How about them Knickerbockers, eh? I got news for you-they suck. Patrick Ewing must cringe when he looks at the box scores every night. Just 10 short years ago, they were in the finals against the Spurs. Nowadays, reaching the NBA finals would be as impossible as Nate Robinson dunking over the Empire State building. Knick fans were so excited when they enticed Mike D’Antoni away from Phoenix (who have had their own problems this year), with certainty that anything would be better than the Isaiah era. But as the season progressed, Knick fans were still suffering. Zach Randolph was finally starting to play well and stay off the drugs, when they shipped him and Mardy Collins off to the Clip show (who are the best “on-paper” worst team in the NBA. Jamal Crawford? Sent to the Warriors. And what did the Knicks get for those players? Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley, and Al Harrington. Thomas was just traded to the Bulls, Mobley was forced to take an early retirement due to health issues, and the only good deal for them is Harrington, who puts up big numbers. But not every night, which is not just a problem for Harrington. It’s a problem for the entire team. One night you’ll have David Lee go 20-20, the next night you’ll have Wilson Chandler drop 31, followed by Harrington having a huge 30+ point game, and then you’ll get like 34 from Nate Robinson off the bench in the next outing. That is all fine and good, but the problem is that when one player has a big night, nobody else does. Kobe Bryant can have a big night and win games for his team. So can LeBron James, Chris Paul, and any of Boston’s Big Three. But to rack up some W’s for the Knicks, you’re going to need more than one of the Knicks run-of-the-mill, nothing-special foursome to produce. David Lee and Wilson Chandler did it one time this year, which resulted in a high-scoring victory over Golden State. And earlier tonight, the Knicks got the win over the undermanned Pacers, playing without their star Danny Granger. Robinson, Lee, Harrington all put up great stats. But that’s about it. In addition to those earlier trades in the season, Donnie Walsh pulled off another couple of trades right before the trade deadline expired, but nothing too special. They got Chris Wilcox from Oklahoma City, who had been traded to and then traded back from New Orleans, when the Thunder went nuts over dynamic Tyson Chandler’s turf-toe trouble. They only had to give up Malik Rose. Yashar Koach Donnie Walsh. The other trade-deadline acquisition of Puppet master Walsh was trading Tim Thomas, Anthony Roberson, and Jerome James to Chicago for Larry Hughes. Word? Larry Hughes? Are you serious? Here’s a guy who was given a phat deal by the Cavaliers, who had high hopes for him. Then the injuries came. Then his brother died. Then, there were more injuries. So last year, they dished him off in that last-second 3 way deal, which sent him to Chicago. With the exception of the loss of his brother, it was the same story there. Hughes is the kind of player that every so often will drop 40 on the opposing team, and in the next game will suck it up for the entire game. And when New Yorkers heard about this deal, they were happy? Really New York fans? This is what it comes down to: Larry Hughes is the second biggest waste of money in the history of the NBA, besides this year’s Stephon Marbury soap opera. Speaking of which, what the hell is going on here? Stephon Marbury is the luckiest man in the world right now, or until the Knicks release him after March 1st (My birthday HAYO!), so he cannot join a team for the playoffs. Since the beginning of the year, he has not played, and apparently the Knicks knew that he didn’t exactly “fit in” with the style of basketball that D’antoni has implemented. Yet, he has still been going to the bank, and stands to make $20 million. Good Lord that’s a lot of money! So what I want to know is why didn’t the Knicks try and trade him? Boston had mentioned they were interested in taking Marbury off the “hands” of the Knicks. Marbury had mentioned that when his contract with New York had expired, he was going to “retire” by moving to Greece and playing in the Euroleague. And when Olympiakos Star and former NBA player Josh Childress went down to injury, Greece made the call to New York and they were willing to talk about taking Stephon Marbury------And the Knicks were silent. They tried working out a buyout with him, and they nothing happened. I don’t get it. Why not trade him and get something out of this ridiculous mess? Why not try and salvage this horrendous situation by getting some players or cash? Or maybe even take on yet another expiring contract to get ready for the “Summer of LeBron?” Nothing. Walsh did nothing. BAD DONNIE WALSH! Let’s talk about the Summer of 2010, which will apparently be the biggest summer of free agency signings in NBA history. Here’s another news flash New Yorkers- LeBron James is GOING NOWHERE. End of story, and that is all I’ll say about that. That leaves the other big stars Toronto’s Chris Bosh and Miami’s Dwayne Wade. Here’s the down low. Realistically, the teams in the mix would be the Pistons, Bulls, and Knicks. Detroit, will have it’s hands full this summer, when, I believe, Carlos Boozer (BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!) will opt out of his contract (which Utah unjustly gave him when the Cavs were working out a better deal for him) will land in Piston-land. Taking that in prospective, although they will have the cash to do so, I’m not sure they’ll get either player. D-Wade is a Chicago boy, and no doubt he’d love to play for his home-town Bulls, so I can legitimately see him going there. I can see Bosh going to New York, but at this moment I think he’ll actually stay in Toronto. No way will New York get two of those players in the summer of 2010. So let’s say the Knicks get Bosh or Wade, not both-what happens then? What happens when the Knicks realize that the summer of 2010 will not live up to it’s expectations? So when the Knicks don’t sign a big name over the next offseason, what will Donnie Walsh do? He’s building for a future that is NOT promised to him. Not one player has said that they are for sure going to be wearing Knickerbocker blue and orange. Sorry NYC, No LBJ for you. D-Wade? Outlook not so good. Bosh? Maybe. But once you have them, don’t worry. By then Walsh will have let David Lee, Wilson Chandler, and maybe even 2-time slam dunk champion Nate Robinson go, and you’ll have one star player, maybe Al Harrington, and a bunch of scrubs that don’t even belong in the D-League. Will that get you to the playoffs? It might. Would that get you a championship? Doubtful. I know the Knicks obnoxiously made cap space available by their multiple trades this season, but what is Donnie Walsh going to do when the Knicks don’t get any of those big name players? You don’t think that every team is going to clear up cap space for that summer? I know the Knicks are plotting for the glorious future, but as of right now, it’s still the regular season and you’ve got a well over a year until these big name players are on the market. Let’s get out of la-la land Donnie Don Don, and let’s face reality: Your team sucks, you’re making stupid moves for 2 years from now which will not pan out, and the Knicks will yet again NOT be anywhere near that thing we call the playoffs. You still have a lot of basketball to go Knicks---get your minds off July 2010, and focus on February 2009.
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