|
bbaii
Posts: 20024
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 2/10/2005
Member: #869
|
Hey All,
I've been reading the forums here for a while and felt inspired to post on this subject since I, like everyone else here, I'm guessing, just wants a succesful Knicks rebuild with the help of some Ewing-draft-style ping pong ball luck and the development of our solid (but not great) rooks. I'm not certain I can stomach rooting for them to lose though.
Unfortunately, I go to school in Massachusetts, so I almost never get to see the Knicks play while I am here. I try to make up for this by reading lots of articles, recaps, analysis and stats as well as watching the GameCast and listening to a radio broadcast as available. It's just not the same though, I can't really get a sense of, say, Crawford's movement without the ball.
That said, I still think I have an idea about what I am talking about, and I think most people would agree with me when I say that we need to focus on building up our frontcourt. I say that with 3 caveats though:
1) Nazr Mohammad - Everyone seems down on Nazr on this board, more or less. He's not a great player, obviously, but he was having a near-breakout year for a while until the slide happened. Even still, he's averaging 11.1 PPG (with a .512 FG%) and 8.3 RPG in just 28.4 MPG. This is very solid stuff from a youngish (he's 27), running big man who gives us the closest thing to an inside presence on D on the team. I don't claim that he's a savior or even really good, but he's a solid player that I'd be happy to give time to.
2) Kurt Thomas - Poor Kurt. I don't know about how sluggish he is at this point, but Kurt's a seriously useful utility player. He's a very good rebounder (7th most 'bounds\gm in the league) and he's averaging a double-double at 11.5 PPG (on .474 FG%) and 10 RPG per game. And he does this all in 26.7 MPG. This is a career year for him. Plus, he always used to be a guy who always was trying hard. I can't say whether he is any more because I can't watch the games in this state, but it's hard for me to believe that he's getting 3 more 'bounds per game than his career average and not trying hard.
3) Jamal Crawford - People seem to like this kid, but I really don't. Isiah has a good eye for talent and I'm already writing off the year, so I am willing to be patient, but just look at his numbers and his shot selection (on the rare times I can watch a game) and it seems obvious to me that he's a black hole. He shoots .397 from the floor, which is awful, especially considering that he takes almost 17 shots a game. It makes me especially mad that he's averaging 1.5 less assists this year than he was at Chicago last year (and yet it's said
that he can reliably run the point in stretches). He shoots ok from beyond the arc (.356 ain't bad) and has hit some miracle game winners, but Tim Thomas hit one the other day and I'd still like to run him out on a rail. Crawford's young, athletic and fearless, these are good things, but he seems to be a huge drag on the team and I know he's generally a wasteful offensive presence.
Just as a point of comparison, while Jamal Crawford seems to be pretty well liked on the board and Kurt and Nazr are pretty disliked, it's Jamal who probably hurts the team most. As evidence, consider plus minus ratings: Kurt has a so-so net +/- rating of +2.0, Nazr's is a mediocre -0.9 (marginally worse than Kurt's rating). Jamal's rating? -3.3.
I'm not saying Nazr and Kurt should necessarily stay or Jamal should necessarily go, but I think we should recalibrate our sense of these players' values. I don't care how little one likes Kurt, he's worth keeping over acquiring Kwame Brown who's 6 feet and 11 inches of wasted basketball life or some similarly bad move (like a Jalen Rose pick up).
That said, Chad Ford's article mentioned a whole bunch of expiring contracts. Amongst them were 4 guys who seem worth looking at as potential pick ups to help improve the lineup. None of them will be saviors, but I do believe that all of them are useful.
1) Vlad Radmanovic - He's a young (24), athletic 6-10 PF who's averaging 12.5 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 30.1 MPG. Nazr's numbers are better almost across the board, but Nazr costs more than Vlad's piddly $2.3 mil. Moreover, Vlad's net +\- is second best on his team at 11.2(!!!)
Vlad apparently WANTS to leave, but the two catches with Vlad are that a) Sonics would be wise to resign him and b) Vlad's been getting a lot of attention and may wind up commanding an unfairly high price.
2) Ronald 'Flip' Murray - Remember this guy? He was a 'came-out-of-nowhere' powerhouse for the Supes while Ray was out last year? Guy was a monster and now he's cooled off and they don't play him. I think he may have been injured for a while BUT he only costs ~$700,000 AND he's a SG which would mean that we could still have a 3 guard rotation and rest Steph more (with Crawford sliding in to the PG role). I am pretty certain that Allan Houston's career is done, even though I am sure his salary will continue to be a pox on our house long after he's useful, so I think having a guy like Flip, on the off chance he blows up again, is a good call since, if nothing else, his cost is negligible and the Sonics have no particular reason to sign him as they hardly play him. I would love to see if we could coax him out from the Sonics before the trade deadline for Sundov or Brewer or something. Flip won't help our frontcourt (obviously), but he can't be less good than Moochie, has a cool nickname and he's cheap, even if he doesn't return to his play of the first half of last year.
3) Eddie Griffin - He's 22, 6-10 and getting 8 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 1.6 BPG out of 21.3 minutes. He has a +4.4 net +\- rating (3rd on the team). Also, he's currently getting under a mil. I thought I read that he's a bit of a headcase, but he wouldn't exactly be a big investment.
4) Bo Outlaw - He's 33, sure, but he's 6-8, costs under a mil and has an awesome last name. I'd rather have good old Bo than alcoholic, fat and useless Vin Baker.
None of these guys are THE answer, but they're out there, either as useful trading pieces if we can snatch them up for REALLY cheap or, if they play well, as utilty guys who have a great return for their money in terms of how well they play. I can't see the Knicks getting a superstar in the draft in the next decade or so (there's always a worse team) so I want to move the team in the direction of building a group of winners around Steph right now, trading for or buying the contract of a superstar who can play nice with Steph and the media.
Once we get that superstar, then we're a contenteder. To that end, picking up Flip and Griffin (esp.) would be solid, low-risk calls.
- Ben
|
2/18/2005 4:18 PM
