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**Blue Magic** · 07-07-2007, 12:17 PM

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Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks

Pluses: Isiah knows how to draft. With one notable exception (begging boss Donnie Walsh to grab Fred Jones for the Isiah-coached Pacers in 2002), Thomas' selections have been knockouts regardless of his team or its position in the draft order. His crowning achievement came in the '05 and '06 drafts, when he turned lower first-round picks into David Lee (one of the game's more underrated talents) and Renaldo Balkman, a productive hustler who wasn't even a part of the second round of many observers' mock drafts.

Minuses: Everything else. He had a run of deals seemingly lifted from a worst-case scenario fiction column you'd read on some NBA fan message board. He bid against himself in throwing two eventual lottery selections and heaps of second-round picks (ones that Isiah has proved capable of using to draft rotation players) toward Chicago for the right to overpay Eddy Curry. He acquired overpaid and under-inspired players from Stephon Marbury to Jalen Rose to Maurice Taylor to Steve Francis to Anfernee Hardaway to Tim Thomas. Thomas sacrificed expiring deals for these players as well as for Jamal Crawford, who hasn't improved a lick despite his youth (check out the per-minute stats). He gave Jerome James and Jared Jeffries a combined $60 million in consecutive summers, and somehow thought Larry Brown would work as a coach for this lot. Had Thomas just had the good sense to rebuild after Scott Layden's time running the Knicks, the team would have been well under the salary cap last season. Instead, it paid $200 million (after the luxury taxes kick in) for 33 victories.

Bottom line: Assuming the Knicks try to at least extend a few of the players they have currently performing under rookie contracts, the team won't be under the salary cap until 2010. Isiah could get lucky pairing one of his big contracts with any number of his young prospects for a star, but it's hard to see said star doing much while having to work with two prominent members of a '03-04 Bulls team (Curry and Crawford) that lost 59 games. The best that could happen for Knicks fans is if owner James Dolan continues to insist that Thomas not add to the payroll outside of extending the rookie deals. Apparently, relieving Thomas of his duties is out of the question.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ankings/4.html

They list him behind Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Danny Ainge, and Mitch Kupchak?? That just doesn't sound right....They pay no attention to the good he did at Indy and Toronto, drafting guys like TMac, Camby, and Al Harrington(??), and he was the one responsible for bringing them Jermaine, who is the teams current franchise player....

I mean he has made some mistakes, yeah, but it's not like the knicks had a great cap situation when he got there. He's slowly bringing the excitement back to NY and im looking forward to see what they can do this year. As long as they keep the young guys around(meaning dont trade Lee, Balkman..etc) I think they will be fine. Isiah has shown signs of greatness, especially with the move he pulled off on draft night, so i don't doubt him at all. They knock him alot for the Larry Brown hire, but I think he should at least been ranked somewhere in the mid-upper teens...

**0oh_S0o_FreSh!!** · 07-07-2007, 10:32 PM

HE drafted TMac? Hmm interesting. But those are great points. but just for the clear up, when he brought marbury, crawford, curru, penny, and thomas in, we all expected them to be good, its not like we through all of it away for nothing. WHen you look at these guys careers, we thought they were promising but the plan backfired.

knickstorm · 07-08-2007, 03:49 PM

he also drafted dijon thompson

Tragedy · 07-08-2007, 05:55 PM

The knicks were HORRIBLE and BORING before Zeke. While they haven't lit the league on fire all plans to rebuild take time, and now the Knicks are far better than where they were before Zeke joined.

Ainge had a team that went to the ECF before his arrival, and now they are terrible, with no direction.

Bird had a team that won what, 62 games when Zeke was the coach, got rid of Zeke, and the team went crashing downhill from there. Not saying Zeke was the reason, but the fact is Bird hasn't done anything in Indiana.

Kupchak BLEW the Shaq trade. Then he blew it further by trading Caron Butler. Shaq for Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown? Then they blew trading Bynum, and they took a long term project when they need to try to win now.

Baylor I'll let slide because they made the playoffs recently.

**Da Grinch** · 07-08-2007, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knickstorm

he also drafted dijon thompson

actually he made that pick for the suns.

anyway i cant respect any list that has sam presti 13th for losing rashard lewis for nothing and dealing ray allen for jeff green, who no one thinks is a star , more like a new milenium derrick mckey

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