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BigSm00th
Posts: 24504
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 12/9/2001
Member: #178
USA
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Here's an article I found by David Aldridge, which is somewhat soothing to know that this will all be over soon:
"I can't help it. I'm loving this.
Every day, someone with a Knick Allegiance comes up to me and says, 'What are they doing?'
I really love the New York sense of entitlement. Our team plays in New York; therefore, it should be winning; if it isn't, bring in someone who will make it win.
Don Chaney got an extension because no big-money coach can turn the Knicks around quickly.
It is very important, therefore, to Have A Plan in New York. If you Have A Plan, everything is all right. This is all I read about, the need to Have This Plan that will make the Knicks a title contender again.
Well, Gothamites, guess what?
There's no Plan.
Every team in sports stinks from time to time.
It's your turn.
There is no magic bullet, no savior that will change the fact that the Knicks are an expensive, ill-fitting mess, and they're not getting better any time soon. And I think that's why Cablevision gave Don Chaney a one-year contract extention in the face of his 12-27 record since taking over for Jeff Van Gundy. (Although why they did it now and not at the end of the season, or when they first hired Chaney, is a little odd.) It was a white flag, an acknowledgement that nothing is going to change the short term, and there is no point in continuing to throw money around looking for a miracle.
Which, if you think about it, is Kind of a Plan.
The Knicks are budgeted for $85.5 million this season, $89.4 million next season, $94.3 million in 2003 and $69.5 million in 2004 (when Mark Jackson, Travis Knight and Charlie Ward finally come off their bloated cap). They won't be under the cap until LeBron James is on his second NBA contract. They cannot sign any free agents because they will never clear enough cap room.
Scott Layden, it says here, is guilt of throwing good money after bad, and further saddling his team's long-term escape prospects. And he's guilty of believing David Falk, which wouldn't make him the first GM to make that mistake, only the latest. But, for fun's sake, let's take away the two major deals of his administration. One was Patrick Ewing, Chris Dudley and a first-round pick for Glen Rice, Luc Longley, Knight, Vernon Maxwell, Lazaro Burrell, Vladmir Stepania and two first-round picks. The second was Rice and Muggsy Bogues for Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson (Anderson on a sign-and-trade).
End result: Longley (still on the cap despite his waiver and retirement), Knight, Eisley, Maxwell and Anderson come off the books, to the tune of $20.6 million in savings this season.
The Knicks would still be way over the cap.
Add the salaries of Marcus Camby, Larry Johnson (like Longley, still on the cap despite his waiver and retirmement), Latrell Sprewell, Kurt Thomas, Othella Harrington and Ward together and you get $41.8 million. The cap is $42.5 million. And that $41.8 million doesn't count Allan Houston, whose cap charge is $12.75 million today. Even if we all agree Layden overpaid to keep him, he would have had to pay him something. Let's say it was $10 million per year (for a $70 million deal) instead of $14 million and change per. That still would put New York at $51.8 million this season. And that's just for six guys. Even minimal spending for another six to eight players would have pushed the Knicks' cap well in excess of $60 million this season.
My point is not that Layden hasn't made some bad moves, only that some of this was in place before he got there.
And even if you think Layden is the dumbest guy in the room, who, exactly, is supposed to turn this around? Larry Brown? Oh, that would work. Larry in Gotham, getting second-guessed every 17 seconds, with an old, expensive team that would roll its collective eye the first time LB talked about "playing the right way." Doc Rivers? Um, you might want to talk with Mrs. Rivers before you throw that stale chestnut out again. In Orlando, .500 is acceptable; Grant Hill's been hurt. In New York, .500 gets Vinny from Passaic railing to blowhard talk radio hosts.
Donnie Walsh? Let's see. In Indiana, he has a new building that he runs, solid ownership, a charismatic coach, ridiculously loyal fans and the best young talent in the league. In New York, he'd have…what was the question again? Jerry West? He hasn't worked anywhere but Inglewood, Calif., for 40 years. This may come as a surprise to you in the Most Important City in the World, but he has a nice life in Cali. He plays golf, he hangs out. I never say never, but there would have to be an awful lot of money involved to even get Jerry to think about it -- and by extending Chaney, you've kind of made it clear that you're not going to spend dollars like that.
The only thing the Knicks can do now is ride this thing out. No one wants any of their players, save Sprewell and Thomas, and not everybody wants them. I know you don't want to hear this, but couldn't it be time for the Knicks to be bad enough to get in the lottery and have a chance at some prime young talent? Prime, low-priced talent that can be locked up for five years? By which time most of these horrible contracts will have finally run their horrible course?
It may be difficult to come out and call that your Plan. In a place where you charge through the nose for your product.
If anyone comes up with something better, let me know.
ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS
THE TOP 10
1. Dallas
2. Sacramento
3. L.A. Lakers
4. Minnesota
5. San Antonio
6. Portland
7. New Jersey
8. Milwaukee
9. Detroit
10. Boston
THE BOTTOM FIVE
25. Denver
26. Atlanta
27. Memphis
28. Chicago
29. Golden State
THE MIDDLE FOURTEEN
11. Seattle
12. Utah
13. Philadelphia
14. Indiana
15. Orlando
16. Charlotte
17. Washington
18. Miami
19. Phoenix
20. Toronto
21. L.A. Clippers
22. New York
23. Cleveland
24. Houston
#Knickstaps
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