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a big Knick trasher (worst than the insiders)
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Topic Started: Aug 5 2004, 06:27 PM (114 Views)
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vdfebduderocks
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Aug 5 2004, 06:27 PM
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King of NYC
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ESPN Article
Please man, the Knicks don't care about hte salary cap and bad chemistry between players. You are an idiot Hughes!
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timotime
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Aug 5 2004, 06:41 PM
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So many writers complain about the state of the Knicks salary-cap wise, but none offer a possible solution to the problem. You know why? There isn't a solution. The Knicks will be stuck with layden's mistakes for a long time, and the Knicks two options are to begin a gradual rebuilding process will may take several years or build on the mess that's already here and make the best team possible given the limitations already in place. I'll take the latter anyday.
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Mattingly23
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Aug 5 2004, 10:56 PM
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- vdfebduderocks
- Aug 5 2004, 06:27 PM
ESPN ArticlePlease man, the Knicks don't care about hte salary cap and bad chemistry between players. You are an idiot Hughes!
Come on, you should know ESPN.com often has two columnists cover big stories, and give both points of view. Hughes might hate the moves, but Chad Ford loves them. Since it's an Insider article, I'll quote the Knick portion of the article:
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Isiah on verge of impressive overhaul By Chad Ford ESPN Insider
What Isiah Thomas wants ... Isiah Thomas gets.
With his owner writing blank checks and his town seemingly the No. 1 free-agent destination in the NBA, Knicks president Isiah Thomas seems to be on the verge of doing the impossible – completely rebuilding the cellar-dwelling New York Knicks in less than a year. Thomas has actively pursued free agents Jamal Crawford and Erick Dampier all summer and appeared to be close to signing both players on Wednesday evening.
Sources told Insider late Wednesday night that the long-rumored Crawford-to-the-Knicks trade is finally going to happen. On Tuesday night, both Thomas and Paxson agreed to six-player trade that would send Crawford and Jerome Williams to the Bulls for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski.
The trade was held up on Wednesday by Crawford's final realization (first reported in this space on Tuesday) that there was no way he could get the six-year, $55 million deal he was hoping for if the trade went down with those six players. Instead, Crawford had to agree to either a six-year, $45 million pact or a seven-year, $56 million deal. It's the only way the numbers would work under the CBA.
According to sources, Crawford and agent Aaron Goodwin infuriated the Knicks when they took a step back Tuesday evening after seeing the actual numbers. Goodwin has been pushing non-stop to make this trade happen for six weeks and has repeatedly badgered both GMs (including setting up a face-to-face meeting near O'Hare airport last week) to make something happen.
His last-second cold feet (he was really shopping Crawford one last time to see if he could do better) almost killed the deal. However, Goodwin claims that Crawford just wanted to "sleep on it" Tuesday evening and had verbally agreed to accept the Knicks' seven-year offer on Wednesday. According to Goodwin, the trade should happen either today or Friday once all the paperwork is signed and the league officially approves the deal.
The Knicks, however, aren't done. Sources in New York were confident on Wednesday evening that the Knicks were close to locking up free-agent center Erick Dampier. Dampier visited the Knicks on Wednesday and seemed resigned to the fact that he may have to accept the mid-level exception for one year to play in New York.
He also downplayed his interest in joining the Hawks, who have reportedly offered him a six-year, $50 million deal.
"You get to a certain point in your life where the money's not a factor; you just want to win," Dampier told reporters after his visit. "I think I'm at that point. I'm not getting any younger, and I want to be in the playoffs and have a chance for a world championship."
The move is a risky one for Dampier, who just turned 30. He's coming off the most productive season of his career, but he's had a history of injuries that make signing a one-year contract a huge gamble. Dampier opted out of a contract with the Warriors that paid $18 million over the next two years.
Although Dampier would be an unrestricted free agent next year by agreeing to a one-year deal with the Knicks, the team would still not be in a position to offer him anymore than the mid-level exception next year. With the collective bargaining agreement expected to change substantially this year, he may be unable to garner the same sort of deal next year.
The Knicks are still talking sign-and-trade with the Warriors, but once the Crawford trade goes down, it's unlikely Isiah can pull it off. The Knicks have been dangling Kurt Thomas and Nazr Mohammed to Golden State, but Warriors GM Chris Mullin hasn't been inclined on taking back the five years left on Thomas' contract.
The Hawks' deal, on the other hand, could be completed without a sign-and-trade and would give the Hawks a pretty decent front line of Al Harrington, Antoine Walker and Dampier. Forty-five million is an awful lot to leave on the table.
"Atlanta's in the rebuilding stage," Dampier said. "I've been at that stage for the last six years. I don't want to be in that position any longer. But I'll consider all options."
If Dampier agrees to accept the Knicks' mid-level contract, the Knicks should be in pretty good shape this year. The team is also on the verge of signing veteran forward Vin Baker with its $1.6 million exception and recently signed promising second-round forward Trevor Ariza to a multiyear deal.
Their lineup could end up looking like this:
PG: Stephon Marbury, Moochie Norris SG: Allan Houston, Jamal Crawford, Penny Hardaway SF: Tim Thomas, Shandon Anderson, Trevor Ariza PF: Kurt Thomas, Jerome Williams, Mike Sweetney C: Erick Dampier, Nazr Mohammed, Vin Baker
That's a major upgrade from the roster Isiah inherited from Scott Layden that included Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley and Frank Williams at the point; Houston and Anderson at the two; Keith Van Horn and Clarence Weatherspoon at the three; Antonio McDyess, Travis Knight and Sweetney at the four and Kurt Thomas, Dikembe Mutombo, Michael Doleac, Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes at the five.
The often-maligned Isiah Thomas deserves high marks for the work he's done this summer. For someone who's been very critical of Thomas in the past, I have to admit that, on paper at least, that's a very impressive upgrade. The Knicks' front line and backcourt are both rock solid. They have great depth. And, for the first time ever, the Knicks actually have several promising young players in Crawford, Sweetney and Ariza who they can develop.
In the East, I think that's good enough to get them a three or four seed (behind only Detroit, Indiana and possibly Miami) and make them a very dangerous playoff team. There will be issues with Houston's health and some serious chemistry problems to solve. But, if they pull all of this off and are successful on the court, Isiah will get some votes for executive of the year.
The knock on Isiah will be that he's now traded away all of his cap flexibility for the next century. The team's payroll next season will be a mind-boggling $103 million. Marbury, Houston, Crawford, Anderson, Kurt Thomas and Williams are all locked into huge long-term deals. However, Isiah still retains some flexibility. Next season, Hardaway, Norris, Tim Thomas and Mohammed are all in the last year of their contracts, giving him more attractive trading pieces if things don't work out this year.
And believe it or not, Isiah might not be done. While the Knicks will end up using all of their money this summer if they sign Damp to the mid-level, trades aren't out of the question. Thomas also has his eye on Vince Carter and has been trying to work out something with the Raptors.
Now that Crawford is in the fold and more than capable of being the team's starting point guard, would he consider moving Marbury to Toronto (wouldn't Stephon love that?) for Carter? It's the only trade the Raptors would even consider with the Knicks. There's also significant interest in Kurt Thomas throughout the league, though it's lessened somewhat by that huge extension he signed last year.
Entire article
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Mattingly23
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Aug 5 2004, 11:31 PM
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I just read Hughes' article (after reading Ford's). They both bring up good points. These moves could be a disaster, but I am trying to focus on how much better and exciting Isiah has made the team since he took over less than a year ago. I would have loved to rebuild a few years ago, but once they got Marbury, it meant they would continue to live in cap hell. Someday I'd love to be under the cap and be able to attract big name free agents, but it will probably never happen. If it's not going to, I'd rather be competitive as Isiah has made them, rather than the joke of a team they were under Layden towards the end of his stint as GM.
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MastaR316
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Aug 6 2004, 01:06 AM
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C-C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker
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Isaiah Thomas is probably one of the best GM. He is a liked person around the league and isnt a dumbass either. He knows talent when he sees it. Him getting Crawford, Marbury, and hopefully Dampier in 9 months is just too crazy to believe.
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Mattingly23
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Aug 6 2004, 04:05 AM
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- MastaR316
- Aug 6 2004, 01:06 AM
Isaiah Thomas is probably one of the best GM. He is a liked person around the league and isnt a dumbass either. He knows talent when he sees it. Him getting Crawford, Marbury, and hopefully Dampier in 9 months is just too crazy to believe.
His name is Isiah. He doesn't spell it like J.R. Rider did.
I don't know if Isiah is too liked around the league. I'm not sure where you got that one.
Lets see how all of his moves work out before we go ahead and consider him one of the best GMs in the league. He's acquired some nice talent, but he's also provided current and future cap relief to every team he has dealt with, so it's not like he stole the players. They need to all perform as a group now and actually win something. Anything less than the 2nd round of the playoffs will be a complete disaster and I am hoping for at least an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals to consider it a very successful season, which would mean beating out a quality team like Detroit, Miami or Indiana to get there.
Isiah has made moves Layden never could have made. Layden was useless though, completely useless. Other GMs could have done what Isiah has done. I like Isiah and think he's done a good job so far, but this is far from a championship caliber team yet, and just because he is A LOT better than Layden, doesn't mean he's one of the best GMs just yet.
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Strider
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Aug 6 2004, 04:36 AM
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Legend
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- Mattingly23
- Aug 6 2004, 04:05 AM
- MastaR316
- Aug 6 2004, 01:06 AM
Isaiah Thomas is probably one of the best GM. He is a liked person around the league and isnt a dumbass either. He knows talent when he sees it. Him getting Crawford, Marbury, and hopefully Dampier in 9 months is just too crazy to believe.
His name is Isiah. He doesn't spell it like J.R. Rider did. I don't know if Isiah is too liked around the league. I'm not sure where you got that one. Lets see how all of his moves work out before we go ahead and consider him one of the best GMs in the league. He's acquired some nice talent, but he's also provided current and future cap relief to every team he has dealt with, so it's not like he stole the players. They need to all perform as a group now and actually win something. Anything less than the 2nd round of the playoffs will be a complete disaster and I am hoping for at least an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals to consider it a very successful season, which would mean beating out a quality team like Detroit, Miami or Indiana to get there. Isiah has made moves Layden never could have made. Layden was useless though, completely useless. Other GMs could have done what Isiah has done. I like Isiah and think he's done a good job so far, but this is far from a championship caliber team yet, and just because he is A LOT better than Layden, doesn't mean he's one of the best GMs just yet.
:thumbup:
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MastaR316
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Aug 7 2004, 12:05 AM
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C-C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker
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- Quote:
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His name is Isiah. He doesn't spell it like J.R. Rider did.
Damn, It sounds as if you understood who I was talking about. Did adding the extra "a" really bother you? Jesus!
And with some of the moves hes made since he came here, it be surprising not to see him as a top 10 GM. Granted, I do agree that he still a long way to be in the likes of West and McHale, but it can be said that he is better than half of the other GMs in the leagues, who are complete morons.
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ItalianStallion19
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Aug 8 2004, 03:08 AM
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VC's to injury prone and Starbury's what makes this team run so that trade would definately suck for us
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FloydNbunch
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Aug 8 2004, 12:45 PM
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Does WrightNbunch sound good?
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Unless you could get a 3rd team involved and deal away Houston
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