Getting back up to speed
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- June
- 3
I was busy catching up with odds and ends around the house for the last three days. The lawn is freshly mowed, the garage is cleaned out, and the flowers have all been planted. My wife says it’s OK to go out and play now.
Where did we leave off?
I hear Kobe Bryant wants to leave the Lakers. Or does he want to stay? Until that situation gets settled, the rest of the league is going to run on West Coast time. Why make a move and waste assets if there’s even a small chance of getting Bryant?
So until Jermaine O’Neal or Jason Kidd lands in L.A., it’s going to be a quiet summer on the trade front.
I suppose we could start looking ahead to the NBA draft.
Let’s start by setting the stage. Isiah Thomas already has six players with two years of experience or less—Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins and Randolph Morris. There is no longer any need to get younger.
It would make a lot of sense to deal up in this draft, and not a couple of spots. Way up. Get a lottery pick if possible.
No matter who the Knicks end up with, that player isn’t likely to crack the rotation. Thomas is looking to add somebody with noteworthy potential who can be used to lure a marquee name down the road, or take over a specific role when he deals somebody higher on the depth chart.
That means he’s going after the best available player with the 23rd pick.
It sounds like Thomas is thinking beyond next season, and the season after that. At the pre-draft camp in Orlando, he talked a lot about having enough cap space in two years to pursue an impressive free agent class.
There’s a lot of idle chatter every summer.
Who knows where this is really going. Thomas has to look into making a move for Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal or Bryant should any of them be made available. Phone calls have already been made, I’m sure. The stated game plan is derailed if he brings in anybody with a big contract.
So maybe it will be a quiet summer, after all.
Because teams weren’t allowed to work out players last month, the Knicks and the Nets are joining forces. Coaches and officials from both teams will be watching on Tuesday as Derrick Byars (G/F, 6-7, 220, Vanderbilt), Sammy Mejia (G, 6-6, 195, DePaul), Demetris Nichols (F, 6-8, 216, Syracuse) and Curtis Sumpter (F, 6-7, 225, Villanova).
Since none of the prospects wants to do 15 of these high-intensity workouts in three weeks, some teams are better off pooling their resources so they can get more players to come in for a look see. It’s not like they’ll be sharing draft boards.
That’s all I can think of for now. Oh, wait. Is everybody convinced LeBron James is now a superstar? He seems to be on the way now. I’m picking the Spurs in five, though. Who do you have?
This entry was posted
on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007 at 2:53 pm by Mike Dougherty.
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I really hope the Knicks stay young and start to turn it around, but let’s be honest, Isiah will find a way to blow it and take on an overrated player with an albatross of a contract.
I think that Isiah, freed from the “win now” mentality and now onto a “be respectable and enjoyable while improving to be an 8 seed” trajectory, he won’t bring in a big contract unless it’s a legit piece of the puzzle.
As long as isiah doesent blow the mid level again i will be happy
Le Bron sure can fill it up, but I think its Gibson that put them over the top. (Mind you, Gibson only has a chance to do that because he’s playing with James, but…) He reminds me of this kid on Houston who proved to be the last straw against the Knicks, way back when: Sam Cassel. The other thing (I didn’t see the close out game) that seems to have continued for the Pistons, is the inability to guard the perimeter. Gibson is the perfect complement for James who insists on playing that drive and kick game. A speedy, small backcourt player who can shoot the three AND put the ball on the floor. Defensive rotation is late, it rains, defensive rotation arrives on time, he puts it on the floor and attacks the paint. Pavlovic can shoot it, but he’s too slow to put it on the floor. James and Gibson went to the line close to 40 times in the close out game I believe. Figure Popovich has the medicine for this, and the scoring and the players to put on their own pressure off the bounce. I’m with you Mike, Spurs take this series.
P.S. You think Detroit misses Larry Brown? I can’t imagine Brown letting Lebron do what he did in that OT game.
P.P.S. Detroit looks to have real personnel issues. That Front Court is showing its age. Chauncey is not locking guys down and Rip seems to have lost his extra energy on offense and is a liability on defense. I don’t know if I sign Billups. They are teetering and could be next year’s Nets.
I actually really like the position the Knicks are in right now. If we can get a deal done for a Star that would push the team ahead and into a respectable position. Not that i’m looking for that to happen, but the possibility is there.
However if we stand pat and take the patient approach, we’ll still have a young emerging team that should be a playoff team for the next couple of years. Meanwhile we can set things up for making a big move in 2 years. The cap situation will be better and we’ll have the young core playing with much more experience and coming into their primes.
P.P.P.S. Gibson is what Nate Robinson looks like with a brain
I’m with you ‘Luva
It’s been clear since Zeke came in that in the East, its a demographic play – the Heat, Pacers, and Detroit were all on their way out age wise, you want to be the team that’s building ground up while their decline. Toronto and Chicago have done a good job of that, and I think Zeke has too. We are unmatched in the East in the paint with Curry, and on to figuring out what we have elsewhere in the rotation.
A piece today has talks between Boston and the Knicks. #23 + a player for the number 5 pick, Gerald Green, Telfair. Players mentioned were Nate Robinson and David Lee.
First of all Garnett and Kobe aren’t going anywhere, And unless O’Neal does a Vince (when he was with Toronto) Bird will never even think about hooking up Isiah cheap.
So forget about the prime time Allstars that are the cusp of the downside of there careers. I like the young guys, they were playing hard at year end. Give them time. If anything Nate and Frye can go for a YOUNG small forward.