The Knicks Fix

Only an organization as dysfunctional as the Knicks with an owner as inept and impotent as Jim Dolan would retain Isiah in any capacity whatsoever and years of epic and colossal failure and ineptitude.

"Michael Tillery talks to Jermaine O'Neal for SLAM:

Michael: "I spoke to Ron Artest and I could genuinely tell that he misses playing with you, Jeff Foster, Stephen Jackson, and Jamaal Tinsley. He told me he messed up there by walking away from the team because he wanted to finish his career playing with you. What's your response to that?"

Jermaine: "First and foremost, Ron's a tough cover. He can post it up, shoot the three and put the ball on the floor. He's like a 4 playing the wing position. The decision he made was a decision he made. He's just like anyone else in life in that we all make mistakes. I've never held it against him. We had great teams (stares off). Honest to God I wish we won a championship together. I respect him as a man because no matter what I saw him away from the basketball court. You see it Mike, but most haven't and don't. I saw him with his kids. I know what type of father he is. I respect it because I have kids. I thought we had a core that could have won for many many years, but things happen. I wish him the best of luck. I know he's having a tough time out in Sac right now. Just reading some of his comments as of late I think he's&sometimes we have to have things happen in our lives to understand what we need to do to approach life. The key thing is learning from our mistakes, make adjustments and keep it moving forward."


Fixers, based on the interview shown above, here’s my ideal offseason:

1. Fire/reassign Zeke. I know, obvious first move right? Hey I’m being realistic, it’s obvious the organization is looking to keep Zeke around in some capacity or else Walsh wouldn’t be taking his sweet time making a decision on Zeke’s future. I’m all for due diligence but this here is a case of Code Red. Zeke can be reassigned to the scouting dept. where he will be the team’s “top scout evaluator” or some other fancy title that still makes him at least appear relevant, not to mention it looks good on his resume considering this is the last NBA job he'll ever secure.

UPDATE, #1 has been satisfied, so far so Great!!!!!!!

2. The basketball gods aka David Stern sees to it the Knicks land the top pick so they can draft Derrick Rose. If we don’t land a top 2 pick, trade the pick for an established vet who can play defense (see my #2 offseason move next)

3. TRADE FOR JERMAINE ONEAL. Send Marbury and Balkman(high character guy to entice Indy to take on “Starbury”, and it helps dislodge the logjam at SF here) or Marbury and this year’s lottery pick NOT #1 or #2 to Indy for J.O. J.O’s contract expires in 2010, right when LBJ, Wade, Bosh, etc. will be available so he fits into Walsh’s plan for the Knicks. This is a trade Zeke would have made last year if he had any type of repertoire with Bird the way Walsh has, instead he pulled the trigger on Zachary. If J.O. can stay healthy, and I know that’s a BIG if, he’s the interior defender they need to play alongside Curry. It’s a low risk award considering the years left on J.O.’s contract and the player we get rid of, even with the injury issues.

Yeah I say keep Curry if you can trade for J.O. cause J.O. compliments Curry better than he would Zach. I think Curry will thrive again (similar to how he did playing with Tyson in Chicago) alongside J.O. cause Curry can focus on scoring the way he likes to and he has a good help defender and rebounder in the post with him. J.O. doesn’t play the post similar to Curry/Zach and is a decent passer out of double teams, his basketball acumen and on-court leadership compared to Zach makes J.O. look like Aristotle. I can see Curry/J.O. competing with Garnett/Perkins if J.O. can stay healthy. Let’s face it, the only thing Zeke said all year that had any credibility was when he admitted that Curry may never be the defender/rebounder everyone would like him to be. But when he focuses on what he does best and has someone available to pick up where he is weak, it can work.

Why would Indy do this deal? Indy gets back the self proclaimed best PG in the league who although has had his share of injuries and is an enigma would still be an upgrade or worst case scenario insurance for Tinsley, it also gives Indy flexibility to trade Tinsley while getting a huge contract off the books in Marbury next year. Not to mention they get either Balkman, a young, high energy guy to back-up Granger or a top lottery pick (3-5) to help mold their core.

4. Sign Artest on a flyer, based on J.O.'s proclamation above it seems both he and Artest are open to a reunion. If Artest wants financial security give it to him but his contract must be built in with clauses and incentives based on his past. Such as he will receive x amount of dollars if he receives less than 5 techs all year. Or he loses x amount of dollars if he engages in any activity which violates any law or Walsh’s new media policy. This is a tricky one cause of Artest/Walsh/J.O's past history together in Indy, not sure if Walsh would be willing to go there again especially since the Knicks/Denver brawl but again if the risk/reward is kept low where Artest contract is limited to 2 years with a player option for a third and the contract is incentive-based, you get a top flight defender to shore up the next biggest weakness on the Knicks which is perimeter defense. It’s obvious Artest doesn’t want to go back to Sac and wants to play in NY, he may be willing to sign a contract which forces him to back up everything he says about playing here and turning things around.

5. Trade Zach for players whose contracts expire at or before 2010. Unfortunately due to salary cap restrictions the salaries must match so we have to take back close to a max paid player which I’m all for as long as the contract doesn’t extend past 2010. Convince Memphis to trade Kyle Lowery, Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal for Zach (works in ESPN’s trade machine)Memphis has been dying to get rid of Cardinal’s bad contract, and they’ve been trying to move Miller too. Cardinal’s bad contract is worth it to get Lowey to be the starting point until Derrick Rose is ready (which could be by mid-season), making Nate expendable in possibly another side deal somewhere before training camp. Maybe we trade Nate for a role player, or someone who’s contract is worth the team buying out. Cardinal and Miller’s contracts both expire in 2010, right in line with Walsh’s timeline.

5. Buyout Q Rich

6. Buyout Jerome James

7. Let Fred Jones walk. Randolph Morris too. Good luck to ya both.

There you have it, if I were the GM, “Ideally” this would be my 15 player roster 2008-09 Knicks. This team gives you a young veteran true point guard, interior and perimeter defense out your starting rotation while still retaining a lot of scoring power. Best of all it offers the potential for the kind of toughness we haven’t seen on the Knicks since the Oakley/Mason/X-Man days with the Artest/J.O. reunion in place. The bench is solid, with good rebounding and defense available as well as outside shooting to stretch defenses. Best of all there isn’t as much redundancy in player’s roles as the current Knicks where for instance we have Jefferies and Balk bringing similar skills to the table. I know this is all too optimistic especially when considering Walsh must also address character and image issues in this process, which is why selecting the right coach is imperative. The new coach must be someone the veterans will respect. I know there are still issues with this squad such as PG/SG depth, but its a start. Without further ado:

Starters

1.Lowery
2.Crawford
3. Artest
4. J.O.
5. Curry

Bench

6. Lee
7.Chandler
8. Jefferies
9. Miller
10. Rose
11. Collins


Inactives

12. Cardinal
13. M. Rose
14. Nate’s replacement
15. Summer League player/NBDL who's skills are interior defense and post play, mold him as the successor to J.O. or at least as a serviceable bench player down the road

"Michael Tillery talks to Jermaine O'Neal for SLAM:

Michael: "I spoke to Ron Artest and I could genuinely tell that he misses playing with you, Jeff Foster, Stephen Jackson, and Jamaal Tinsley. He told me he messed up there by walking away from the team because he wanted to finish his career playing with you. What's your response to that?"

Jermaine: "First and foremost, Ron's a tough cover. He can post it up, shoot the three and put the ball on the floor. He's like a 4 playing the wing position. The decision he made was a decision he made. He's just like anyone else in life in that we all make mistakes. I've never held it against him. We had great teams (stares off). Honest to God I wish we won a championship together. I respect him as a man because no matter what I saw him away from the basketball court. You see it Mike, but most haven't and don't. I saw him with his kids. I know what type of father he is. I respect it because I have kids. I thought we had a core that could have won for many many years, but things happen. I wish him the best of luck. I know he's having a tough time out in Sac right now. Just reading some of his comments as of late I think he's&sometimes we have to have things happen in our lives to understand what we need to do to approach life. The key thing is learning from our mistakes, make adjustments and keep it moving forward."


Fixers, based on the interview shown above, here’s my ideal offseason:

1. Fire/reassign Zeke. I know, obvious first move right? Hey I’m being realistic, it’s obvious the organization is looking to keep Zeke around in some capacity or else Walsh wouldn’t be taking his sweet time making a decision on Zeke’s future. I’m all for due diligence but this here is a case of Code Red. Zeke can be reassigned to the scouting dept. where he will be the team’s “top scout evaluator” or some other fancy title that still makes him at least appear relevant, not to mention it looks good on his resume considering this is the last NBA job he'll ever secure.

UPDATE: #1 Has indeed been satisfied, so far, so Great!!!!!!!

2. The basketball gods aka David Stern sees to it the Knicks land the top pick so they can draft Derrick Rose. If we don’t land a top 2 pick, trade the pick for an established vet who can play defense (see my #2 offseason move next)

3. TRADE FOR JERMAINE ONEAL. Send Marbury and Balkman(high character guy to entice Indy to take on “Starbury”, and it helps dislodge the logjam at SF here) or Marbury and this year’s lottery pick NOT #1 or #2 to Indy for J.O. J.O’s contract expires in 2010, right when LBJ, Wade, Bosh, etc. will be available so he fits into Walsh’s plan for the Knicks. This is a trade Zeke would have made last year if he had any type of repertoire with Bird the way Walsh has, instead he pulled the trigger on Zachary. If J.O. can stay healthy, and I know that’s a BIG if, he’s the interior defender they need to play alongside Curry. It’s a low risk award considering the years left on J.O.’s contract and the player we get rid of, even with the injury issues.

Yeah I say keep Curry if you can trade for J.O. cause J.O. compliments Curry better than he would Zach. I think Curry will thrive again (similar to how he did playing with Tyson in Chicago) alongside J.O. cause Curry can focus on scoring the way he likes to and he has a good help defender and rebounder in the post with him. J.O. doesn’t play the post similar to Curry/Zach and is a decent passer out of double teams, his basketball acumen and on-court leadership compared to Zach makes J.O. look like Aristotle. I can see Curry/J.O. competing with Garnett/Perkins if J.O. can stay healthy. Let’s face it, the only thing Zeke said all year that had any credibility was when he admitted that Curry may never be the defender/rebounder everyone would like him to be. But when he focuses on what he does best and has someone available to pick up where he is weak, it can work.

Why would Indy do this deal? Indy gets back the self proclaimed best PG in the league who although has had his share of injuries and is an enigma would still be an upgrade or worst case scenario insurance for Tinsley, it also gives Indy flexibility to trade Tinsley while getting a huge contract off the books in Marbury next year. Not to mention they get either Balkman, a young, high energy guy to back-up Granger or a top lottery pick (3-5) to help mold their core.

4. Sign Artest on a flyer, based on J.O.'s proclamation above it seems both he and Artest are open to a reunion. If Artest wants financial security give it to him but his contract must be built in with clauses and incentives based on his past. Such as he will receive x amount of dollars if he receives less than 5 techs all year. Or he loses x amount of dollars if he engages in any activity which violates any law or Walsh’s new media policy. This is a tricky one cause of Artest/Walsh/J.O's past history together in Indy, not sure if Walsh would be willing to go there again especially since the Knicks/Denver brawl but again if the risk/reward is kept low where Artest contract is limited to 2 years with a player option for a third and the contract is incentive-based, you get a top flight defender to shore up the next biggest weakness on the Knicks which is perimeter defense. It’s obvious Artest doesn’t want to go back to Sac and wants to play in NY, he may be willing to sign a contract which forces him to back up everything he says about playing here and turning things around.

5. Trade Zach for players whose contracts expire at or before 2010. Unfortunately due to salary cap restrictions the salaries must match so we have to take back close to a max paid player which I’m all for as long as the contract doesn’t extend past 2010. Convince Memphis to trade Kyle Lowery, Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal for Zach (works in ESPN’s trade machine)Memphis has been dying to get rid of Cardinal’s bad contract, and they’ve been trying to move Miller too. Cardinal’s bad contract is worth it to get Lowey to be the starting point until Derrick Rose is ready (which could be by mid-season), making Nate expendable in possibly another side deal somewhere before training camp. Maybe we trade Nate for a role player, or someone who’s contract is worth the team buying out. Cardinal and Miller’s contracts both expire in 2010, right in line with Walsh’s timeline.

5. Buyout Q Rich

6. Buyout Jerome James

7. Let Fred Jones walk. Randolph Morris too. Good luck to ya both.

There you have it, if I were the GM, “Ideally” this would be my 15 player roster 2008-09 Knicks. This team gives you a young veteran true point guard, interior and perimeter defense out your starting rotation while still retaining a lot of scoring power. Best of all it offers the potential for the kind of toughness we haven’t seen on the Knicks since the Oakley/Mason/X-Man days with the Artest/J.O. reunion in place. The bench is solid, with good rebounding and defense available as well as outside shooting to stretch defenses. Best of all there isn’t as much redundancy in player’s roles as the current Knicks where for instance we have Jefferies and Balk bringing similar skills to the table. I know this is all too optimistic especially when considering Walsh must also address character and image issues in this process, which is why selecting the right coach is imperative. The new coach must be someone the veterans will respect. I know there are still issues with this squad such as PG/SG depth, but its a start. Without further ado:

Starters

1.Lowery
2.Crawford
3. Artest
4. J.O.
5. Curry

Bench

6. Lee
7.Chandler
8. Jefferies
9. Miller
10. Rose
11. Collins


Inactives

12. Cardinal
13. M. Rose
14. Nate’s replacement
15. Summer League player/NBDL who's skills are interior defense and post play, mold him as the successor to J.O. or at least as a serviceable bench player down the road

ZEKE OUT!

I really hate the idea of isiah being on in any capacity, but i'm going to try to put a positive spin on this. haven't had much good news for my favorite team in a long time, so i want to enjoy this.

they're probably just keeping him on to do the right thing by him and make it easier for him to get a job in the future. and they don't want to negotiate a buy out after the drawn out process with brown.

as long as he's not the one representing us on lottery day, and as long as he never makes a meaningful decision for this team again, i'm happy.

positive spin 2 - if they suck next year, we can still chant, fire isiah!

This is total garbage and just exposes Donnie Walsh as another Dolan puppet. He doesn't have the autonomy that the dog and pony show tried to make us believe. And by doing this at 5pm on a Friday afternoon, he doesn't have the authority to change the media policy. This was completely unprofessional in how it was handled.

Donnie Walsh is useless if he thinks Isiah has anything to offer this organization. Complete BS.

The Knicks are completely dead to me now.

It'll be interesting to see how fooled the NY media is by this crap. I hope you aren't Alan.

Only a complete fool would think that Isiah is out.

No one wants Fat Zach or Lazy Eddy. Both are overpaid, underachieving, weak, malcontent losers.

No one will take the horrid, huge salaries of Jamal Crawford, Jared Jeffries, or Jerome James.

Jermaine O'Neal is a broken down loser.

Ron Artest is pure cancer.

Stephon Marbury is qualified only to flip pizzas in Siena. (That's in Italy, Possettes.)

Nate Robertson's an ESPN highlight junkie with no game.

Of course, I told you all this information a year ago and two years ago. Instead, you listened to Peaceman, knicksdefense, and a second-rate hockey writer.

This franchise is doomed, courtesy of Zeke, until the deals of Lazy Eddy, Crawford, and Fat Zach come off the books. And that won't happen until Fat Zach makes another six or seven midseason trips to check on his strip joints in Gary. (That's in Indiana, kids.)

Class dismissed.

Why are you posting things and then crticizing your own post? Trading for J. Oneal is a step backward. We need to develop our youth like D. Lee not bring in minute eating, fat contract, underachievers. We can bring in guys who make 1/5 the money but do the same things. I know it hurts people but we are not winning next year and don't need temporary solutions like Oneal, V. Carter, J. Kidd that will stump our futures.

Trading Curry and/or Zach will not be easy but a desperate GM (see Riley, Ferry, whoever is in Denver now) will always be willing to take the risk to palcate their stars.

For all posters who are angry that Isiah has a role in the Knick organization . . . Donnie Walsh neutered Isiah by leaving him with no title, and no direct reports. Because they still owe him millions, this is the most elegant and easy solution. Thomas will have no say, no power, and will likely resign at some point.

And good news, the Knicks won the coin flip today and have the fifth pick in the draft and a half decent shot at one of the first three picks.

I believe islesfan nailed it! Walsh is nothing but a cover for Zeke!
Imagine I make 3 million more than you as executives..and I report to you? You would have to be an idiot to believe that!

In other news....Larry Bird may be on the way out as the Owner of the Pacers has stated " he's now a Hands on owner since Walsh has left," Check it: http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10783004

That may mean we may swing a deal for Oneal and Give Ron Ron more incentive to come home! All we need now is Derrick Rose!

100% cosign on the puppet statement.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

there is a god.

sec11rowH said:

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

there is a god."

>>>>>>Couldn't have said it better. Amen.

@david.

what is this about a coin flip and winning the 5th pick in the draft i assume you meant 5th best chance to get the top pick). in any case, i thought the 5th and 6th place teams had equal (7.5%) chances of winning the top pick?

as a pathetic conspiracy theorist who cut his teeth on jfk/oswald/ruby, i can not ignore the "coincidence" of the pope's arrival and the false prophet's vanquishing from new york.

this much needed miracle can only be attributed to divine intervention.

yess zeke is gone.yesss.yess

roster makover itz gonna be hard....

You people are ignorant. Isiah isn't gone. He will be here when Walsh retires and return as GM after having "learned" from Walsh. This franchise is a disgrace to humanity, not only sports. It's over.

have to agree with george that isiah isn't gone. today is not a day to celebrate. today is a day to hate the dolans for destroying any kind of knick "pride" by continuing to ignore what is good for the knicks.

walsh is just a puppet, doing dolan's bidding.

KNICKS FIRE ISIAH.

Illusions for sale!
Let's break this whole Illusion down! Basically the logic a friend of mine stated!
Isiah is not coach because Isiah never wanted to be the coach. He wanted to help shape the team. Dolan is keeping him on and paying him $18 million to work with the old man who said "I will talk to Isiah a lot." All marketing moves. He's being stripped of titles to appease the fans, but he is still an integral part of the organization because he has the ear and respect of the boss.

" I should have done this years ago " ( Taken a hands on postion years ago)
stated Simon, the Pacers CEO and now Hands on Owner!

The quote from Simon refers to him believing he should have taken the reins from Walsh a long time ago. Walsh has had three straight failing seasons. He had his authoirty whittled away to an incompetent Bird. It's a ruse. Isiah knows he won. Isiah is not gone because he did what Dolan asked him to do all season long. He sat Marbury. He lost games. He was a good soldier. Bravo to Dolan. Like it or hate it..this is your New york knicks!

Section11RowH,

The coin flip today gives the Knicks a few more ping pong balls in the hunt for the top pick, AND if no one below the Knicks (including the Clippers) win one of the top three spots, then the Knicks pick fifth.

Its not like winning the lottery, but its better than losing the coin flip and ending up in the sixth slot.