouse for Thomas, but that makes little sense for the Knicks.

Isiah would prefer to find a home for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington and one high-priced guy like Penny Hardaway. Mutombo and Harrington are real possibilities because they are in the last year of their contracts. Hardaway's a tougher sell this year with more than $30 million still left on his contract.

One scenario has Thomas packaging Mutombo, Harrington and either Sweetney or Frank Williams for a veteran big man. A team needing to get under the cap might consider it a smart cap move down the road. Allan Houston is another guy who could be theoretically on the block. His problem is that killer multi-billion dollar contract that someone would have to swallow. Same goes for Marbury, Tim Thomas and everyone else Isiah Thomas acquired this year.

It's not that these players are impossible to move. It just means that Thomas would have to take back less value and a worse contract to get it done. Thomas may be able to put off for another year or two the inevitability of the Knicks' cap woes, but eventually it's going to catch up to him. The Blazers are just coming out of it. The Mavs look like they are in the process of descending into it. The Knicks? You're grandchildren will be talking about it.

COACHING: We're all still miffed by the hiring of Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens, the soft spoken coach who let the Raptors spiral out of control under his watch, isn't the tough-nosed general Isiah described for the job. He has experience and cache with some of the older players, but for the most part, what he did in New York looks awfully similar to what his predecessor Don Chaney did.

That's led to speculation that Wilkens may be out and Isiah in as the new head coach of the Knicks. Isiah swears he doesn't have the bug and his closest friends are warning him not to do it. . . but can Isiah resist? He built this team. If it struggles early, we'll he cave into the temptation to say that he's the only one who also knows how to coach it? If he does it will be the beginning of the end for Isiah in New York.

FRONT OFFICE: Isiah has always had a good feel for the situation around him. He knew Knicks fans craved change. He knew they wanted their GM to be bold and decisive. He knew they were ready for someone to take risks.


If that was the job description, Isiah filled it to a "T" His moves were as bold as any GMs in the league. He knew they craved a recognizable New York name like Marbury. He knew that Van Horn wasn't going to survive under the pressure of playing in New York and got a player in Tim Thomas who at least looked the part in Isiah's mind.

In short, he banished everything about the Knicks that had Layden's image gravened out. His players are gone (the ones he could move at least) -- wiped clean by the hand of Isiah.

Thomas' moves, in the short term, were a huge success. New Yorkers love him. The trades, on paper it least, almost all seemed to fall in the Knicks' favor -- at least in the short term. Isiah moved several contracts that were thought to be immovable. He changed the Knicks and Knicks fans love him for it.

However, the only thing fans crave more than change is winning. To be a long-term success at the job, this team that Thomas assembled must not only win, but at least compete for an NBA title. Anything less, in Thomas' own words, would be a failure.

With his cap flexibility used up, several of his players aging and increasingly strengthened Eastern Conference . . . Isiah may have painted the Knicks into a corner they can't get out of. It's probably only a matter of time before he pays the ultimate price.

I could have wrote that.

Nothing new there....he wasted precious time out of his life in my opinion.

I wish i could earn as much money as him just by writing tons of platitudes. I guess a young wrote that crap during his internship and chad put his stamp on it.

We don't have shaq or Kobe ? well last time i checked, a few other teams were in that case too, and btw, the team which had them lost.

We're capped, we have no draft pick, blablabla... how many picks had really such an impact when picked in the middle of 1st round ? I'm sick and tired of that alien abductions that try to resemble journalists.

no analysis, no insight, no clue. plain sad.

I have been an insider subscriber for about 2 years now. There are some redeeming benefits (rumor mill, good draft coverage in particular, for both NBA and NFL)Oveall a good source of info. Not sure if it's quite worth the price $5/month.

As for Ford, he was never a big fan of Layden, or Isiah, Chad is of the school of "tear it down completely and rebuild with draft picks and cap room" This is his solution for any team with problems, despite its spotty record of success around the league. He's big on young guys and loves Euros. This column on the knicks is the same one recycled from previous years, just with new names. He dosen't bring anything new to the conversation.

In a way it seems he reads our posts and thinks we are too optomistic.

He brings some good points, or things we have forgotten.

I Won't adress the Marbs trade, thats over cooked.

But it reminds us that this is our team and we can't think about how much we'd like to change it. Again.

And like how bad Penny's deal really is.

ANd how Sheeds not going to take a 5mil per year pay cut. And would Craw really want to play here even if he can't start? Others can give him money and a starting job? Hey, I'd like for it to happen.

ANd that we are in Cap hell even longer.

But like I said, if this is the team, let em play. Isiahs "creative" comment likely translates to: "we aint got much to play with folks, sorry, I did the best I could to improve, and I did, so lets let these guys gel". If thats the message, then ok by me. We might be stuck in mediocrity, but it will be a fun team from time to time, and we still got hope.

The article is no news, but its not an outright bash either. In a way its truthful even if we don't like to hear it sometimes.

Posted by Nalod:

ANd that we are in Cap hell even longer.

Are we? The Knicks were not going to be Cap friendly until Allan's contract comes off the books, and nothing has changed since then. Same point about Penny's contract.

Frank Williams carried Illinois on his back in college. And has proven he is NBA material and has the skill set to maybe be a starter one day. He is I think 4-0 as the starting PG with the team putting up about 100pts in each game. He has been hit with injuries and the death of his mother which has set him back.

Sweetney basically played 5 on 1 in college and still dominated. And has proven he belongs in the NBA. With the skill set to be a starter as well. He put up 5.2pts 6.5rebs in 16.6mins in March. And 7.9pts 5.1rebs in 15.9mins in April. He probably would have put up even better #s that late in the season if Zeke was GM from the door.

I wonder what type of #s Frank Williams & Sweetney would put up overseas?? Some of the international players can't even hack it in college. So y do Milos & Lampe get the asses kissed while Williams & Sweetney are treated like they don't have potential??? Milos & Lampe still have not proven to be NBA material yet.

I don't even want to get into the best of the best international players choking in the playoffs.

If long term means the next 3yrs then sure we MIGHT be stuck with low playoff seeds and early exits as the roster slowly revamps itself. But when someone says long term I see Houston & Anderson's & Penny's contracts off our hands as well as Sweetney & Frank Williams & Marbury becomeing better players. Who knows about Thomas & Muhammad. As well as developing the draft picks that we didn't trade away. Which = to 11 in the next 6yrs.

Posted by Nalod:


But it reminds us that this is our team and we can't think about how much we'd like to change it. Again.

And like how bad Penny's deal really is.

yes but what he fails to mention is that in 1 year, his deal is actually a positive since it's $13mil of epiring dollars. same for tim. that's when isiah can really make a move and that's when i expect him to, NEXT offseason.

oh and frank & sweetney are better than lampe & meatloaf.

but you gotta give up more than ending deals to get those.

That's why I'm glad we have plenty to throw in. Penny plus TT plus Sweetney for a bad contract and a superstar like the Marbury deal will work next year. Or if you want, next year when Isiah's trading Penny's and TT's expiring contracts, he'll have an indefinite # of #1 draft picks to offer. I'd expect 2 to 3 all-stars to be added over the next 3 years using the same method used to get Marbury

I have no complaints about building via the MLE and trading expiring contracts each year. It's much better than building via the draft

Posted by Bonn1997:

I have no complaints about building via the MLE and trading expiring contracts each year. It's much better than building via the draft

this year, we'll build using the MLE & expiring contracts...next year, we can build w/the draft pick & expiring contracts...Isiah is building & has a plan, unlike Layden.