TripleThreat wrote:NardDogNation wrote:Melo didn't force us to trade two future all-stars (David Lee and Zach Randolph) and a perennial 6th man of the year (Jamal Crawford) in their prime for nothing. Melo didn't force us to give up the 9th pick in the draft and a valuable 2012 pick to dump one year of Jared Jefferies $7 million contract. Melo didn't force us into not buying draft picks. Melo didn't force us into signing Amare Stoudemire. What value did any of this provide us long-term? Because in retrospect, they seemed like blue chips that we badly played.But these are all things Walsh did, that left this team bare of assets and unable to muster enough value to trade for Chris Paul, sign Tyson Chandler outright and retain enough of a supporting cast to make it all worthwhile. Had we been just a bit more judicious with building our team, I think that core (CP3-Melo-Chandler) could've upset the Heat at least once during that 2010-2014 stretch.
Walsh was under specific marching orders from Dolan to clear as much cap as possible to try to open space to sign LBJ as a free agent. Many teams, not just the Knicks, tried to do that, as it was clear back then LBJ was flirting openly with lots of teams despite knowing he was going to the Heat.
Walsh was also overruled by Dolan in the comp package in the Melo trade.
Walsh did not have operational freedom to run this team as he saw fit. But not every GM has that. He was also pushed onto the Knicks by David Stern.
Rich Cho is an outstanding personnel/front office guy. But he worked for a long time for Michael Jordan. Rich Cho is only as effective as he is allowed to actually do his job. Jordan is an idiot. But the power structure means sometimes you have to do what you are told.
You are blaming Walsh for following marching orders from his ownership. But that's his job.
Melo did two thing to ensure Chris Paul had no chance to be a Knick. He forced a trade to the Knicks, gutting assets to the point where nothing was left to trade. At Chris Paul's wedding, he and STAT rubbed it in the owners' faces, including Pauls', about forming a new "Big Three" with Paul being a Knick, triggering an immediate trade situation the Knicks were not prepared to handle at the time.
Melo is an idiot.
Walsh is not an idiot. Dolan is an idiot.
How much of an idiot you get to be is a function of power. Walsh was a foot soldier, not a general.
There is no doubt that Dolan is an idiot but I think it was pretty clear that whatever magic Donnie Walsh had earlier in his career was gone by the time we hired him. The Pacers were clearly on a downward trend with him at the helm, having won 41, 38 and 36 games the season before we got him (and in that order). He had already been marginalized with Larry Bird assuming more managerial responsibilities and was thrusted upon us by David Stern in order for Simons to save face and not fire Donnie outright.
And while it might've been an edict to clear cap, it didn't mean that Walsh should've done so recklessly. As I intimated before, two of the four "bad" contracts we had were attached to productive players in the midst of their primes who would go on to be distinguished league-wide. Then there is the issue of the draft and how abhorrent he was at making worthwhile picks. In the end, there was very little about what Walsh did that was redeemable. And the rumor-mill of what he could've potentially done might be even more damning. I recall stories of him turning down an Eddy Curry-based trade for Chauncey Billups as well as a Jared Jefferies salary dump to the Kings that would've only cost Nate Robinson. If any of that is true, I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that Walsh might've been the worst executive we had under Dolan.
7/2/2018 5:20 AM