ESPN Insider -2/23/06 - Knicks Edition

[Evilmav2]

Why Isiah made this trade

posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Chad Ford

Steve Francis for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza?

Knicks fans, I finally get Isiah Thomas.

But if he keeps making moves like this, I won't have to get him much longer.

There's an old adage in the NBA that whomever gets the best player in any given deal is usually the winner of the deal.

Thomas is trying single-handedly to prove that adage is bogus.

Isiah's goal in every trade appears to be to come out of the trade with the best player -- contracts and chemistry be damned.

Look back over his deals for Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Tim Thomas, Jalen Rose and now Steve Francis. In every instance, Isiah got the best player in the trade (not including future draft picks).

He must believe something like this: "If I have the most talent, the deepest bench, the highest-paid coach, and the most media coverage, the wins will come."

This is a dream scenario for Orlando. The team balked earlier in the week at a similar deal that would've sent Hardaway, Jamal Crawford and Ariza for combo of Francis, Tony Battie and Pat Garrity because Orlando's brain trust of Otis Smith and Dave Twardzik decided, after calling around the league, that Crawford might present the same chemistry problems that Francis did.

They were willing to lose the trade on talent to win it at ever other level. Cap management and chemistry are more important to a rebuilding team like Orlando.

And, in trading Hardaway's contract to Orlando, Isiah gave the Magic his best bargaining chip. He might want to consult Smith and Twardzik in the near future about how to really rebuild a team. The Magic come out of the trade deadline in great shape for the future.

The Knicks? Ugh.

Steve Francis isn't the missing piece. Neither is Marbury, Crawford, Curry or Rose. There's a reason teams are willing to trade these players for draft picks and expiring contracts -- they don't want them.

No one denies their individual talent. What they all have in common is that wherever they go, chemistry disruptions ensue and losing follows. They are me-first players, more interested in the stat sheet than the win column, and they all think they are better than they actually are. They'll give you highlight plays, amazing individual performances and huge number of lottery balls in May.

I can understand why Isiah believes he's on the verge of building a winner this way. He's been drinking from the same cup that David Stern has been feeding us all of these years -- that somehow basketball is really about a handful of individual superstars who can make our jaws drop on the fly.

Stars can win you a championship. In recent decades, the Lakers, Spurs, Bulls, Rockets and Celtics have proved that. But putting too many players on the floor who think they are stars is a recipe for disaster.

It makes you wonder whether Isiah really played on the same team Joe Dumars did in the late '80s. Dumars looked at his years playing with the Pistons and came to the conclusion that chemistry, work ethic and guys who could fill a particular role were the foundation of a contender. Isiah came to the opposite conclusion.

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A three-part plan to fix the Knicks

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
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The field I teach in is conflict resolution, so, as you may guess, I get a lot readers who write in asking me if I could solve all the Knicks' problems.

My reply? Middle East peace might be possible ... making the Knicks good, not so easy.

As I wrote in my blog, Isiah's problem is that he's intent on always getting the best individual talent in the deal, no matter what it costs. He showed this again in his acquisition of Steve Francis.

One problem with this approach is that the Knicks need role players to fit around their so-called stars.

If the Knicks are going to win, they're going to have get rid of some of the egos and actually make a trade or two where the goal is chemistry and role, not scoring.

Given that Isiah just dealt away his best trading chip, Penny Hardaway, it won't be easy to fix the team overnight.

But, for what it's worth, here's what I'd do. It's not going to win the Knicks a championship, but it could make them respectable.

Step 1:

Turn around and trade either Francis or Stephon Marbury. (Francis can be re-traded immediately as long as he's traded by himself.) I think Marbury's a better player, but perhaps Larry Brown's had enough of him and I'm sure Marbury's had enough of Larry.

Could they move either guy? It wouldn't be easy. Neither is much of a hot commodity now.

But I wonder about the Lakers. Clearly the idea that they were after Francis is coming from somewhere. If they were after Francis, wouldn't Marbury be an even better fit? And, if it's true they are no longer high on Lamar Odom, which is what just about every GM in the league that I talk to believes, then there's a deal there.

Here's the deal:

Lakers send Odom to New York; Kwame Brown and Smush Parker to Atlanta; and Devean George, Stanislav Medvedenko and Laron Profit to Utah.

Utah sends Carlos Boozer to Lakers.

New York sends either Marbury or Francis to the Lakers.

Atlanta sends Josh Childress to Utah and Tyronn Lue and Donta Smith to the Lakers.

Here's why this might work:

The Knicks would do this to turn Steve Francis or Stephon Marbury into Lamar Odom. Everyone knows that Francis and Marbury are not going to work well together in the backcourt. The Knicks have too many me-first, shoot-first players, especially on the perimeter.

Odom is the opposite, a team guy who can play multiple positions and does what's best for his team. He's not going to drop 30 on you too often, but that's exactly the attitude Larry Brown needs on his roster right now.

I know Lakers coach Phil Jackson isn't thrilled about the idea of losing Odom in midseason, but this one could pay off in the long-term. The Lakers need to get two players for Odom to make something like this work -- a guard and a rebounder, at least. Francis (or Marbury) and Boozer are overpaid, but they should serve their roles just fine as long as both can stay healthy.

The downside for the Lakers is that they would lose any cap flexibility they were going to have in the summer of 2007. However, the cap flexibility isn't going to be much because the Lakers would have to waive all but three players on their roster to get far enough under the cap to sign one max player. I seriously doubt the Lakers are considering putting eight minimum players on their roster in 2007.

This deal would give the Lakers more balance, more scoring and more star power. Whether Kobe would ever pass the ball to the new guys is a different story altogether, though you would have to believe that Marbury in particular would be more adamant about asking for it.

The Jazz basically would be giving away Boozer for cap flexibility and a nice, young two guard with some potential. With the development of Mehmet Okur this year, the Jazz don't really need Boozer -- Okur, Andrei Kirilenko and Greg Ostertag have the frontline covered.

That move would also put the Jazz roughly $13 million under the cap going into the summer, allowing them to use their cap space this summer to either find a two guard who can create his own shot (kind of like they guy they gave away, Kirk Snyder) in the draft, via free agency or with a sign-and-trade.

The Hawks might do it to try out Kwame (who hails from the Atlanta area) for the next season and a half. He would not be a long-term commitment and this summer's free agent market is short on bigs.

Parker is also interesting. He's had some success in L.A. this year and might be a good fit in the backcourt next to Joe Johnson.

Childress has shown potential, but the Hawks have a huge logjam at the wing position.

Step 2:

New York sends Jamal Crawford to Denver.

Denver sends Earl Watson and Greg Buckner to New York.

• See this trade in the ESPN Trade Machine.

The Knicks need a real point guard -- one who doesn't need to take 20 shots a night and one who's willing to defend on the perimeter. To fit those needs, Watson is the best guard on the trade market. His defense, especially, would get Larry Brown excited and add balance to a backcourt featuring Francis or Marbury. Buckner is another defensive stopper who could get some love from Larry.

This isn't an ideal situation for the Nuggets. Crawford isn't the world's greatest shooter or the world's smartest player. But he's 25, knows how to score on the perimeter, is rarely injured and would provide an instant boost to the Nuggets' run-and-gun team.

Step 3:

New York sends Quentin Richardson to Washington.

Washington sends Antonio Daniels and Jared Jeffries to New York.

• See this trade in the ESPN Trade Machine.

Remember, we're remaking the Knicks not with stars, but with role players. Richardson is a terrible fit for Larry Brown and isn't happy sitting on the pine. Daniels struggled as a starting two guard in Washington but was very effective coming off the bench as a point guard for Seattle last season. He provides defense, size and scoring in the backcourt.

Suddenly the Knicks' backcourt would look pretty balanced, with Watson and Daniels on the defensive end and Marbury/Francis and Nate Robinson in the scoring role. Jeffries is a pretty terrible offensive player, but his length and athleticism make him a nightmare for opponents as a perimeter defender.

Washington might do it because Daniels has been terrible in Washington and Richardson could provide them some more size, rebounding and 3-point shooting in the backcourt.

If the Knicks could pull off all three deals, here's how their team would look:

PG: Earl Watson, Antonio Daniels

SG: Steve Francis or Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, Greg Buckner

SF: Lamar Odom, Jalen Rose, Jared Jeffries

PF: Channing Frye, Maurice Taylor, David Lee

C: Eddy Curry, Jerome James

I don't think that's a championship team. But if the Knicks' young players were to develop, it would be very solid.

With the roster, the Knicks' players would have defined roles. Francis (or Marbury) and Curry would be the primary scorers, with Odom and Frye able to reach 20 points on any given night. Watson and Daniels would be there for defense and chemistry. Odom has the ability to handle the ball, defend, and he also would be the best rebounder on the team.

Suddenly Larry Brown would have the defenders to hide some of the team's defensive weaknesses.

It's not a perfect plan, but conflict agreements rarely are. This much I believe: That team would win more games than they lost, and the team would't be giving up any young assets in the process.

Are Knicks fans asking for anything more at this point?

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.
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Martin makes sense for Knicks

posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Chris Sheridan

Now that Steve Francis has been secured for next to nothing, there's one more move that can be made in the next few hours that makes perfect sense for the New York Knicks.

Time to go out and get Kenyon Martin.

Say what you want about the financial ramifications of Wednesday's Knicks-Magic trade in which New York acquired Francis for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza. The Knicks will be paying close to $100 million in salary and luxury tax over the next three seasons as a result of this deal, but cost is not a factor for a franchise owned by one of the biggest cash cows of our time, Cablevision.

Think about it. Every month, millions of New York-area television viewers send Cablevision a check for anywhere from $50 to $200 for their cable, their Internet and even their home phone service. That's a lot of checks, a lot of money, a lot of homes, month after month after month after month.

Cablevision has to do something with all that cash, whether it distributes it to the company's shareholders or to one of the Knicks. But why should that matter to the average Knicks fan? All they should care about is results, not costs.

"They take their directions here from the Ivory Tower, and if they want something they're told to go and get it. A lot of deep pockets here, I guess," said Miami coach Pat Riley, whose term as the Knicks' coach in the mid-'90s predated Cablevision's ownership.

It's safe to say Riley was stunned by the talent part of the trade equation, calling Francis "a gift for the Knicks, basically."

The three-time All-Star (don't forget, he was traded for Tracy McGrady a couple years ago) came at the paltry price of one player (Ariza) from the end of the bench and another (Hardaway) who hasn't even been with the team for most of the past two seasons.

The fact that Orlando couldn't even pry away one of Thomas' lesser rookies, Nate Robinson or David Lee, speaks to how desperate the Magic were to acquire Hardaway's expiring contract to give themselves salary cap relief for the summer of 2007.

See? Expiring contracts really can be assets, just like a willingness to spend money can be an asset.

And that brings us to Martin.

One of the main motivating factors for the Nuggets in a Martin trade would be freeing future money for Carmelo Anthony's contract extension. If Denver was as determined to trade Martin as people were saying Wednesday, the Knicks could be the perfect partner.

"I always try to improve our basketball team, and if there's an opportunity to do that, I will," Thomas said, refusing to comment on specific players.

Denver would want a big man in return, and the Knicks have two -- Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor -- who are utterly expendable. The Knicks also could end Denver's two-year search for a shooting guard if they threw Jamal Crawford into the deal, and how many other teams are there out there willing two give two players of that caliber for Martin?

Taylor, Rose and Crawford all have long contracts, but not nearly as onerous as the max deal Martin has with the Nuggets ($10.6 million this season, then 11.8, 13.0, 14.2, 15.4 and 16.5). How many other teams would be willing to take on Martin at that price, especially with him coming off knee surgery (and with a back problem to boot)?

Makes a little sense, doesn't it?

Guess we'll know if it made enough sense by 3 p.m. ET.