Good morning Fixers. To quote fellow Fixer Chuck D, "Welcome to the Terrordome."
When you're still the new guy on the beat, you don't yet have the rolodex of contacts or the even the cache of the veterans, so my lack of trade rumors I have to acknowledge here. I write what I know and I know what I write. So humbly I'll give props to the older cats I'm learning from and we can dissect the rumors of the day as the 3 p.m. deadline fast approaches.
What seems most evident is that the desperate Isiah Thomas is desperately trying to bring in a point guard on a short-term (because short-term is likely all Isiah has at this point).
He seems convinced this team still has a shot at a playoff run and the PG position is an obvious hole on this team (as we have said since, what, last summer?).
But please tell me how Tyronn Lue, Carlos Arroyo or Keyon Dooling make that great of a difference. OK, so they're all expiring contracts, which means it can't hurt you long term (unless you're giving up a young player). Clearly Isiah is desperate, here. And that's why you should - all together now - be very afraid.
It's been known for a while that the Knicks and Zach Randolph want a divorce. He should have never been brought here in the first place. I've written this before: Randolph came here with his head right and with the intention of fitting in. I thought he played his tail off the first few weeks. He hustled right back to the team for that game against the Clippers in LA - and played great - during that week his grandmother died. But I believe once he saw how things were going here, Z-Bo cashed in his chips and just made sure he got his.
But as much as Isiah wants to get rid of Zach, you have to worry about how far he'd go to do it. You saw the Daily News rumor about one apparent trade that was shot down: Randolph would have gone to Milwaukee for Bobby Simmons (two more years at about $20.5 million), Dan Gadzuric (three more years at around $20.2 million) and Charlie Bell (four more years at over $14 million).
That one is fire-able.
Here's what I warn early in this day of infamy: trading David Lee. If Isiah is desperate enough and has a chance at making a major trade, he just might.
Be very afraid.
And check back here throughout the day for updates and any rumors that float. Lot's of stuff brewing around the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers front-and-center. Also, Ron Artest is still out there and the Sac Kings are trying desperately to move him (and pushing rumor-after-rumor in the media).
Denver is another team in panic mode. They want to do something to keep the pace with the contenders in the West who have all made major moves. The Nuggets, I'm told, have had heated internal debates as to what to do, with Artest and Randolph among several risks they have considered.
Comments (22)
I guess I can see where Zeke is coming from on the players not playing weel because of the trade deadline...
Being a true Knick fan, I am close to useless today at work...you'd think my job was to read ESPN, etc. for trade updates!
Be VERY afraid...
Uggggh...I feel sick!
From realgm.com:
"The New York Daily News is reporting that even though Pat Riley is denying the Heat have any interest in Knick center Eddy Curry, he did contact Curry's former team the Chicago Bulls to gather information on the big man."
The problem is, his offenses have been "fire-able" for nearly 4 years. That's assuming there's someone smart enough to realize that. Who will fire him. I'm very afraid.
Yes - flushing DLee down the toiled is the ultimate symbol of Isiah's desperation. If that happens, that's tantamount to him announcing, "I don't care what happens to this team. I only care about saving my job and getting what's coming to ME."
I am, indeed . . . very afraid. (Great picture, by the way.)
Oh god...I am so nervous right now. Nene was in trade rumors...The dude had a MALIGNANT tumor. He is also nearly worthless, and I believe his contract runs longterm.
i highly doubt anything will happen today
Alan -
Reading through the lines of what Isaiah's saying to you guys, do you think that he does really have the power to make a trade today?
It worries me that there are all of these rumors involving the Knicks, just because it makes me think that if nothing else, Isaiah is more than a lame duck.
If he does, and if he trades Lee for a short term fix (of what, by the way? finishing with a couple of more wins than Brown's team?), I just might disown the Knicks and become a Liberty fan.
Yo Trane - I think Thaddeus Young had a night at the Garden too. I gotta say though, it will not be his last. The guy looks legit, he's got "it" as far as scoring goes. We'll probably just have to settle in to his whupping up on the Atlantic Division for years to come.
Please god, no trades.
2 simultaneous trades from BS of Page 2 ESPN.com (playing w/ the trade machine):
New Jersey gets Jason Williams and Ricky Davis; Miami gets Eddy Curry, Jamaal Magloire and Fred Jones; New York gets Vince Carter and Smush Parker.
Why New Jersey does it: Cap room, baby! The Nets are turning Vince into $16 million of expiring deals. Combined with the Kidd deal, Richard Jefferson's contract would be their only big deal after this season. Better yet, adding Ricky "The Ebola Virus" Davis makes them worse this season and improves their draft pick. A win-win all around.
Why Miami does it: The Heat are rolling the dice with Curry, and why not? He's one of the few proven low-post scorers in the league. Sure, he can't do anything else. But stick him with Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, 2008 Lottery Pick X and Free Agent Signing X and that's an interesting foundation. Also, I think Eddy Curry can be the guy who will give Pat Riley his first on-court heart attack.
Why New York does it: That's easy -- if Vince can't get motivated to play hard in the most famous basketball city in the country, then he's worthless as a basketball player and a human being. Seriously. If this guy cares AT ALL about basketball, then he'd give a crap about proving himself in New York. He would. It's a smart gamble for the Knicks and they have more than enough money to roll the dice. As for Curry, it's safe to say that Zach Randolph made him expendable in the "low-post scoring," "no defense whatsoever" and "moody head case" departments.
Indiana trades Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley and David Harrison to New York for Stephon Marbury, David Lee and Malik Rose.
Why Indiana does it: Personally, I don't think Jermaine O'Neal is the same guy anymore. He's been banged up for four years and has a ton of miles on him. If I could turn him into an up-and-comer like Lee and dump a cancer like Tinsley in the same trade, I'd do that in a heartbeat. Financially, Lee and Marbury make the same money as O'Neal this year and next; Rose expires two years earlier than Tinsley; and Marbury still gives them a gigantic expiring contract for trading purposes next season. And if that's not enough, the Pacers could trot out a legitimate whitewash with Jeff Foster, Troy Murphy, Lee, Mike Dunleavy and Travis Diener ... quite possibly, the most talented whitewash we've seen since Larry Legend was still playing. Hell, the Jumbotron could even show a video of a bunch of paint rollers painting walls white every time they did it.
Why New York does it: Combined with Trade 4A, the Knicks would suddenly have a foundation of Vince Carter, Zach Randolph and Jermaine O'Neal. For a franchise that thinks like a fantasy team instead of a real team ... lemme tell you something, that's a nice-looking fantasy team! Also, you can't tell me that the poor Knicks fans (proven suckers after the way they talked themselves into Marbury four years ago) wouldn't be intrigued at the chance to turn Curry, Marbury, Lee and Rose into Vince (their first elite perimeter scorer since Bernard), O'Neal (their first elite big man since Ewing) and Tinsley (their first true point guard since Mark Jackson). Hmmmm.
(Right now the Knicks fans are thinking, "Wait, so we'd start J.O., Zach, Q, Vince and Tinsley, with Crawford as the sixth man and Balkman and Nate rounding out the rotation? I'm in! Count me in!" You guys are easy.)
Old School, my friend..PLEASE step away from the crack machine.
Old School - how can you have "Old School" or "Oakley" in your tag and want anything to do with Vince Carter? VC is the polar opposite off both. Didn't Oakley call him out in Toronto for being a lazy, don't give a F, mama's boy?
VC has never done anything in his career worth noting other than sticking his arm through the rim on a dunk. That and many other oddities can be found on Youtube and none of them win basketball games.
Can the Knicks trade for OJ Simpson?
Jessica or Homer Simpson perhaps?
I know this team is desperate, but I guarantee you David Lee does not get traded.
The whole front office will be admitted to an insane asylum if that happens.
1:30 pm . . . tick-tock . . . tick-tock . . .
We need to do a YouTube segment with characters from horror movies in Knicks uniforms. Freddy Krueger? Chucky? Norman Bates? Jaws? Shaun of the Dead? Rosemary's Baby? The Toxic Avenger? Nightmare on 34rd Street?
2.20...and absolutly no movement...THANK GOD! Unless we would trade for shortterm contracts I want nothing to do with trades!
I got a feelin' that Thomas days of trading and drafting are over.
Trade deadline? School pick-up? Trade deadline? School pick-up? Close, but . . . guess I can’t leave her on the sidewalk, her tiny hand desperately trying to flag down cabs as the zoom past. Keep a light in the window . . .
Old School copied and pasted part of an article written by Bill Simmons of ESPN.com, as he states at the beginning of his post.
Details, people. Details.
Clearly the Sports Guy does not read the Fix, where people have threatened to disown the team if they trade for Vince Carter.
Looks like we dodged a bullet. It is 3 pm and no Knick deals.
The stage is set for a complete melt down the balance of the year, Isiah will be fired, and a new day will dawn.
Beware the late-breaking news of trades that have not been processed by the league before 3:00.
We are not out of the woods just yet.
yes, there is a god....no trade made...(at least announced).
that means we play out the year with these bums and get a top 5 pick..or higher if stern & the balls fall our way **wink**. but regardless, we trade fatso & bozo on draft night for an extra pick(s). hopefully we can get our PG & PF/C. you cats already know my top candidates. 1. eric gordon 2. jarvis vanardo 3. donte green. i luv beasley too but i don't like PF's w/ short arms. i like em' long like jermaine or KG or duncan.
we currently have 16 wins, i'm hoping we don't finish better than 30-52.
We gotta take Thabeet if he declares. The kid is a monster on defense...closest thing to oden. Get rid of Zach and Eddy. Start Thabeet & Lee.
Oh, happy day . . . oh happy day . . .
I think it's important that we're all very careful to spell LAME DUCK correctly over these last few months of Isiah's employment at MSG.
I also don't think it's too early to start thinking about a going away party.
One word of advice, however: Don't get in the truck with Stephon. Even if he asks nicely . . .