“That Isiah Thomas actually boarded the Knicks™ charter plane Thursday afternoon for a trip home to Chicago has to rank as one of the NBA™s biggest upsets so far this season,” writes the New York Post’s Frank Isola, perhaps forgetting the way the Nets managed to sell name rights for a lame duck arena. Though Peter Vecsey had the week’s better line (“I know I’m an ass to assume Dolan understands the concept of the NBA standings”), it’s Isola who paints the most depressing picture of the Knicks’ long-term prospects.

Imagine if Jerry Colangelo was brought in to run the team. People close to the former Phoenix Suns boss say that Colangelo would only take over the Knicks if he was given complete autonomy. He would clean house from top to bottom. With that in mind and knowing that Dolan doesn™t know who to turn to, do you really think anyone is advising Dolan to take a serious look at someone like Colangelo?


Exactly. Instead, those advisors are telling Dolan things like, œEddy™s good enough to be an All-Star and œJust give Isiah more time. I think we can get the eighth seed in 2020.

On Wednesday, I spoke to a prominent player agent who agreed that Colangelo is the right guy for the job. But the agent also painted a bleak picture for the Knicks™ future.

œThe damage that has been done here will take at least four years to clean up, the agent said. œFrankly, it is a disaster.

Yeah, but I heard that Glen Sather only needed seven years to turn around the Rangers.

œWhat?

Nevermind.

It is hard to be optimistic about the present and future for this team. Imagine if the Knicks never traded for Curry and instead held onto their lottery picks. Maybe LaMarcus Aldridge could have been a Knick today. Or Kevin Durant. Or both.

Are the Knicks really going anywhere with Curry as their center? He™s a nice guy but he lacks the passion and commitment to ever belong in the same universe with Patrick Ewing. Zach Randolph is their best player but he™s yet to prove he can carry a team. Stephon Marbury is on the wrong side of 30 and there is no one currently on the roster capable of taking his place on a consistent basis. Jamal Crawford could be a solid player on a good team as a sixth man.

Can you believe that after six weeks the Knicks are already 12½ games behind the Boston Celtics? That™s hard to do after six weeks of a baseball season, much less the NBA.

The Fanhouse’s Bethlehem Shoals considers Brian Scalabrine’s popularity in Boston to be something of a joke. Greg Butler knows exactly what he’s talking about.