Nice article from the N.Y.SUN on Walsh’s patience.He is trying to get the best deal possible for Zach.He does’t need to give up draft picks.But as the article says,he can’t deal a pick till 2012,unless he trades for one.
The right deal is out there,hope he finds it.

He may want to look into this trade with Cleveland.

from Sporting News: full story at Breakout year for Lee?

OPINION
By Bethlehem Shoals
updated 2 hours, 38 minutes ago

The 2008-09 NBA season is less than two months away. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either reason to whip out obscure rankings because there’s nothing else to do, or get started on the margins of preseason analysis.

So today, it’s about the breakout players, the guys who will either come out of nowhere and contend for Most Improved Player or who, after a season or two of up-and-down play, solidify their place in the league. In alphabetical order, here’s my top five picks to excel, or maybe even become household names. And no, Andrew Bynum picking up where he left off last winter doesn’t count. Nor does Greg Oden’s rookie year that feels like a sophomore season.

David Lee, New York Knicks

In the days of Isiah, Lee was a ball of energy who could rebound in bunches and, according to his cult of fans, badly needed more minutes to turn hustle play into greatness. Ironically, it was not so unlike Zach Randolph during his first season or two in Portland. But take those same aspirations, and set them into motion at Mike D’Antoni speed, and all of a sudden Lee goes from worker bee extraordinaire to brawny photon particle. In fact, this might be one of the first places we see D’Antoni put his stamp on New York’s rotation.

KOBE: D’ANTONI CAN FIX KNICKS
By BRIAN COSTELLO

Posted: 4:10 am
August 16, 2008

BEIJING – Mike D’Antoni has noticed a reaction whenever the topic of the Knicks New York Knicks comes up around the U.S. men’s basketball players.

“They usually snicker,” D’Antoni said yesterday. “I don’t like that too much. That ticks me off.”

The perception of the franchise is just one of several things on the list D’Antoni hopes to change.

D’Antoni is here as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski, and he’s made an impression on the players he’s coaching, many of whom believe he’s the right man to revive the Knicks.

“I think you’ve got a long list of players that want to play for him, I’ll tell you that,” Kobe Bryant told The Post. “He’s just incredibly sharp. He’s a brilliant, brilliant basketball mind. He’s going to bring a system and now you just have to find players to plug into that system.”

Ah, yes, there is that little problem. No matter how brilliant an offensive mind D’Antoni possesses, no matter how amazing the plays he draws up on a grease board are, without a roster of great players it won’t work. But D’Antoni said he believes the Knicks have more talent than people think.

“I’m really surprised at the talent that we have,” he said. “I’m very optimistic that we can surprise a lot of people. I think that the sentiment is that we don’t have a lot of talent, and that’s not true.”

D’Antoni has his family with him here and they have toured the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, with the Great Wall on the schedule for next week. He said he’s talked to general manager Donnie Walsh several times even if the 12-hour time difference makes it difficult.

He’s unsure if Walsh will make another deal before training camp opens.

“It’s hard to tell,” he said. “I think every day he’s talking. Whether something happens, it takes two to tango. I don’t know if anything will come up. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. We’re ready to go to battle with what we have. If something comes up that betters the team, so be it.”

As for Stephon Marbury Stephon Marbury , D’Antoni hasn’t spoken with the point guard since he’s been in China.

“I think he’s in the boat with a lot of other guys,” he said. “I don’t think there’s one boat over here and everybody else is over here. I think everybody is together and at the end of the process we’ll try to make the team better and whoever is left standing will go play.”
2008-09-12 @ 06:09:58 pm