Nets subtract, Knicks add = big losses
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islesfan
Posts: 9999 Alba Posts: 37 Joined: 7/19/2004 Member: #712 |
8/5/2004 8:05 PM
http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition/ny-sppow053918302aug05,0,5406309.column?coll=ny-sports-print
Nets subtract, Knicks add = big losses August 5, 2004 Back in April, when the baseball season was young, this was a basketball town. Two teams on opposite sides of the Hudson River were engaged in an emotional if lopsided playoff series that ended too quickly and left folks wanting more. Well, four months later, the anticipation for the NBA season appears to have dropped as sharply as the Nets' payroll. One team spent the summer dumping salaries. The other team plans to increase costs without getting any guarantee of increased wins. You know, maybe if the Nets and Knicks traded philosophies, they'd be better prepared to confront the upcoming season, satisfy the cravings of their fans and meet again next April. Instead, the 2004-05 season might be as long as this offseason. The Knicks are busy trying to strengthen their image as the Yankees of the NBA - minus the titles. If they do a sign-and-trade for center Erick Dampier, who paid a visit yesterday, and/or pull off the deal in the works with Chicago, their payroll will approach Yankees' proportions. Here's the kicker: Even if all goes well in the next week or two and GM Isiah Thomas gets his man/men, the Knicks won't add any All-Stars to the mix. They'll just get a few more guys making seven figures for the next several years, and it will give the Dolans another reason to raise your cable bill. Rather than decrease a payroll that's projected to be at least $50 million more than the champion Detroit Pistons, the Knicks have chosen to keep paying a premium for mediocrity. From a practical standpoint, their team makes absolutely no sense. They're erasing their chances of buying free agents the rest of this decade and locking themselves into contracts nobody else wants. That means the Tim Thomases, Allan Houstons and Penny Hardaways must produce here, because there's nowhere else to go. You have to feel a little for Isiah. Pressured into winning by James Dolan, Isiah can't knock this team down and start over. Therefore, to improve the Knicks a little, he must hike the payroll by a lot. Other teams realize the crunch he's in. They refuse to trade with Isiah unless he takes some of their dead weight. That's why Isiah must accept Jerome Williams, a poor man's Kurt Thomas who's due $18 million the next three years, in order to hook Jamal Crawford, who'll cost the Knicks at least another $50 million. Yeesh! Isiah is smitten by Crawford, who's quick and can score in bunches when his shot's falling. He's only 24, and Crawford would be a refreshing change for a team loaded with players who have already peaked. Of course, the obvious question is why Chicago, which is hurting for talent, would give him up for next to nothing. The Bulls don't think he's worth the $8 million a year he wants. Maybe it's because Crawford's taking the slow route to maturity. He has battled with coaches, and because he doesn't share the ball, his Chicago teammates have grumbled. He should be real compatible with Stephon Marbury, another shoot-first guard who has maybe two friends in the Knicks' locker room. Dampier becomes desirable to a team that doesn't have a true starting center, a necessity now with Shaquille O'Neal in the conference. He was a rebounding machine in Golden State last year who nearly doubled his career average. But there's a catch: Dampier did this in a contract year. The last time he played well was also in a contract year. See the pattern here? Many teams have backed away for fear his next decent season will come four years from now. At least the Knicks are adding. The Nets are busy subtracting: Kenyon Martin, long gone to Denver; Kerry Kittles, traded to the Clippers for virtually nothing; and gone are any hopes of contending in the near future. Now that new owner Bruce Ratner is cutting costs, he shouldn't stop there. He should dump another expensive load: Jason Kidd. It makes no sense to bring Kidd back to lead a team he clearly doesn't like. If the Nets are going to lose games and see a drop in attendance, then what good is keeping Kidd? One year after they gave him $100 million, that contract is already a burden. Kidd is coming off knee surgery and will report to camp in a grumpy mood, two very bad signs. The longer they hold onto him, the harder it will be to trade him. In hindsight, the Nets shouldn't have paid Kidd if they weren't going to pay Martin and Richard Jefferson and keep the threesome intact. Basketball teams open camp in October, but based on the summer, you can bet this will be only a baseball town then. I thought this article was pretty fair. If it didn’t work in Phoenix with Nash and Stoutamire... it’s just not a winning formula. It’s an entertaining formula, but not a winning one. - Derek Harper talking about D'Antoni's System
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KNICKSdom
Posts: 20799 Alba Posts: 8 Joined: 1/17/2004 Member: #545 USA |
8/5/2004 11:30 PM
Islesfan's posts is like unintentional comedy. Funny stuff.
Knicks are happening and have a Unicorn.
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nykdunk
Posts: 20629 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 1/23/2004 Member: #570 USA |
8/6/2004 8:04 AM
Overpaying for mediocrity. Can't have it any other way in NY!
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Nets subtract, Knicks add = big losses