The Knicks Fix

Who's worse Isiah or Chris Wallace?

Giving up Pau for next to nothing and then giving up on a trade where he gets rid of two stiffs for Zbo, a guy who can actually score and rebound unlike the two stiffs.

Very odd.

Then again the NBA is a strange place. You've got guys who don't play defense (Carmelo "Melo" Anthony) who get into all sorts of trouble off the court (Melo), rarely rebound (Melo), don't play any kind of defense (Melo) show zero signs of maturity (Melo), don't display any kind of leadership (Melo) show up out of shape (Melo) bring weed to the airport (Melo) and drive drunk or high or whatever (Melo) all this while you're wife is pregnant and still people want you.

wow. that sucks. thanks for blowing my weekend, Alan. to be honest, none of your suggestions seem reasonable. z-bo doesn't actually help any of those teams. why would teams so far away from success gamble on zach randolph for 3 years?

i think the only hope is a potential playoff team that is too cap strapped to stock up for the playoffs in any other way but rolling the dice with Randolph. such a team would have a good enough defense to absorb randolph's suckiness. This might also take a year or so. Some suggestions:

1. Cleveland -- if JJ Hickson turns out to not be helpful. i think hickson and Mo WIlliams will be just what the doctor ordered for the Cavs, though. Zeke should have tried this last year.

2. Boston -- one of the only teams that wouldn't have to worry about his behavior or even hogging the ball. KG is that strong of a teamate. if the celtics have some trouble scoring, which i think they might as Allen and Pierce age, i think they might be willing to gamble as well.

3. San Antonio-- Laugh all you want, but the Spurs need a couple more playmakers, especially if ginobli is out or hobbled.

4. detroit. a long shot, but if amir johnson never develops and the other forwards start to age too fast, that team is going to need scoring help.

5. washington -- if they get too scared of Arenas' health concerns they might make a panic trade to get rid of that 111 million.

They could trade Zach Randolph and Stephon Marbury to Miami for a 1st rounder. Walsh wants value!

Nobody wants Fat Zach, his bloated contract, and his trips to the Gary, Ind. strip club circuit.

And this surprises you?

No wonder Wall Street's in the toilet. The tri-state 'burbs are filled with suckers.

REPOST - REPOST - REPOST

Damn good question, brother Willis.

I think D'Antoni's system is very old school and I think the answer is an emphatic yes although answering this could take me several days and as many drafts of the comment. But I am so juiced by the question, that I'll offer you this.

As you know, and I believe have stated before, good defense is a team endeavor and previous Suns teams had better defense, I think, for their up tempo games than Denver and Golden State. I think this however, was because of Iavoroni who was considered a master tactician.

One cannot totally discount D'Antoni's belief that great offense is in some way defensive, because what I think we will see is a franetic pace which requires superior conditioning. If we are better conditioned (which will have Eddie on the bench quickly) we will take a number of teams by surprise and minimize their offensive efficiency late in games. So this defense by offense strategy should win us more home games and games where teams are coming to the tail end of back-to-backs (or the front end before a really tough foe) or are at the tail end of long road trips. NBA players notoriously do not play 48 minutes, which is one reason the Celtics were so doggone tough.

But the major problem will be how to keep teams from exploiting the interior. Well, as you mentioned, you need players committed to both sides of the ball. Players have got to be willing and able to spot the necessity for switches and have an ability to play the pick and roll. This requires as much practice as making the right decision in the spread offense.

Jamal could be a better defender, but he would be a much better defender on the perimeter, with forwarda and centers able and willing to switch when he is beat off the dribble. You can't just have Eddie leave his man to stop guard penetration while his man slips to the basket. Someone else has got to move too. everybody has got to be reay to move their ass.

I'll slow down here, but I think the answer is yes. It's been done before. The Lakers for one. And forgive my blasphemy, but Isiah thought he was going to be able to create that type of blend, but we now know, you can't do that with unmotivated one dimensional players.

This is the discussion we will be having in two years. I bet. it is the same discussion Kerr had with D'Antoni when they "bought" in old man Shaq. Thanks.

Do you think it can be done?

Holler back.

You're wrong. Somebodyy wants Zach Randolph! It is up to Walsh to find that somebody.

It is absolutely no surprised that the Knicks have not been able to trade Zach Randolph. He might be the most untradeable player in the NBA -- he is selfish, doesn't play defense, and the things he can do, scoring and rebounding are done at the expense of his teammates.

Remember that the Trailblazers essentially dumped him on the one franchise that would take on a lousy contract for a lousy player.

And Walsh has overplayed his hand. He should have taken the Clips deal, even if he gave up a protected #1. At least, the Knicks would be in a position to be players in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes.

Now, we can look forward to a training camp and season of turmoil . . .Marbury, Randolph out of shape and demanding minutes, an injured first round pick. Maybe its time the Knicks were disbanded, and allowed to start over again.

Zach the most untradeable player in the NBA?

@ david,
I guess your a fan of Jerome James? Curry?

Maybe you guys are right, however, I'd love to see you guys wrong about Zach. Less than a month before we see the truth!

It really blows my mind that you guys are so willing to give away draft picks in order to hand Zach Randolph to another team.

I don't like Randolph anymore than the rest of you, but guys....

You CAN'T rebuild without the draft. We're already in the hole for one first-rounder in 2010. If anything, we need to be stockpiling MORE picks, even if that means dealing with Randolph for a season and waiting until his contract is a year shorter. Plus, it's not good for Walsh in future trade negotiations if he deals Randolph AND a pick for nothing. What sort of leverage will he have then?

NY Times and ESPN radio are both now reporting that Marbury's one foot is out the door. They are just waiting for the ink to dry..

The report by NBC Sports is correct after all.
I’m so sorry for being so mentally handicapped.
It’s both genetics and acquired (but mainly acquired.)
Being mentally deprived is a gift from my ancestors.

Echo that Philip C.

Echo that Alan - I say start Zach at center - he's the closest thing to a pick and rolling, jump shot shooting, face the basket guy - make him a focal point and he will produce. He is the best player on the team, knucklehead or not, whip him into a lather, and bring Curry in while Zach rests. Curry has to earn his minutes, make it clear to him what he needs to do to get more minutes, stop babying him, give him a fair shake as a man, not a "potential"

If it is true that Marbury's buyout is done, than everyone is at square one, nobody needs to be played because of contract, or perception, everybody has a shot to contribute or sit, no Zeke favorites or Zeke doghouses.

@ geek - I've thought Detroit has always been the place for Randolph. Dumars has done nothing so far to get better, they are legitimately contenders still, Zach for Rasheed works for both clubs. They need scoring from a big very badly (McDyess is slowing down) they are not going to re-up Rasheed, and with Billups and Hamilton and Dyess, they have a core of players who can handle Zach.

LIVES!

I think what we are left with is, this team will look radically different in two years. I think we are left with concluding that the only way this is going to work is for Walsh and D'Antoni to be joined at the hip. Any crack between them, and D'Antoni's thing will not work. It really is all about the players. The Mustache puts the onus of the game on his players. At times the game today resembles the NFL in terms of specialization of function and one dimensional players who are drafted to fill only one role. Roles and offensive and defensive systems become more important than creativity. In turn the game becomes a dreary harpsicord fugue and variation instead of a slamming be-bop cutting match. We currently don't have the players that think beyond their own functions, players who aren't ready or able to riff off of the head and respond to the last guys solo. I think that's why Gallinari was drafted (here's hoping the guy's back is ok). He gets it. That's why Marion was so important to Phoenix - he was multi dimensional. That's why a guy like Wade is a perfect fit. A part of that multivalent ability has to be the will to defend, to see the defensive end of the floor as a place to take over games as well, a place to demoralize and sink an opponent. Long story short, Crawford has alot to learn, if he doesn't get it, he's gone. Curry has really alot to learn, he's barely a ball player, more an amazing athlete who happens to play ball - will he care to become a student of the game? Walsh is going to have to get exceptional players, glue players, guys who play the game right. I think the reason you have so many European players with D'Antoni is more about how specialized the functions of the NBA game have become, limiting the skill sets these players have. This can change easily if more NBA teams move towards the Euro style. Its a game, it can be played any way you want. Players will invent new ways to excel, that's the way innovation works.

I'm curious, what makes people think that zach can't play the uptemp style? I played basketball all of my life and this is the easist style to play. The only people that usually have trouble with this style are7 footers like Curry. For Zach it should be easier because he gets the ball in more spots and the teams can't double him because of the spacing on offense. Actually this style will fit him better then most. He's a much better offensive player then Amare.

People are so quick to say zach can't play this style but a slow Grant Hill can? You guys just don't like zach!!!!!

Alan you included!!!!

I believe they will be able to move him when the playoff race heats up and a contending team loses a player to injury or they feel they need more scoring. No one is desperate enough yet to take a chance on him.

Zach Randolph is not a 20-10 guy on a winning team, Alan. He was in Portland when he took 20 shots a game, but no realistic team will ever give him that opportunity again. He's just not efficient enough. And those defensive rebounds come from playing off his man, which is hardly a benefit either.

He's a stat-stuffer, and we need to start selling him as such to small market teams. You want someone on your team who's near the top of the NBA in stats every year? Make an offer!!!

"In turn the game becomes a dreary harpsicord fugue and variation instead of a slamming be-bop cutting match. We currently don't have the players that think beyond their own functions, players who aren't ready or able to riff off of the head and respond to the last guys solo."

Wow! Willis, you da man.

Terrence here.

We should keep Zach. Can't trade him anyway, no one wants him & his contract. How often can you get a 20 & 10 guy?
He just needs to play in the right system.
Or guided into playing the right way.

My Mets are choking again. Yikes!

Regards to Heri.
I hollar!

zbo is a baller, i think he loves the game, and although his feelings wil be bruised by all of the trade talk, i don't see him laying down like a dog and being either unwilling or unable to run in the new system. his minutes will decrease, but i think he will rise to the challenge, i don't see him as poison at all.

@PHILLIP--you're correct, throwing in a first rounder just to facilitate trading zbo is duuuummmmbbbb.

@BOB--agreedzbo wil be eminently tradeable to a contender come the spring, should one of their bigs go down.

@WILLIS--your writing reminds me of jonathan lethem. did you ever read "fortress of solitude"?

Sec - I agree on Zach. There will be more than enough shots for Zach, and he should take open shots. I think having to make open shots, instead of being given the ball and being told to "create offense", an interesting neologism for a team game (isn't it the team that should be creating offense and players should be "shooting") shot selection will become a different thing for Zach and Jamal.

I was struck at how tentative our superstars were at times in the olympics when faced with open shots. The key I think was that they were not the designated shooters on the squad, they were not the "Hibachi" and things tens to get a little tight when you know you are not going to get another 20 shots. When you are presented your shots as part of a scheme and you are given the responsibility of making the shot, or making the decision to move the ball, instead of having carte blanche the way Crawford had it, and Zach took it last year, your thinking changes. Clanging an open jumper given you by an offensive set feels very different than clanging the forced shot that your "creability" (hat tip Clyde) got you. When you clear out a side and the player goes one on one, he always has the fall back of "oh, well, I was guarded, " and quite often, the refs will bail you out if you smash hard enough into the defender. No guilt, no responsibility. That's why Crawford's end of quarter, end of game shenanigins were never about pressure. I love it when people with microphones would ask him about the "pressure". Oh lordy! Pressure??? I'll take that pressure any day! Its a can't lose scenario, like being the CEO of Freddie Mac - any profits are the result of my brilliance and I share in them far beyond my worth, any loss is the taxpayers - "I can't be expected to make the shot, everybody knows the ball is going to me, but if I make it, I'm brilliant!"

I'm very curious to see how these guys react under D'Antoni for this reason.

Haven't read Lethern, though I've heard the title. I haven't read any fiction for a long time.

I really don't understand why people think Randolph can't be a productive part of a running team. You need a good rebounder to be able to run. Zach rebounds. The rebounder normally isn't the one leading the break, he's the one trailing the break and can hit a mid range jumper. Things Zach can do. Besides you can't have all five players running the break, there's only so much room to fill in the lanes or you have players getting in each other's way. Three players, four max can fill lanes and find spots to squat at waiting for a pass with a trailer, who normally is the rebounder, to spot up and hit a jumper if the first push doesn't produce a good shot.

So in fact Zach is actually a great guy to have for a running team even if he isn't a guy who will lead the break. he rebounds at a high rate and can hit a jumper after trailing the break. Not everyone has to be a speed demon, high flyer to fit into a running game. If he blocked shots he'd be perfect but to find a guy who blocks shots, rebounds and can hit a jumper is a tall order. You have to use what is available to your advantage. That's all that is asked. Play smart and to your strengths.

Can somebody please give me a link on where they got the Marbury story from?
I'm dying to read this and I just can't find it.
I don't think it's true.

If Zach gets the chance this year, his awareness of what
he's being called out on could change his game into being a real
All Star. Lets break down Zach the Player.
Strengths:
Rebounding
Put backs on the offensive board.
He can hit the open 15-20 ft jumper when a passout is made, keeping others from being doubled.
Can be a decent passer despite what we saw last year.

Weakness:
Slows the game down with too much one on one.
Poor defender.

I'm sure people can come up with more negatives, however,
every one will be somewhat connected with the TWO
weakness's described above. Anyone that hustles like
Zach can play defense if the coach demands it,
unlike Curry who will never be a defender, unless he's
defending his cheeseburger.

Bottom line is Zach's Strengths out weigh his weakness's
by a long shot! I for one can't wait for the retractions of people
turning him into a jerome James begin when he does have a stellar year.

DFZ ,
if Zach played for a winning team his number might go up. Do you know how many times he was doubled last year. He is the only post player that we have on the team and since he's lefty that makes it even harder to stop him. I can't wait to say I told you so to all of you.

Eventually we will hear a statement from D'antonie saying he had no idea zach was this good, watch..

Randolph to the Warriors??? For Harrington???

Do you just make this stuff up? Or do you sit at your computer and try to come up with dumb trades to fill space? Donnie Walsh has too much respect for Chris Mullen to even propose such an idea. And Chris has too much sense to even contemplate such a move.

Zach is gonna be a Knick for a while. Get used to it.

Kupchak: Grizzles Wanted Sun
Sep 20, 2008 11:29 PM EST

Lakers executive Mitch Kupchak claims that the Grizzles where looking to acquire Sun Yue in a trade, according to NBA.com.

So.....ZACH was a smoke screen? Like I said, F#*% the Bears!
I truly hope Zach becomes an All Star for the Knicks!

A Failure of Form or Function?
(Part Uno)

Yes, Yes, Yes Fixer Willis. Very nice analogy between Jamal and Freddie Mac. You hit the nail on the head.

I agree with you on a number of fronts. Two years of exciting “no-chip but striving to win basketball” will be much more digestible than our current fare. And in two years we must look like a very different team if we are putting the final touches on a wanna be Championship contender that is balanced offensively and defensively.

Your other points are a nice read and provocative. I wonder, however, whether the problems with “specialization of function” is really one of the many symptoms of a greater problem: the “minimization of systems” and the “deconstruction of form.” Put another way, function must follow form.

A player is often one-dimensional because only one dimension of his natural abilities has been exploited since he was given a ball at the age of four by his uncle’s brothers. Height, length and speed have genetic foundations; moving laterally to keep someone from beating you to a spot is a trained talent; so is dribbling a basketball and passing it to the right player at the right time. They are trained.

More often than not, I think we are witnessing the failure of NBA executives and coaches to have a coherent plan and an effective system. Without a plan or solid basketball philosophy there is really no way to “fit” players into a system. There is no way you can train players to be more than one-dimensional role players when they are not allowed to function in a coherent, understandable system.

I expect, D’Antoni will succeed where Thomas and Wilkens failed because he will have a well defined system. He will succeed where Brown failed because his system will not diminish the players ability to function with selfish negative deconstruction of player spirits and manhood. In other words, D’Antoni won’t act like a mean bastard.

You know the greatest, most innovative Jazz artists and poets and novelists were able to riff with beauty, precision and cohesion only because they understood the fundamentals of form; they understood how the unique, individualized elements of performance could fit neatly into an already established form. It took Michael seven years, until he had a system as he had in college, to exploit those individual skills. It took Kobe, three years before the triangle walked into his life to even begin to understand. In the NBA, players within quality systems become more than “one-dimensional role” players. On teams that emphasize stars instead of systems, the Bruce Bowens, Tashaun Princes and James Poseys are “one-dimensional” role players.

just like Balkman, Zach is mentally challlenged and cant grasp simple team play and basic offenssive sets.

nothin raceist 'bout that. those are facts

every team that Zach has been on are finding this out the hard way and are just dyieing to dump him

Timberrrrrrrr

A Failure of Form or Function?
(Part Dos)

NBA teams draft one dimensional role players because the draft is overloaded with one dimensional role players for the most part. Only a few college stars, who were expected to carry their team and who were also trained to play defense come into the league as multi-dimensional – everything else is potential to be multi-dimensional.

Case in point. Neither Rondo nor Tony parker came into the league as offensive forces, but they fell into systems that required development of their offensive skills and were surrounded with players who understood their role and everyone else’s role in the system. In these systems, solos are permitted and possible because they are integrated into whole. A solo doesn’t throw the whole team off because they are integrated into the entire piece.

(By way of example, the difference between an early Jordan solo and a Championship-bound solo is that during the former, teammates watched and waited for the unexpected; in the latter teammates moved to open spots prepared for the unexpected and the soloist realized he had additional options during his riff – passing it to Steve Kerr becomes a viable option in a system).

Gallinari needs to be in a system before he gets it.

Unlike you, I don’t see the evidence that Gallinari gets it. He may have “it”: the talent that is. But, IMHO, he can’t have a clue yet. He was a Crawford-like star in a lesser league that played far fewer games. He played in an offensive system whose rule was “when all else starts to fail, give it to Gallo at the top.” This is not a bad thing; how many players actually come here prepared? What he has that may assure us that he eventually get’s it is a combination of skills and passion to be better. Now he needs a system that is able to exploit his skills and not reduce him to a role player.

I look forward to that (Gallinari’s) development, but I am not sold on it being a sure thing.

Memphis did the Knicks a favor. This is a good opportunity to increase his value and to see how Zach can fit in the D'Antoni system and he is insurance for the almost certain implosion of Eddie Curry. If Eddie shows some heart and is well conditioned, then Zach will be in the way by Valentine's Day.

D'Antoni will know what to do with Zach on the floor and Zach will reward him with hard play. There is no doubt about that.

Interesting piece from Knicks blog . . . .

With the deal Memphis deal apparently no longer on the table, it appears that Donnie Walsh isdesperately looking for a suitor to unload Zach Randolph on.
A source close to TKB tells us that Randolph did something to really anger Walsh, and although there are no specifics, it would seem as if Walsh isn’t happy. The problem is he just rejected the trade with the Grizzlies, the only suitor.
That said, one could think that Memphis may have known of the rift, thus giving them leverage to try and get Walsh to break on a one-sided deal: Darko and Jaric for ZBo and a first round pick.
To his credit, Walsh did not.
We will see over the next few weeks what comes about the rift, but one has to assume that Walsh is still actively trying to move Randolph, and that he hopes ZBo’s days in NY are over.

David - personal animus - that's a bad thing. That's one of the time honored ways to destroy the plans of your foe. Dissension. Let's hope this a.) is overblown/not true, or b.) won't cause Walsh to give up his admirable patience to date.

Lives - you see it like I see it. The onus is not on the players - they grow up seeing the game the NBA gives them, they cut their teeth on the 3 point shot highlight, the crossover and the dunk are fetishes with their own churches, unholy sacrament and liturgy (And 1, Slamball????). If that is the way the game is played at the top, that is the way it will be played on the blacktop. Of course it does not just flow from top to bottom. As America has long known, Innovation always occurs first in the African-American community, THEN becomes recognized and turned into a commodity. Jazz, Rock and Roll, the transformation of sport, always comes from the community first.

There is however, a complex dialectic at work as well. When the market fixes upon a certain aspect, it then gets thrown back down into the hopper for ever more amplification, experimentation, transmogrification and emerges as a new form - the Dribble, The Dunk, after Hardaway and Jordan were reborn from this crucible in the person of Iverson, and the game was changed again. Another contemporary example - Gangster Rap. Remember, the wider, consumer society cared nothing for Hip Hop when it was a movement and an art created to replace violence and conflict and despair with creativity - the boogie battle, the freestyle, substituting the cutting session's conversation for the grim monologue of the bullet. It wasn't until the music adopted the cant of consumption - bitches, benjamins and bling, that America found something they could use. Ah, the Gangster, this we know, Al Capone, the Godfather, the Outlaw, I'll get mine, to hell with yours; every man for himself, every man the sum of his things, and everything can be bought or stolen. And an industry is born....

A somewhat negative example, unfortunate for a Sunday, I apologize. I don't mean to disparage by association, the dribble and the dunk, just to illustrate the relationship between innovation and commodification in consumer capitalist culture. The Dribble and the Dunk are beautiful things that have been spun into a whole new art form that had never existed before. The question for those who wish to win basketball games is one of form and function as Lives points out. Have these forms reached that stage of development where the original function has become secondary to the beauty and desirability of the form? After all, its still only 2 points per basket.

I'll tell you a tale where it might be the case - remember Joe Johnson's attempting a dunk a few years ago with Phoenix? He took off to far from the hoop and instead of just laying it in, he tried to grab the rim, and because he was basically parallel to the floor, his hands ripped away and he fell, literally, on his face from about 9 feet in the air. Last play he ever made for Phoenix I believe, talk about what ifs. Help me out, I recall this as a playoff game, and I believe him getting knocked out, knocked Phoenix out of the series. What if Phoenix had kept him? Did that injury contribute to him falling out of favor? What if that Phoenix team had a great, tough minded player on the perimeter, athletic, strong to help out Nash, counter balance Stoudemire's excess me-isms, take part of the defensive load off of Marion. Maybe there was a ring there for D'Antoni and 7 seconds or less. Maybe the narrative of the Dunk was so strong in Johnson's head that that was the only play he could think of as the next act in the performance? Maybe I'm making too much of a what was simply a mistake, but even the form of mistakes have to come from some where - he didn't attempt an impossible Gervin-esque finger roll, he attempted an impossible dunk.

Sorry guys, we need some real basketball news quick around here.

I'm just passing through for the moment, but I can't help but say that I am printing that comment out. Nice touches.

You got me on transmogrification. I've got to pull out the big blue American Heritage Dictionary on that one. (LOL).

Absolutely, a wonderfully complex dialectic and impossible to capture in two paragraphs, but damn you did a nice job. You're right. We agree.

@ALAN and WILLIS---

i hope you guys are archiving willis' riffs. i have never read more beautifully crafted cultural analysis of sport.

you are 'da MAN wilis, keep it coming!

Sec1,

I concur with your statement regarding archiving Willis' riffs, but I would raise you one by saying that there are other a couple of other posters in here with who's words have archival value as well, most notably Lives and my main man Cooley.

These three gentlemen are definitely must reads.

This blog is boring. Willis Drummond is even more boring than Jr. I never thought that was possible. Boring!!!

Wow thats art........... Now whats going on in Knicks world. I think we are waiting....

@ Alan - Starberman has post to his blog in so long the Berman Bozos are starting to leak in here again. Anything that refers to Jr. or Heri are references this Troll is dragging over from Starberman's bs blog.

@ Alan - Starberman's Bozos are leakin' in here since he hasn't posted anything to his blog in weeks.

Any references to "Jr." and "Heri", is trash being carried over from there...exactly what no one here wants or cares to read again.

Willis - I haven't been around much lately but I see you're still cranking out the great reads. Always a pleasure, buddy.

Quick note on the Zach trade possibilities. Zach's value has been defended by repeating 20 and 10 with no context for those numbers, as if this magically makes him a great addition. Actually, trade value is exactly what someone else will give up for the guy, and we can see no that that isn't to damn much. We're talking a historically craptacular organization like the Clippers and their up and coming rival in ineptitude in Memphis, and they won't take Zach without incentives. When you throw in how little Portland let him go for, it gets pretty obvious - his value is miniscule. The only upside is that as his contract gets shorter, he becomes less of a burden for some sucker to take on, so there is hope he can be moved down the road. I agree with Alan though that this could be a rocky year for Z-bo and the Knicks, especially if minutes at the 4 are going to showcase Lee.

showcase Lee!!!!

You guys are crazy. Lee isn't that good!!! When are you guys going to realize this?

the view from hoopsworld today:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=10034

No Moving Zach Randolph: The Memphis Grizzlies have passed on the chance to obtain Zach Randolph, and so have several other teams. The team that was getting a lot of buzz this weekend was the Golden State Warriors, who according to Warriors sources never had any talks of substance involving Zach. Warriors' sources pointed to the bloated three years and $48 million left on Zach's deal as the killer, saying that the team has spent enough money this season, and that trading off an ending deal like Al Harrington (one guaranteed year at $9 million and a player option for $10 million) was not in the picture. The reality for the Knicks is while Randolph does have some trade value because he's a legit double-double guy; the Knicks are not finding anyone with real interest in a framework that works for them. The Knicks do have eyes on 2010, not just for the shot at LeBron James but for the chance to rebuild the bulk of the team around Mike D'Antoni. Knicks' sources laugh off the idea that LeBron James could be had in a straight up free agent deal, saying there is no way LeBron leaves Cleveland without a sign and trade, but admitted that having flexibility and cap space is the key to even being considered. The other aspect of the race for LeBron would be having some items to return to Cleveland, hence why the Knicks are reluctant to part with any future draft picks in any deal. League sources continue to doubt that LeBron leaves Cleveland, something we here at HOOPSWORLD have been saying for months. But the idea that the Knicks are stockpiling for 2010 seems to have more to with a total remodel than signing a super star. So for the time being, Zach Randolph will open training camp with the Knicks, whether Donnie Walsh can find a taker as the season progresses has a lot to do with early injuries and teams finding out how free agency and the draft impacts their play.

this is what Willis sounds like

blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah

talks a lot but says nothin
go lick ur bedpan u idiot

Wow...knicks intern calm down. Please use proper grammar next time as well. Willis makes perfect sense. You just lack the necessary intellect to grasp the ideas he projects.

No one is forcing you to read Willis, Intern. Get a hold of your life.