Among the flurry of deals last night that I neglected to mention was Golden State’s trade of Jason Richardson along with 36th overall pick Jeremao Davidson to Charlotte in exchange for the rights to no. 8 overall selection Brendan Wright (above). According to the LA Times’ Mark Heisler, the Warriors might not be finished wheeling and dealing, with Chris Mullin supposedly “offering Wright with center Andris Biedrins and guard Monta Ellis and enough salary to make the deal work to Minnesota for Kevin Garnett.”
You can count Heisler amongst those skeptical about the Knicks’ addition of Zach Randolph, writing “the chunky Randolph will play alongside even chunkier Eddy Curry, in a tandem that should be good for 40 points a game, at both ends of the court.”
Add the New York Post’s Peter Vescey to those unimpressed by the acquisition of “the Blazers’ adolescent go-to guy”, noting the remaining $61 million owed to Randolph over the next four campaigns further places the Knicks in Salary Cap Hades, not to mention the (ahem) basketball considerations.
No matter how flashy Randolph’s scoring and rebounding (a 25-and-10 guy for most of last season), and how tricky and physical he is in the post, Isiah Thomas already flaunts one of those space/shot eaters.
As I recall months ago, Thomas branded Curry his team meal ticket, er, leading man.
As much guaranteed scratch as the Knicks squander annually, correct me if I’m wrong, they’re still limited to using one ball on each offensive possession.
How long did it take Thomas to convince “point atheist” Stephon Marbury the offense revolved around Curry? How often does that message need to be reinforced? Will Starbury ever really believe he’s not the team’s true franchise player?
And these two Knicks shouldn’t remotely conflict; one works the perimeter for jumpers or takes his man off the dribble to the hoop. Imagine how congested the middle will be and how frustrated Marbury will become if there’s no room whatsoever to drive. Imagine the gridlock, not to mention the constant conflict, if there are two dinosaurs brandishing a scorer’s mentality choking the occupied area. Also, doesn’t Zach take a swath of David Lee’s daylight?
The good news (for bargain hunting Phoenix) is that Alan Houston is considering a comeback. The even better news is that said comeback has nothing to do with acting.
I think that’s Zeke’s fundamental problem as a GM: in a vacuum, many of his trades look pretty good, and in terms of talent he usuall comes out on top, but there’s no sense of the way the different elements of his team could or would compliment each other. Randolph and Curry are both good post scorers, but neither can pass to save his respective life, and neither plays defense or blocks shots. Lee, and to a degree Frye, complimented Curry. Randolph just replicates him. It’s like Isiah is building two parallel teams on one roster: the running-jumping-scoring team he keeps drafting, which would be led by Marbury and Richardson, and then some gritty, plodding second unit with the two beefy dudes, Jared Jeffries and Randolph Morris (who is, also, a back-to-the-basket scorer).
If this means David Lee is going to be on the block, by the way, may I nominate the Nets as a possible destination. Please?