Can the small-market Golden State Warriors afford to resign Monta Ellis after throwing the checkbook at Elton Brand today? Brand has yet to say yes, but how do you say no to 90 mil?
If they haven’t already, teams will line up to speak with Mr. Ellis’ representation.
The Knicks’ hands are tied if they’re holding out for 2010’s free agents (LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh). The kind of contract Ellis would be looking for would not match the size or length of contract the Knicks are looking to use on a point guard this summer.
Free agency opens up tomorrow, and the Knicks are rumored to be meeting with free agent Chris Duhon and his representation about coming to New York to run the show.
It should be noted that in recent years, Duhon has been punished several times for missing Bulls team practices.
The Knicks may look very different come November–if Walsh and D’Antoni have their say.
This documentary by one of the Beastie Boys was released in the U.S. this Friday. I will be watching it as part of my summer movie must-sees. Among others, it stars recent lottery picks such as Michael Beasley, Kevin Love and Jerryd Bayless when they were still high school players. It is narrated by Bobbito Garcia–yo Bobbito, I’m still mad they gave your halftime celebrity inteview job to that girl, whatever her name is…
I wonder, if Donnie Walsh had got a sneak peak in time, would his draft choice have been any different?
The Knicks don’t play until July 14th, which is a Monday. Danilo Gallinari is expected to play in the summer league, and there are rumors that some of the Knicks veterans such as Eddy Curry and Nate Robinson will participate in some of the games.
To watch the games, you either have to have MSG or go to Vegas, although some of the games may eventually be looped through NBATV.
So take this guy Isiah Thomas, easily one of the 50 greatest players of all-time, but also easily the worst Knick in all my decades of being a Knick fan. Isiah Thomas deserved to be severed from the organization once and for all after dual 23-win and 33-win seasons as commander in chief of basketball operations in New York, but the team owner James Dolan made sure that did not happen.
I never wanted to see his face in Madison Square Garden ever again, but that is just me. There are those who absolutely love him, mercilessly defend him and despite being male would love to bare his child. Whatever.
In comes Walsh, who has already fired Isiah once in Indiana at the behest of Larry Bird, but has always said glowing things about Isiah while he was fowling things up something terrible in New York. You simply can not deny, the Knicks have been the laughing stock of the NBA the past four years under Thomas, and for that matter, the prior four years under Scott Layden.
James Dolan, the great businessman that he is, tells Walsh that Isiah must stay on in some capacity because he likes his good buddy Isiah so darn much he just can’t stand to think of the Knicks without first thinking of Isiah. To James Dolan, the one simplistic equation he will never get out of his one simplistic mind is:
Knicks + Isiah Thomas = NBA Championship
Somehow. Some way.
Hearing all this from the emperor Dolan, Walsh then brings in D’Antoni to coach, and very shortly thereafter, Isiah is sent to watch Gallinari play euroball as a scout. Most of the MSM thinks it is a wild goose chase Thomas has been sent on, because Isiah Thomas is well known to dislike European basketball players. Yet when draft day comes around, who do they get but one of the only Euros in the first round, and the only Euro in the lottery, Italy’s Danilo Gallinari.
Is this whole thing just some kind of Isiah Thomas public relations damage control? Is that what the Knicks have become to ownership, a means to reputation management for the one New York Knick that never was?
“Again, you haven’t been proud here since ‘73.”
Good idea Dolan, let’s keep that guy.
I have no problem with the pick of Gallinari, but i have a problem with articles now being published associating Gallinari’s name to Thomas’ name. If the draft pick turns out to be a success, Thomas will take credit for it and add it to his resume of “draft steals,” but if it ends up being a flop, then Walsh and D’Antoni will take the hit? Sounds like more public relations garbage to me.
You might say, why are you still writing about Isiah, and I couldn’t agree more. I’d love to forget about it. We should all have by now. We should all have years ago. The fact is, he’s still here with the Knicks, and by all accounts, he shouldn’t be, based on the track record.
I know a lot of Knicks fans all over the U.S. are pissed off right about now, but I admit am not one of them. Even Dick Vitale, who is not necessarily a Knicks fan, criticized the direction Donnie Walsh went in with the #6 pick, but the Knicks said they got exactly who they wanted out of the draft, so it seems they really believe they can roll with Danilo Gallinari in a Knick jersey down the road.I don’t think Danilo Gallinari is as much of a project as someone like Anothony Randolph would have been. Gallinari already possesses fundamental basketball skills some current Knicks are still missing (Lee, Balkman); he can already shoot, pass and was the go-to guy for a competitive team playing in the best competition Europe has to offer.
Let me just say that I am down with this new regime of Walsh and D’Antoni, for now. With James Dolan still the owner, and Isiah Thomas still employed by the Knicks, I am skeptical over how much things have really changed in New York, but I gave Scott Layden the benefit of the doubt for four years, and I supported Isiah up until last year (that’s three-plus years of giving Zeke the benefit of the doubt despite zero playoff appearances and a plethora of dubious free agency signings and trades), so this is just the beginning of a new era and we haven’t seen what this kid can do in the NBA–only time will tell.
I can’t relate at all to the people who are writing off our new leaders over this draft. I was pretty certain they were going to get Gallinari, but when I saw Bayless drop so far, I thought maybe they’d go for him. Boy did Bayless drop! Did I see Lopez cry when he fell from the top ten? That was sad, but you knew he was going to get picked up–Jersey nabbed him. Who knows what the Knicks would have done had Westbrook still been there? I knew Seattle wanted to get him because of his defensive prowess; they miss that since Gary Payton left town so many years ago. You just can’t teach that defensive intensity, just ask Eddy Curry, or Zach Randolph for that matter.
PaulNoize and Bronxboy in Md mentioned that drafting Gallinari indicates some doubt over forward Wilson Chandler’s long-term health. I was thinking the same thing. Actually, I’ve been concerned about Wilson Chandler’s health since I witnessed the injury, that looked very bad, the impact he sustained to the side of his kneecap. 100% reminded me of Channing’s injury except it was from the side of the knee instead of the front of the knee. We all know what happened to Channing. The summer league will tell us if we have Mardy Collins redux in Wilson Chandler. If you ask me, both players careers were jepordized by Isiah’s bad coaching practices, but if you really want to look at it from another perspective, perhaps the GM drafted injury-prone players the past three years (Channing, Collins, now Chandler)?
And somewhere in all of this, Stephon Marbury, the original Isiah Thomas acquisition, must be remembered. It was during a past summer interview when Stephon proclaimed to the world that he was so enamoured with Italy that he’d be leaving behind his NBA career to move to Italy to play professional basketball there. Well, looks like Steph may finally have someone to talk to on the plane rides and in the locker room, for once. Tell him what it’s like, Danilo. Steph doesn’t have any friends in the locker room, so he could use one.
That is, if Steph is still a Knick by the time November 1st comes along.
Next up, the Vegas Summer Pro League (will there be an Eddy Curry sighting?), followed by off-season trade rumors/free agency signings galore. Being a Knicks fan is really a year-round process. Our girlfriends know this by now.
Isiah did a lot of damage to the franchise, let’s see what else Walsh and D’Antoni can do this off season to address some of the other concerns with this roster.
Remember this rude awakening back in October? We drove up to Boston to see the Knicks get trampled 101-61 in Allan Houston’s single game comeback in a Knicks uni. It was also KG’s first home game in a Celtics jersey. It was also the first indication that the Zach Randolph-Eddy Curry experiment would fail. Turns out those were the champs who beat us by that much. That’s how far away this current team is from competing for a championship–in other words: years.
But Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni knew this when they signed on to bring the Knicks back from the dead. Mike D’Antoni is considered by many in the NBA to be a very competitive, very positive-minded person. Donnie Walsh brings experience and a track record as president that MSG simply has not had in the 21st century.
It all starts tonight.
Now is the time.
Charlotte wants to make the playoffs this year, Jersey wants to get back into the playoffs, and obviously Walsh and D’Antoni would prefer to be there too when April ‘09 comes around.
Sure, the long-term plan is LeBron James in 2010, but these guys want to win just as bad right now, and what takes place today will be the first step towards something.
What will that something be? Your guess is as good as mine. Walsh hasn’t given away anything in the weeks leading up to draft day. Fortunately for Knicks fans, the wait is almost over.
Mike D’Antoni’s brother, Dan D’Antoni, was hired today, along with former Phoenix assistant coach Phil Weber. Both will assist new Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni in New York.
The only holdover from the previous Knicks coaching staff, as expected, will be the loyal soldier Herb Williams.
Seems to me the Knicks had around seven assistant coaches during each of the past two years, now they only have three. The only one (other than Herb, I’m happy he’s still here, but if Herb wants to be a head coach it may never happen for him in New York with this owner) that should have stayed was Dave Hanners; I think he’s got a bright future in coaching. He bolted for Charlotte to reunite with Next Town Larry Brown.
Speaking of Larry Brown, how do you think defensive juggernaut Emeka Okafor will perform in his “play the right way” system?
I still think the Knicks should reach out to Tom T. from the Celtics and see if he can work some of that championship mojo on some of our guys. Doc Rivers would understand if we stole back some of our Knick property, right Doc? Walsh said he would consider hiring a defensive assistant coach to compliment D’Antoni’s 7-second offense.
“This is about the fifth or sixth workout I’ve done, and this one was more about getting up and down the court than any of the others,” said Randolph. “Pretty much all of the teams are trying to get up and down during the workouts, but it was much more emphasized here.”
Love agreed with his fellow freshman forward.
“Today was a lot of up-and-down play and a lot of three-on-three,” said Love, who shed 15 pounds preparing for pre-draft workouts to prove he could be part of an up-tempo offense. “The only other time I played three-on-three was at the Memphis, but we only went about one or two games. Here we played about five or six games. And we went full-court, so we had to do a lot of fast break stuff, and things that really fit into D’Antoni’s offense.
When in doubt, check Knicks.com when the MSM isn’t invited to the pre-draft party.
