The Knicks Fix

Amen, Alan.

I was a little embarrassed at the crowd reaction last night. It's like they expected Stern to come out and announce that the Knicks traded Marbury and Jerome James for Rose and 4 additional first round picks.

Turning around this team isn't going to happen over night. And there wasn't any sure answer at #6 last night. I'm happy that they got a guy with good prospects in a relatively weak draft.

I'm also happy Walsh didn't make any Isiah-type draft night splash trades.

And after hearing Danilo on sports radio today, I kinda like the kid already. I think he'll play tough too, and soon become a crowd favorite. Remember, David Lee was also booed on his draft night.

You are 100% correct Alan. I was at the draft last night and was embarrassed by the behavior of Knick fans. They had no clue why they were booing Gallinari, and frankly, it was very unclear as to WHO they liked other than Mayo. But their behavior was amateurish at best.

No one knows if any of these players will be stars. What we know is that he was the best player in Europe. He's 19. He can shoot.
He can pass. He is tough. He goes to the hole and he gets to the line. And, the last thing the Knicks need is another combo guard.

Rebuilding -- which Knick fans have been yelling for, is ugly. Its slow. It's methodical. But it pays off. Isiah was flashy. Starbury.
Francis. Jalen Rose. Tim Thomas. ZBO. Curry. What do we have to show for all that? An average of 25 wins a season over four years.

I for one, am thrilled by the draft and look forward to a summer of further, smart, improvements.

thanks for helping to set these guys straight alan. i think this was the right pick. is it a home run? maybe not, but it is a great start down a long road, not the home stretch of a shorter one. and that's important to remember. danilo will be a very good knick for a long time.

i wish the knicks fans had not booed gallanari
that was in poor taste

with that said i still wish they
had taken joe alexander if they wanted a forward

as for the splash
all i wanted was an extra pick...even a 2nd rounder would have been nice
the nets got CDR in the 2nd round.

patrick ewing Jr went in the 2nd round

i was surprised we could not even get a extra pick

It's funny Vescey said that he had SMALL hands, I guess he lied again

Trade for Hinrich, he only started regressing after the Bulls fell apart and Skiles is a bully who always eventually engenders hatred from his players.

Let Jefferson deal with him

I wont argue against Alexander because outside of the top 3, he was my favorite in this draft... But Joe doesnt make anyone better and cant shoot the NBA 3... He gives you alot of what you already have in Chandler, but I do dig his game... The boy is bad, and is a hard worker, im sure they pondered picking him but Dino's passing and IQ had them sold... Plus they said he can shoot the lights out, The Nets tried to trade their 2picks to get him... So it wasnt like the Knicks were the only team with interest...

And Yeah the booing was in bad taste, but im sure it will motivate him, if he is anything like the say he is... The dude, has alot of work to do to win over NY...

@Kid

but is wilson chandler 100%?

i have not heard anything on his status...

Taking Ryan Anderson Lite with the 6th pick is a sick freaking joke.

Not buying picks later in the draft when they were available is a sick joke.

Allowing David Lee to dictate trade offers which would have gotten them OJ Mayo is a sick joke.

The New York Knicks, Donnie "Golden Parachute" Walsh and Mike D'Antonio's "System" are sick jokes.

One thing about Lee - You CANNOT trade him for Steve Blake, a 28-year old stopgap who averaged 8 and 5 last year. If it's Blake + more coming back from Portland (Webster), then maybe it's something you think about. But Lee-for-Blake straight-up would be a terrible trade for the Knicks.

@The Kid - Along with what you were saying.. I like that he seemed bothered by the crowd reaction, at least. Seems like the boos will motivate him.

But I really think they'll turn to cheers pretty quickly. I think he'll be the hustle type of player that the Garden loves, and he seems like he's a guy that would really feed off of the crowd in a positive way.

Plus, the draft night seats are filled with people just looking to boo at anyone they can.

Like, why boo Stern? He pretty much forced Dolan to finally get rid of Isiah. He's definitely got the best intentions for the Knicks. It's not like we're in Seattle. I really don't get why they'd boo him so much.

Draft night fans aren't the high b-ball IQ fans the Knicks are known for. They should've booed Riley louder, they should've cheered Walsh, D'Antoni. They could've even got in some "Boston sucks" or some other more creative chants.

i think the pick was a mistake, i would have gone for augustine, but of course i am not qualified to make these decisions.

however, given the amount of trade activity and pick sales, and given the value of the david lee trade commodity, i am disappointed that no deals were made that would have moved us into position for mayo, and/or a late first/early second pick. there were a number of talented player picked at that part of the draft who could have well helped the knicks.

maybe galinari will turn out to be great (i have my doubts, the difference in athleticism between him and alexander is shocking), but as for my draft grade, based of creative thinking, i give walsh an F.

I am a little down on Walsh

all his history and draft experience
you mean to tell me he could not
pick up even a 2nd rounder?

geez...a 2nd round pick

there were teams buying 2nd round picks and
1st round picks.
where were the knicks?

san antonio sent out e-mails saying their 1st round and 2nd round draft picks were for sale(straight cash)

to me it does not bode well for future trades and moves

if we can't pick up a 2nd round pick
how in the hell are we gonna trade zach randolph?

ode to trane
who got off the plane
only to find
that donnie walsh
had lost his mind.

sec11/nyc2 - you guys are too harsh. draft experts who know the real value of the knicks assets, know the potential of the players in the draft, and know what types of deals were out there for the taking gave walsh an a-

we know walsh was very active in shopping lee and looking for a trade. if there was nothing out there that worked, i give him credit for not just jumping to make a trade just to make a trade.

it's easy to say he should have done this or that, but he really has hardly anything to work with.

we have the whole summer. give him some time to do his job.

i know i'm sounding like walsh's pr guy today, but i really think he did what he could, and is taking smart, calculated moves to make this team better.

I don't know the rule about buying picks but I don't think you can just by them, I thought I heard there was a future pick included. If that is the case, I would not have done it either unless it was for Dorsey, I could be wrong about buying picks though.

@ Matt. The draft fans (yes I was one) are smarter than you think. You boo Stern because he suspended half our team when we played Miami likely costing us a championship that year. Why we didn't boo Riley louder I don't know but I def booed him. I did not boo the kid (meaning from the beg of the draft when they showed his face on the screen) but I did boo the Knicks selection b/c it made no sense. Most fans were gone by the team the Celtics picked b/c we didn't have another selection. During a commercial though they showed a Boston highlight video and there was a huge Boston Sucks chant. Don't turn on your fellow fans my friend, we are reasoned just not always rational.

gallinari is a good pick. go youtube.

he's got size, range on his shot, a handle, and he hustles. he was whoopin in the euroleague, and he's 19!!!

I would've like to have gotten mayo, but minny wanted Love, and they got him. That's why we didn't trade them Lee.

I agree we should've gotten another pick somewheres, nabbed Chalmers maybe... but yeah man, this is just the start.

Gallinari is gonna be great for D'Antoni. He's gonna be like what Boris Diaw should've/could've been, but with better skills. He'll prolly bring the ball up, and initiate offense, letting our chuckers be chuckers (until they're traded!!!).

@anonymous

i am not talking about trades
i am talking about picking up an extra pick or 2

san antonio was selling their picks for straight cash

no trade involved...just benjamins

we need new blood

with all the moves last night for extra picks
how come the knicks were not involved?

alot of those draft experts love walsh and will kiss his butt
but i think i am being fair

how come the knicks who have more money than god
can't use their money grab a couple of 2nd round picks?

everyone knows the draft is a crapshoot
when you are hunting you want as many bullets
in your gun as possible

joey dorsey would have looked nice in a knick uniform
he went in the 2nd round

K4L - If you booed Stern for the suspension in Miami, then I commend you. I just have a feeling most people boo cause they think it's like the thing to do. (also though, i'm glad to hear about the boston sucks chant.)

No disrespect meant.. I'm sure that you were among a bunch of other true Knicks fans with a high b-ball IQ in the crowd.

I do completely disagree though with booing the pick. Not only is it a poor welcome for a guy that's going to be on your team (i liken it to the parents of a teenager giving birth to a mistake booing the baby in the delivery room), but in this case, D.G.at the very worst is equally as much a crap shoot as anyone else on the board at that point. Why boo it? Cause you disagree with a group of basketball experts who watched the kid play in person, whose jobs depend on how good he'll be?

If he sucks a few years from now, boo him all you want. And if he can't help the Knicks and they're still stuck, boo Walsh all you want. But it just doesn't make sense to me to jeer that pick.

NYC 2 I- sorry, that anonymous was me forgetting to put my name. i just think that if getting a second rounder was as easy as spending dolan's cash, then we'd have one. it doesnt work like that...

**alert** donnie's agent posted at 4:06pm.

@ nyc2infinity - not for nuthin' but i also wanted a 2nd rd. pick last night. we have a bench full of forwards. we could've done SOMETHING. at least offer a jeffries/mardy collins combo to someone for a mid 30's pick....ok maybe im reaching there.

prowler, that anonymous was me. lol, sorry..

im really trying to just look at this as fairly as possible. look at the s Walsh has to try to shovel onto other teams. its like he's at the store, ready to spend, but the poor guy's got monopoly money.

its easy to say he could do something, but think about it a step further...

mardy's a d-league all star, and jeffries has a HUGE contract considering his productivity.

Cheer up Boys, the Chinese would find Gallinari to be an auspicious pick:

from Wikipedia:

Eight
The word for "eight" in Chinese (Pinyin: bā) sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 - short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, eg Cantonese "baat" and "faat".
There is also a resemblance between two digits, "88", and the shuang xi ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 (xi, 'joy', 'happiness').
Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
The Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to open on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08 p.m.[2]
A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for 1.12 million yuan.[2]
Dragon Fish Industry in Singapore, a breeder of rare Asian Arowanas (which are "lucky fish" themselves, and, being a rare species, are required to be microchipped), makes sure to use numbers with plenty of eights in their microchip tag numbers, and appears to reserve particularly numbers especially rich in eights and sixes (e.g. 702088880006688) for particularly valuable specimens.[3][4]

From ESPN:

"Unlike Kobe Bryant, who used to wear No. 8 in honor of D'Antoni, Gallinari's choice of the number had nothing to do with his new coach. He picked it for his birth date -- Aug. 8, 1988."

So Gallinari's birthday is 8/8/88, and he wears no 8. The only thing that would have made it more auspicious would have been to draft him number 8. And, oh yeah, 2008 is the Year of the Rat - the beginning of the Chinese Horoscope Cycle - an auspicious year for new beginnings and projects.

So be of good cheer, the gods may finally smile upon us; you can't stay on the bottom forever.

Under that logic Matt should Knick fans have cheered the Frederick Weiss selection? Or Balkman over Marcus Williams and Rondo? Trading our pick, and Camby, and M. Jackson for McDyess? If you disagree with a pick/move you can't just stay silent or cheer mindlessely. I agree that you don't cheer a guy getting hurt, you don't boo a kid in another teams jersey, you don't boo Marburry when he comes back after his father's untimely and tragic death, but if your team makes a personnel move you don't like I think that's fair game. Again I wasn't booing DG the person, when his face was on the screen and when he walked past us I did not boo him because that would have been directed at him, I just wanted the Knicks organizaion to know they had screwed up.

I am a Knicks fan though. The first game of the season I will be cheering him and pulling for him to succeed for the good of my team. I may even buy his Jersey. I hope he is as good as everyone says but I don't think it was a wise move for the future of the team (5 SFs, waiting on Lebrona SF, passing on Bayless).

K4L - you make a good point about all the SF's on the team, but none of them are good. trade em, wait for their contracts to expire, and start from scratch with fresh talent...

and this was a different scenario than those other years (which I agree with you, all deserved boos) this time, the knicks didn't pass on anyone that you could definitively say is gonna be better.

maybe we just disagree about the potential of bayless...

Yeah I think our disagreement stems from my belief that Bayless will be a very solid if not star potential scoring PG. If Bayless had been taken at 5 by Memphis, I would have wanted to trade down.

@NYC good question... What is up with Chandlers' status... We are gonna need to get Alan on that... Hopefully he is good...

But I'm one who agrees with everyone who feels like the Knicks should have gotten another draft pick, Donnie should have bought the Hornets pick and he wouldnt of have to worry about trading for one draft night... Almost every team traded a pick last night, 1st round or second... How come Donnie couldnt make it happen, Pat Riley got Chalmers for 2 future second round picks, which figure to be lower than the Knicks... I'm not getting that...

http://nyer.sosblog.com/KNICKS-FANATICS-1-b1/I-M-DREAMING-OF-A-WHITE-CHRISTMAS-b1-p55673.htm

thanks for the numerology willis, it does lighten my load a bit.

@The Kid

thats what i mean
the heat traded for chalmers by promising two future 2nd round picks

the draft was too deep not to try and get another pick
i saw alot of talent from the ncaa tournament
that could have helped the knicks

walsh has been in the league too long not
to be able to swing a 2nd round pick

I don't at all care for this pick. If they couldn't get any of their top three guard targets as they didn't, they should have moved this 6th pick for cap relief and future picks or one of the two. Why are we using this pick? Ok, now all of the sudden Lee who doesn't start becomes expendable and Danilo will start when Lee couldn't? Is Danilo supposed to be that much better than Lee? Hard to believe. So basically the Knicks didn't address either major goal with this pick. They didn't clear cap space for 2010 and Lebron run, and they didn't get much better to help attract him to the team. Again, why in the hell didn't we just trade out of the first round and maybe get a 2nd rounder this year for a player or a future 1st rounder? Just stupid. You hear people comparing this guy to Kukoc but then now people are trying to pump him up so the pick doesn't look that bad.
Come on. It's just like how Bayless was said to not even make it to the Knicks, then all of the sudden everyone is saying hes a one-dimensional player. Wouldn't that have been obvious before and we're expected to believe a matter of months changed this?
Garbage.

I was at the draft last night and the people that booed are morons who never even heard of Gallinari and don't know anything about him. He was the best available at that spot besides Bayless IMO and he has the most upside out of everyone else picked the rest of the way. I don't know what kind of player he will be. Nobody knows. It's the start of rebuilding. It's time to be patient. You're not getting an all-star at 6, not in this draft.

NY will embrace Dinillo "The Rooster" Galanari if he can flat out ball. We don't care if he was from Guam. If he got game then he will hear great cheers for a long time to come at MSG.

I have to admit I was angry that we didn't pick up a second round point guard (Chalmers would have been a steal) but then I knew we didn't have an Isiah night were blockbuster trades and mistakes happen. I really hope this means the beginning of the end of the Isiah team that he assembled.

I would use him interchangeably from shooting guard and small forward. If he will be a center piece in a revamp uptempo offensive juggernaut I'm with it. We need to show Boston and the NBA that we will once again reclaim a title back to NY soon.

@George

Joe Alexander was the best forward available

i think the only reason they took gallanari
was d'antoni's background with his father

Bayless and Joe Alexander are much better players

i trust the college system more than the euro league system
you got to bang over here in the NBA
gasol got eaten alive by boston's bigs

how do think gallari will do guarding paul pierce?
carmello anthony?
if you play him at the 4 he is going to bang against garnett?
chris bosh?

the knicks are soft enough
the last thing they needed was another finesse player
we need a banger...

joe alexander is tough and he was not intimidated by any of the teams in the big east

when all things are even go american
joe alexander was the best player available after westbrook

One thing to note, our summer league team is better than our actual team. Why can't we get some of those players? We were undefeated in meaningless games.

* Walsh's best move so far = making Isiah Thomas VP of Toilet Maintenance at Penn Station

* Coach = ?

* Draft pick = ?

This time next yr., we'll see what progress we've made.

PeteNY

you are prejudice for writing off a player you've never seen before.

according to the scouts, the appropriate comparison for gallinari is turkoglu, you may have heard of him. he's on the magic, a team that has whooped new york's ass in recent years.

you take the best player available. walsh and the knicks decided gallinari was the best player available. d'antoni had a big part in this decision.

if you don't like it, there's always the brooklyn nets.

i put up with Isiah's garbage for YEARS. people don't even give walsh a new york minute around here.

that's garbage to me.

MAK, what are you talking about? What progress? Gallinari wont be an all-star in one year and the Knicks will suck next year regardless. In a few years if contracts are cleared out we can come to a conclusion. But by next year? No. It's called rebuilding. Patience is virtue.

Hey Guys,

Let's give Walsh a time. An Gallo will be great. I trust in D'antoni. He made Boris Diaw the best 6th man in the NBA in 2006. That means the guy can coach. C'mon, Don't be xenophilis. Just because he isn't american, he can't play? Say that to Nash, Novitzki, Kukoc, Detlef Schrempf. Cmo'n man, half of NBA teams (including our beloved NY KNICKS) cannot win a game agaisnt CSKA Moskow, Tau Ceramica, Olympiakos. And you say Euroleague is worst than NCAA? Maybe that's why USA Team cannot win a single championship since 2000 Sidney Olimpic Games? No man, Euroleague is strong and Gallo was the best young player. Of course he need to develop, because NBA rules are diferent. The pace of the game is different. But he will be a hack of a player.
He will be better than Bayless. (one dimensional).

You say we have a lot of SF, but Bayless is the solution with Crawford, Nate, Marbury in the team? Yeah, Stephon Marbury, former know as "Get to the truck" will be our starter at PG position. So bayless woudl e useless.
Gallo (Rooster) will be a great player in D'Antoni system. That's the truth.

No idea how this formula works, but dude says Gallinari will be a player in the league:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3460365&name=hollinger_john

Take it or leave it.

I want to see commercial putting Danillo Galanari (Knicks) vs. Andrea Bargnani (Raptors). The rooster should win that one.

i have been checking out a few of the other knicks blogs today, and they are pretty much filled with inanity. comparatively, looking through the above postings, it is truly commendable how informative and insightful almost all of the contributions are. this is a great community of knick fans here, and i am proud to be part of it.

Thanks for the ode, Sec 11. I don't think Walsh has lost his mind. I'm just a little sorry he played it as safe as he did. You can argue we're a better team today than we were yesterday. I have no problem being patient with Walsh. Yet, as many others have mentioned, it seemed there were options for him, in both the first and second round. I'm a little mystified why he couldn't pull the trigger for another pick. Maybe it goes against his old school style to use Dolan's money to just buy a pick. I say, what else is Dolan good for? SPEND. If that's what it would have taken to get another pick.

But it's over now. Let's hope D'Antoni got the guy he wanted. AND let's hope he's a little better at nurturing his young talent than Isiah was.

I've tried to zoom through other picks, trades, etc. Any big surprises that I missed? I didn't see any?

i count 11 guys that deserve minutes next year. instead of having a fire sale this offseason, bring everyone to camp and say the goal for the first half of the season is to assess the roster. everyone gets a role, everyone gets minutes to show what he can do. at the trade deadline, find spots for guys in other organizations if there are no minutes to be had in NY.

maybe that means having Gallinari and Chandler playing on alternate nights; DNP one night, 30 minutes the next. same with balkman and jeffries, since they have essentially the same skill set. the goal at the trade deadline would be to move guys for picks and cap room, and to rearrange the roster to a manageable 9-man rotation.

of course, if you tell everyone that you're spending the first 50 games showcasing the roster, that means you're not focused on winning, which may not be the way to start the d'antoni era.

but, a team may be willing to package a No. 1 pick with some junk for marbury to have his scoring down the stretch.

jamal will likely put up nice numbers (maybe as much as 25 ppg?), which means he'll opt out. i doubt DW wants to pay him the $10M he'll get in the open market, so a deadline deal seems likely.

the goal should be to increase value in the first half of the season. seems scandalous to suggest it should be anything other than winning, but this organization is in shambles.

Guys, I'm an italian knicks fan.
I can tell you that Gallinari is a great pick. I watched him play nearly every week and not only on tv. He can shoot with na wide range, he passes the ball, he rebounds, he can play both small and power forward, and is more atlethic than he looks like. Ok, he's not Michael Jordan, but he's gonna be a great player...

Unfortunately many members of the crowd that were assembled for the draft were more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Some of those idiots would have booed Santa Claus. Gallinari is a good pick. I've coached in Australia for over 30 years now. There are some very good international players and he might be the best. I'd rate him higher than Bogut (and I'm Australian). So relax and let Walsh do his job and show a little support for the new administration.

Banjo -
That's what I've been waiting for. I was happy to get a lot of these players, unhappy with how zeke made a team out of them. 11 guys you say, that's competition at every spot on the floor. D'Antoni and Walsh don't owe nobody nothing. Everybody plays their guts out to stay on the floor, the best man wins. If your too fat, too slow, too stupid, or too selfish; you're giving another guy an opportunity. The practices should be harder fought than the games. And with the parity among players, D'Antoni's penchant for putting anything on the floor, nobody, NOBODY, has any excuse to not play as fast and as hard they can. No need to worry about fatigue, the next man has your back: have a seat, grab a gatorade, and get ready to strap em on again. I just hope he has these guys scrambling on D as well.

Thank you Paolo and Aussie Gary for your thoughts on Gallinari. Yours are the only two in this thread that are from people who actually saw the kid play. Everyone else is basing their opinions on the fact that:

a. he is European (totally forgetting some of the great talent in the NBA from outside the US).
b. he is not Mayo. (The Knicks tried to move up but could not)
c. Walsh did not pick up an additional pick (this is called draft day-itis. Guys who won't make a roster look good on draft day. Why trade a future pick (see Nichols) for someone who likely won't make the roster.

We are rebuilding. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes smarts.

The Gallinari pick was a start. Letting Marbury melt away is the next best move. The team is in good hands and will make progress. However, we'll likely be back in the lottery next year, even if the Knicks win an additional 10 games in 2008-09. But that is truly okay.

From Draft Express:

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/2008-International-Draft-Overview-2954/

2008 International Draft Overview
by: Luis Fernández - Director of International Scouting
June 28, 2008

Gallinari, the Italian Connection

Only a few months ago you would have never bet on the Knicks taking an international player this early in the draft. Seems like the Weis stigma still lasts, while the culture around the team doesn’t seem the most friendly towards finesse players, which even if a stereotype, is kind of a typical attribute among overseas players (ironically, Weis is not a finesse player by any stretch of imagination).

Actually, despite the aforementioned improved overseas scouting, the NBA is yet to fully adapt to the international influx, and still we find international-friendly teams and a few others very adamant when it comes to adding a foreign player. And I honestly don’t think it’s always a matter of being a good fit or a bad fit in a certain game style.

Anyway, back to the Big Apple, enters Donnie Walsh, follows Mike D’Antoni and arrives Danilo Gallinari, the sole international lottery pick in this draft.

The connection between D’Antoni and Gallinari has been generously voiced: the Knicks coach shared team with Danilo’s father, Vittorio, back in the eighties, when Olimpia Milano dominated Europe (the great Bob McAdoo joined them too).

Now, many can think this is a sentimental pick, or something similar.

Wrong.

Gallinari is for real, an excellent basketball player-- talented, skilled and competitive. He’s a good kid, a good teammate and a winner. You know, the kind of assets the Knicks are overloaded with, right?

Besides, looking around the draft reviews, it’s worth mentioning that Danilo’s defense is significantly underrated at this point. He’s not the quickest player around, but he enjoys better lateral quickness than he’s given credit for. This past season, officiating as the team’s go-to anchor, Gallinari didn’t put much emphasis on defense, but the previous campaign he proved capable of staying in front of most wings, even significantly smaller ones than him.

Of course we might end up finding better players picked after the Italian, but he brings very nice value at the sixth spot.

Two points before I focus on family - it's Gracie's Christening Day!
1 - Wilson Chandler's status for the Summer League is uncertain. He only recently was cleared for workouts after that scary knee injury in the second-to-last game of the season. I'll try to get more on that this week.
2 - I'm glad to see Fixer Nation does it's homework (unlike some other media outlets) and knows Danilo's real nickname is "The Rooster" and NOT that silly, cliche "Italian Stallion" moniker some people are trying to attach to him. (Side note: my family name also means "The Rooster," but in German.
Have a good weekend.

I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news.

>Walsh said he got a strong recommendation from former coach
Isiah Thomas after a European scouting trip, citing Gallinari's poise in crunch time at such a young age.

"Basically at the end of games, they gave him the ball and he made the plays," Walsh said. "For a guy that's that big, that's unusual."

After looking at his stats for Milan I am intrigued by the number of steals he has for a big man. He has more steals than any of our players. He blocks more shots than any of our players. I like his hustle stats. If he knows how to create steals he can be an asset on the defensive end. Especially on helping one of the worse transitional defensive teams in league history. I wouldn't be surprise if he gives the old # 8 tamahalk dunks that Spree gave us from time to time.

If Danilo Gallinari's name was Daniel Gallison from UCLA, everyone would love this pick. This is a 6'10" multi talented player who is tough, mature and has a high basketball IQ. Watch the youtube clips. He can handle the ball, he can shoot and has very good court vision. He's not Vince Carter athletically but so what? Give me a player with basketball skills over some athletic freak. If you followed college ball this year, you really cannot complain about this pick.

Jerryd Bayless is the second coming of Stephon Marbury. He's a terrible playmaker. Just watch some Arizona games. There will be some this weekend on ESPNU. Watch Bayless try to run a halfcourt offense. He's horrible. He'll be a 6th man combo scorer. And Eric Gordon is another overrated player. He's not as good a shooter as they say he is. He has no mid-range game either. And he doesn't rebound, defend and he simply cannot run a team as a PG either. He panics when he's pressured and he immediately gives up the ball. The only players I might have taken over The Rooster would have been Joe Alexander or D.J. Augustin. That's it.

These next few month's will be torture leading up the season. It's no secret Donnie Walsh needs to trade and get rid of as many players as possible but it won't be easy.

David Lee is due to be traded imo. I think a trade for Raymond Felton makes a lot of sense for both teams. Felton is no Steve Nash but he's a solid young PG who can still improve. And Lee obviously doesn't fit with the new regime.

Zach Randolph could also be traded but it will be for another player with an equally bad contract. Someone like Michael Redd or Kenyon Martin.

So the summer goals are simple - 1) get a new PG, 2) get rid of Randolph

If Donnie does one thing I would put his name on the exec of the year list.

Trade Lazy Eddie and get something out of the deal. I don't care if it a better water boy out of the deal.

One thing I think needs to be pointed out is that I don’t think they can get rid of both Lee and Randolph this year because they won’t have enough rebounding to win anything let alone start a fast break.

Curry can’t board and that is not one of Gallinari’s strengths at this stage.

They need to get rid of Zach’s contract, but they probably aren’t going to get a good PG back in return.

Lee is their only valuable trade asset, but if you move him for a PG, you are stuck with Zach for at least another year.

I’m not sure how they get out of this pickle.

Just some thoughts,

Everyone assumes that Lee will be gone in a trade. Next to Zach he is our best per minute rebounder, and unlike Zach and most of our other incumbents, he seems to give a crap. I think you have to go with him. He is our best asset in a trade, but he is also our best asset for the roster. If he wants too much to re-sign, then you deal with it at that point. You do a sign and trade for picks and a trade exception or you let him walk.

D'Antoni is said to take the best five on the roster and build around that. Assuming you trade Lee for Felton (principals in any trade for example), Who is going to rebound the ball? You are either stuck with Zach who most people agree has to go, or you have to play your best rebounder at the small forward spot, which would be Balkman who can't shoot.

Of course I am assuming they will play Gallinari at the 4 spot as they said they will. If you are looking at Curry at center and Gallinari at small forward, even if Curry comes into camp in the best shape of his life and ready to run, you need Lee to rebound.

If Lee goes in a trade and we end up with an opening night front court of Gallinari, Curry and Zach that would be horrible. We know where the Curry-Zach tandem takes us. Or worse if the rookie sits and we start out with Curry, Zach and Q. With Lee gone, that's our best three frontcourt players, whether they play well together or not.

As for Gallo,

I'm willing to give him a shot before I call it a bad pick. I would have rather had Rose or Mayo, but that wasn't going to happen. We may have gotten a steal at number six. We won't know until he matures. I don't think you are going to look at any of the guys who were picked after him and really say "wow I wish we could have picked him instead." Maybe Brook Lopez or Darrell Arthur. I think those guys will now have a huge chip on their shoulder and try to prove everyone wrong. (did I see Lopez get teary?)

To Danillo, if he bulks up a little (not too much), he should be fine.
Someone here mentioned how he won't be able to body up with guys like Garnett and Bosh. I disagree. Bosh, when he came into the league was one dimensional. No I don't mean his game. I mean his body. He was so thin he only had one side. If he turned sideways he disappeared. Same as Garnett when he came into the League. Bosh put on some pounds quickly, but Garnett took a few years to get stronger. Neither on of them are heavyweights today though. This seems to be the way the power forward position is going. Gallinari may end up being a prototypical modern day 4 when he's done growing and filling out.

Sergio, with all due respect, Marbury used to be a real point guard unlike Bayless or any of the other jokers in this draft.

PS Alan your posting system is effin retarded.

Alan if you were French would you be Alan Cocque?

start dreaming:

http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/rickyrubio.html

now that we are through the draft, our situation and needs start to come into clearer focus. BOKONON makes a good point that if lee is traded, who is going to go get the ball? CURRY? we all know that that is an impossible joke. surer Z-BO can get, it, but in point of fact, getting rid of his contract should be the number one priority for this franchise. we must keep our eye on the prize: rebuilding, not retooling.

i say we keep LEE for this year, his trade value will go up, not down, as he enters restricted free agency a year from now. plus, i believe that under d'antoni he will put up tremendous numbers, which will make his sign and trade number skyrocket. let MARBURY run the point this year. no one hate this dude more than me, but the fact is that he is more than capable of doing the job, and his motivation to salvage his career (and secure one more big payday) will be extremely high. so many bad things and bad feelings swirl around this jerk that is is difficult to keep in perspective his skills: he can shoot the rock and he has a great handle. i like FELTON, but i think we can get more for him if we are patient (i am not endorsing this deal, but for instance, DUHON and a 1st rounder in 2010).

if we can trade CURRY, god bless, but the most important thing we can achieve this off-season is dumping Z-BO'S contract, as it runs a year longer than eddie's, and for more money per. how about Z-BO for ODOM,who's contract is much shorter? honestly, i think he would be a good fit in lalaland, they need some toughness up front, and ODOM seems to have worn out his welcome there. we could through JAMAL and FARMAR into the deal.

under this scenario, next year's starting 5 looks like:

LEE
CURRY
CHANDLER/ODOM
MARBURY
JAMAL/FARMAR

bench
GARINELLI
N8
Q-RICH
JEFFRIES
BALKMAN
COLLINS

this will certainly be one of the more athletic teams in the east, and combined with d'antoni's system, they should be competetive and entertaining (what more can we really ask for at this point), while allowing us to glimpse some light (salary relief, restored #1 pick in 2010, retained trade value in LEE) at the end of the dark tunnel we have been in for so long.

Bogut was a #1 pick. Andrea Bargnani #1 pick. Darko # 2 pick. If Gallinari is so much better than all of them why was he still there at #6 in a "weak" draft. Hey I'm cheering that he is superstar too but I think the expectations on this blog are unrealitsic.

@sec 11 and Bokonon: If you can get a really good PG and a draft pick for Lee I think you do that in a heartbeat. We can always trade for Wilcox, Evans, sign K. Thomas, etc to get rebounds. And at least with Thomas you can run an effective pick and roll which you can't do with Lee. It is much easier to find a rebounder in this league than a floor general. I also think moving Randolph's K may be nearly impossible (w/o taking on something terrible back in exchange) so I wouldn't worry about rebounds. Our problem last year was our inability to run offense sets which is why IT wanted to bench Starburry in the first place. Also, remember the problem with Lee, Randolph, and Curry is also that they don't block shots and don't have the lateral quickness to defends other bigs (Randolph may be the best of the three which is sad). Playing Lee and Randolph, or Lee and Curry, or Curry and Randolph still does not deter gaurds from driving through lane w/o fear. No one should be untouchable from a team that has won 23, 32?, and 23 games the past three seasons.

Congrats Gracie!!!