There was no fix for your Knicks tonight. No instant karma moment that had their number come up first. Put away your daydreams of Derrick Rose running the point; reality hit with the Knicks at Six.
But it's all good, you see. Donnie Walsh says this gives him "options" . . . which is easily translated to suggest that Walsh will most certainly field offers for the pick. If he had a No. 1 or No. 2 in his hands, you can get a player to help you next season. But with the right move, that No. 6 can just as well help next season, but in a different way.
You have contracts that are considered tough to move, none more than Zach Randolph, who, let's be quite honest, doesn't fit in the Mike D'Antoni system. By himself Randolph is almost an impossible trade unless you are willing to take back an equally hefty contract that someone else doesn't want. But package him with a lottery pick . . .
"I think we’ve got to look at all the options we have in front of us as far as the players that are involved, what other moves we might be able to make around the pick and, so, I think this begins the second stage of our rebuilding toward next year,” Walsh said. “At six you have more flexibility."
Can you tempt Denver with it for Carmelo? Would Memphis, who already sits fifth overall, take it for a package that brings in Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry? Would Toronto consider moving restricted free agent Jose Calderon or Andrea Bargnani for something involving the pick?
You can go through just about every roster in the league and come up with ideas.
"It's an asset," Walsh said. "A good asset."
It's something Walsh can use to accelerate the effort to get under the cap by 2010. And if he can use it for that cause instead of adding another young player, you have to believe he would. It's also something Walsh can use to improve the Knicks immediately, by filling a need or adding a player who fits the D'Antoni style.
Of course the Knicks will also consider what player could be available to them at No. 6. Next week is the Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando -- we'll be there, of course -- where most of the lottery pick candidates won't play, but they will be involved in team interviews and the combine. It is also there where Walsh and Glen Grunwald can begin researching the interest in their pick as well as what players will likely be taken with the first five picks. If a point guard like Jerryd Bayless (Arizona) sounds as if he somehow might slip through (really, how does Minnesota not take him? Would Kevin McHale instead go for a power forward to play along side Al Jefferson?), you have to think the Knicks might prefer to keep the pick.
With such options, you might see Walsh move a little quicker than expected in naming a general manager. They're gonna need all hands on deck.
Stay tuned . . .
* *
It's a snarky question, but someone had to ask it. So as D'Antoni wrapped up his media scrum after the lottery, I said, "Is there any irony that the winner was Chicago, one of the teams that you decided not to go to and come to the Knicks?"
"Nah," D'Antoni said with a laugh. "You guys can make that story. That's on you guys. That's easy, that's a layup for you guys."
D'Antoni did reveal one little nugget: during his legendary career in Italty, he spent eight seasons as a teammate with the father of Italian prosect Danilo Gallinari. D'Antoni and Victorio Gallinari were even roommates for three years. "So I know him a lot through family," D'Antoni said. "But I have not watched his kid a lot being over here."
Still, he will tap into his vast resources in Italy to get as much information on Danilo Gallinari, a 6-9 forward who has good post-up moves, good range and is a terrific ballhandler. Some compare him to Toni Kukoc.
* *
On one of the dining tables in the hospitality tent was an autographed photo of Kiki Vandeweghe from his days with the Portland Trail Blazers. Kiki happened to walk by and I said, "When I was in high school I would have given anything to have this." It's true. He was one of my favorite players and I was happy when he was traded to the Knicks in 1989.
Kiki smiled and replied, "Yeah, and now you're using it as a place mat for your dinner."
* *
One entertaining scene at the draft lottery came in the studio during a commercial break, before the picks were revealed. Jay-Z, who was there representing the Nets, started tapping out a beat on the dias. Dwyane Wade started bobbing his head and Rudy Gay picked up on it. Jay-Z kept the beat going and added a line of "uh...uh...uh" into the rhythm as if he was ready to freestyle.
Jay then suddenly stopped and the players broke up into laughter.
The NBA. Where Jay-Z's next hit happens.
Comments (34)
Damn...options huh?
how the hell did chi town get the #1 pick?
they had barely a one percent chance...knick fans are cursed!
it is all james dolan and walsh's fault for not firing isiah's backstabbing ass right when he came in.
he let isiah try to win games and those pathetic games we won down the stretch cost us a lottery pick.
isiah has cursed our franchise forever!
"it is all james dolan and walsh's fault for not firing isiah's backstabbing ass right when he came in.
he let isiah try to win games and those pathetic games we won down the stretch cost us a lottery pick.
isiah has cursed our franchise forever!"
cosign 100%. seattle ended up with the third pick having won 20 games on the season. we won 23. the three game win streak at the end of the season pissed me off then, and it still pisses me off now.
isiah is the enemy to knicks progress.
he does not deserve to be kept on with the organization in any capacity.
but dolan is also responsible for not firing him when he should have, right after the verdict in the ABS sexual harassment law suit. i bet he ordered walsh to let isiah finish out the season before the stupid demotion.
Isiah is also responsible for Global Warming, the War in
Iraq and Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor! Did Dolan and Isiah
also have a Role in 911?
how can you guys be upset by games won?
tanking is unacceptable, regardless of who is in the lottery or anything else.
@james
say what?
tanking is unaccetable?
well it worked well for the san antonio spurs.that is how they became a dynasty!
how do you think they got tim duncun?
how do you think cleveland got lebron james?
the knicks tanked the most important part of the season...
the beginning,the middle and up to the end except for some stupid 3 game winning streak that isiah orchestrated so he could save his job.
so did that help him?no...he got demoted.
so in essence he won three more games to tie larry brown for worse record in the franchise and i am suppose to be happy because we didn't tank the final three games?
the intellect of some you knick fans amazes me.
and not in a good way!
Well if we arent getting Rose, Beasley, Or Mayo the next best thing to do is use the pick to unload bad contracts...
Actually KD, Minnesota got the three spot with 22 wins, moving up past Seattle. So we were only one win "better" than them To me, number six is just as good as number three this year anyway. After Rose there isn't really a franchise changing talent. Maybe Beasley, but I think the guy is the next Derrick Coleman. Whoop de damn doo. I could be wrong.
The lottery is mostly luck anyway. But it was dumb to start suddenly playing like the games meant something after the season was lost and the only thing left to play for was pride or the future and lottery balls. Where was the pride for the rest of the season? Suddenly, now when your losses can benefit the team, you decide losing is unacceptable, when it is not only acceptable but beneficial. Sometimes you have to take one for the team.
Wait, tell me if you've heard this one before...
Maybe next year.
u fools blame isiah for everything...blame him for gas prices too geez. losing more games didnt matter. did boston get the #1 pick when they tanked last year to get oden or durant?? did miami get #1 this yr after riley played all nbdl players tha last half of the year?? NOOO!! it seems to me like david stern has a bone to pick w/ dolan and has left him to suffer.
nevertheless, i say trade the pick. donnie & co. must go to work now like danny ainge did last year and earn his $$. make trades & improve this team. a SINGLE draft pick won't solve ANYTHING.
we need a long, athletic F and C to run in d'antoni's system. fatso & bozo will not cut it. steff & lil' nate can run circles and go krazy w/ their scoring abilities and so can 'and1 jamal'. chandler can hold down the 3 spot and do some defensive duties. we need to get our hands on a cat like theo ratliff or a dude like francisco elson who is cheap and can block shots and get up & down the floor at the same time.
Listen up people, 5 or 6th pick are what the knicks really wanted. I know Beasley and Rose and even Gordon are tempting prospects but Walsh knows it's easier to make trades with lower picks because the media and fans won't rip the move so quickly.
MAKE NO MISTAKE, Walsh's only motive is to get under the cap so Dolan can open the Vault for Lebron James to leap into the big apple.
Who gives a ShI t about Pick 1 or 2. It's all about getting under the cap for a run at the real prize. Lebron James.
Who can dangle a bigger carrot in front of James than the knicks?
NOT CHICAGO!
Who has one of the brightest and most beloved coaches?
NOT CHICAGO!
We don't know what D. Rose will be, we can speculate.
WE KNOW WHAT LEBRON IS, RIGHT NOW. SCARY GOOD!
and he's also a YANKEE fan. wink! wink!;-)
Take Kevin Love with the pick. If D'Antoni wants to Run N' Gun, he's the perfect big man to grab the rebound and throw a perfect outlet pass down the court.
Wait, nevermind. That makes too much sense for the Knicks. Trade up for the #3 pick and take O.J. Mayo!
Alright, its a reach but how about taking DJ Augustine? We need a pass-first PG to make our other guys look better so we can trade them. Plus I hear he is trying to model his game after Nash so he could thrive in the D'Antoni system.
Jon who is Bayless going to pass to. Richardson, Crawford?
I must admit I was physically disguted last night with the sixth pick and winning games at the end of the season killed us just as I knew it would. However, trading Curry or Randolph and the sixth pick for Carmelo would be amazing. You could resign him and Lebron in the same year and get a PG in the draft next year. We could also use Denver's pick on Dorsey. We also need to pry Seattle's pick next year or in 2010 (they don't need any more young players there) for Crawford, or Curry. I think Lebron would jump at the idea of playing with Carmello, D. Lee and Nate in D'Antoni's system. The cupboard can't be completely bare or else Lebron would be crazy to come here.
Isiah is also responsible for Global Warming YES.
the War in Iraq YES
and Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor YES.
Did Dolan and Isiah
also have a Role in 911? Isiaih YES, Dolan NO.
Isiaih must be grinning ear to ear right now and giggling last night.
6th pick is still valuable, gives you options.
I think it is silly to get hung up on 1 versus 6. There have been a lot of top pick busts and there have been a lot of sleepers down the ladder.
Few college players can perform well right away and develop into veritable stars based on their skill level in college. The ones who turn into impact players are those who continue to improve both mentally and physically. The selection should be based on work ethic and desire to improve as it is on the player's performance in the NCAA tournament.
I do not have a good sense for these intangibles. One guy I read about that seems to have them is Joe Alexander . From watching CDR play on Memphis , I also thought he might have some of these intnagibles as well.
I would like to know more about Hibbert. He definitely plays D. But can he run ? G town players usually do well in the pros.
We can probably trade down to get these guys.
hibbert, augustine, are you guys nuts? so much speculation and not one of these guys is a game changer. OJ mayo, if he's still around sure because he's grown and improved (dont; care about his money scandal) and the sky's the limit. maybe danilo gallinari. we need euro smarts instead of street smarts for a change. if not those guys then... what?
alan, chime in here and tell me if i'm off base, but mo cheeks liked working with zach quite a bit no? and the sixers need a post player... so how about zach and the #6 pick to the sixers for their number 16 pick and some shorter contract spare parts. we still get a decent look at round one (we got chandler in the 20's last year and that's going to work out well), and we get rid of zach's contract.
what about this move -- randolph and the number 6 to the sixers for andre miller
seeing how difficult it is going to be to move zach's contract really makes you realize how terrible isiah was...
Fat Zach and the No. 6 pick to the Bulls for Kirk Hinrich and Cedric Simmons (to balance the deal).
Knicks get a legit point and out from under Fat Zach's ridiculous contract. Hinrich starts at the point, Q at the two, Chandler and/or Balkman at the three, Lee at the four, and Lazy Eddy, whose deal no one will take, at the five. Break A Backboard is less harmful as a sixth man. Marbury gets swapped to an Italian League club for two dozen pepperoni pizzas and the Big Apple's apologies.
Bulls get a post man and the No. 6 pick (which is worthless to the Knicks) to make his Fat contract and frequent trips to Gary, Ind. strip clubs more acceptable.
the lottery problem should be fixed to prevent the miamis and the seattles from playing dishonestly.
the flopping problem should be fixed because it is turning the nba into a bunch of millionaire sissies.
and the people still sticking up for isiah, after everything the knicks have been through, well, good luck to them.
they are not knicks fans in my eyes.
i bet d'antoni had a twinge of regret over not taking over the bulls.
esp after they got the #1 pick.
to revamp the knicks roster is going to be a monster problem.
the quickest way to revamp the roster is through the draft but now we don't have a high lottery pick.
just look at portland.
they have all young draft picks and a couple of veterans...and they are getting greg oden back next season.
the best two players are rose and beasley..after that the talent drops off quite a bit.
oj mayo is a quality player but he has an attitude like marbury so that probably won't work.(plus the ncaa scandal stufff going on)
we don't even have a 2nd round pick this year.
and i think isiah traded our #1 pick in 09 away to utah.
let see if walsh can work a miracle...sh*t if he pulls this off i might call him moses!
Package the pick with Zach to Philly for Dalembart and Philly's pick, then take Augustine. Mayo, Gordon, Bayless aready play on the Knicks there called Jamal and Nate
Isiah played the bench the final month to tank but a funny thing happened, the bench showed heart. Wilson Chandler turned out to be a player.
The Knicks don't need anymore rookies.They need players that can run.
Unless O.J. Mayo falls to 6, I'd trade the pick. I think Kevin Love, Eric Gordon and D.J. Augustin will be very good NBA starting caliber players but none of them will be All-Stars. And the Knicks need an All-Star. They don't even have one! :(
You would have to involve a 3rd team, but how a trade involving the 6th pick and Randolph for the Sixers' pick (16), 21-year old PG Louis Williams, and contracts to match Randolph's ?
The Knicks would still have some solid options at 16 - Joe Alexander, Chase Budinger, Nicolas Batum, etc.
Zack would thrive under D'Antoni. He might be useful for next season--da Knix will suck anyway, might as well keep a 20-point scorer. Draft a rebounder and go young.
Dump Richardson right away and trade Curry.
Carmello is a slime ball. He has no character, plays no D, he sucker punched Mardy in da Garden and he is nothing in the clutch--stay far away.
Why is there no GM in place? Or is Walsh the GM?
DTR
"Wilson Chandler turned out to be a player."
We were screaming for this guy to get minutes in November. Instead Quentin was getting 35 minutes a night despite the back problems, the shooting problems, the loss of agility and quickness.
Not playing chandler 'til the end when they were losing big the entire season was idiocy.
Zach might be the worst fit of anyone on the Knicks roster, except for Jerome James, for D'Antoni's system. Unless you want to spend the midlevel exception on someone like Desagana Diop, who might run the floor. You need a big man to trail the break and provide a fourth option finishing at the hoop. Lee's the closest thing to that the Knicks have right now, so unless you want to move Zach to the 5 (which isn't a good idea, on defense), it won't work. Besides, his contract prohibits any real free-agent signings as long as he's on the team.
trade the pick malik rose throw som1 else in there for
artest or
mike miller alwayz been a fan of miller if
u can get melo do that 2
trade the pick for a vet if u can get 1
that lottery is bull pure bull
they don't do it by order cuz teams gonna loose on purpose to get the #1 pick/there is more to the story than that money is alwayz involved in the lottery behind close doors
the nba needs a new commissioner been saying that for years
they even got boston playing 7 games in every series to raise the stock of the viewers cuz every1 wants to see boston i could be wrong but sometimes i feel the nba is set up like boxing..
if u think there is som1 at the 6 slutt to help the knicks keep the pick other wise explore the pick with trades...
can't wait for the draft an november..
stay tuned for more KnowLedge
6th pick. So much for frozen lottery balls. I’m all for keeping the pick if we can get a quality point or packaging it as a way to rid us of a big contract. I see that alot of the media including Mr. Hahn are mentioning that as well but they all point to Zach as the one to be packaged. There are already teams showing interest in him (Denver, Milwaukee, Philly) without him being part of a package. What about using the pick to package with heartless ever-over weight Curry ?
And another question for you guys. Walsh says he is going to get us under the cap by 2010. I ask what will we have left that is attractive enough for LeBron to leave his hometown team ???? I don’t see many appealing pieces left on the roster to make this team attractive for FA’s. Am I wrong ???
I dont understand. Why do people have the idea that Thomas actually had the ability to lead the Knicks to that three game winning streak? If he could just wave his magic wand to defeat the likes of the Pistons, why wouldnt he have done that earlier in the season when they sucked? The fool just got lucky. He's gone, let's not worry about his sorry ass anymore. Trade Randolph for Camby and swap firsts or something like that.
Anything that removes Q Rich from the starting line up is worth about 5-10 games improvement next year. He wasn't even an NBA caliber player last year, let alone a starter. The problem was the Knicks didn't have a SF that could hit the broad side of a barn until Chandler started showing signs of ability late in the year.
Donnie Walsh is gonna trade up to get Mayo and then we can start from there.
Here's a thought:
Zach & Malik Rose and the 6th pick
to Indiana for
Jermaine O'neal and the 11th
Pacers can move up in the draft. Get a non-injured power forward who can score in the post (compliments their mostly perimeter oriented front line). Get some cap relief this season with Rose.
Knicks can then justify taking a PG like DJ Augustin with the 11th (or maybe Russel Westbrook if Augustin doesn't fall). They get a defensive power forward to pair with Curry, AND O'neals contract is up in 2010.
Thoughts?
Think Donnie could work some magic with his old team??
Dealing for Jermaine O'Neal, his bloated contract, and his broken-down body.
Only swapping for Vince Carter and his horrible contract or Cancer Artest and his 10 years of bad attitude would be more infantile, short-sighted, and harmful to the Knicks.
Expect the trade within a month.
KnowLedge,
Yeah, the NBA changed the system only this season just to make sure the Celts play seven games every series.
Try to get 'Derrick Rose'FIRST,FOR DRAFT PICKS AND SALARY CAP CONSIDERATIONS,MALIK ROSE,ZACH RANDOLF,JEROMES JAMES.IF NOT GET OJ MAYO FOR A EVEN SWAP DRAFT PICK.REMEBER,OJ MAYO,SUPPOSED TO BE THE NEXT BEST THING,AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO REACH HIM DEFENSE.DERRICK ROSE OR OJ MAYO A MUST HAVE.