khandor’s sports blog

What a certain so-called ‘basketball expert’ has said recently about the plight of the New York Knicks and the future possibility of Phil Jackson becoming their head coach for next season:

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Chris Palmer on twitter

Carmelo & Amar’e – 2011: 51.6 ppg; 2012: 39 ppg

27 minutes ago

Phil Jackson and the 2012 Knicks would be perfect for each other.

No team with as much talent as the Knicks should have a losing record. Ever.
about 1 hour ago

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… could not, possibly, be further from the truth.

Simple facts regarding the New York Knicks and Phil Jackson:

#1. James Dolan, historically, has been a meddlesome owner.

#2. At this stage in his life, Phil Jackson – at 67 years of age – has zero need to work for a meddlesome owner.

#3. New York presently has only 2 players who would fit readily with a Phil Jackson coached team: i. Landry Fields; and, ii. Iman Shumpert; as solid, multidimensional, players.

#4. Specifically, Amare Stoudemire [i.e. as a Pick & Roll and Isolation Big, exclusively], Carmelo Anthony [i.e. as an Isolation Forward, exclusively], Tyson Chandler [i.e. Defensively-focused Center, exclusively], Jeremy Lin [i.e. as a defensively weak starting PG], JR Smith [i.e. as a Perimeter 'jacker', exclusively], and Baron Davis [i.e. as a defensively weak back-up PG] are the anti-thesis of what could be accurately described as “a good fit player for the Triangle Offense“, based on their individual skill sets.

#5. Although Mike D’Antoni has, indeed, done a poor job of dealing with the myriad egos on the Knicks, since Carmelo Anthony has returned to their active line-up … in no way should Phil Jackson – and the Triangle Offense – be seen as an elixir to their present [and future] ailments.

If New York Knicks actually want to hire a highly experienced NBA championship winning coach with a different mind-set than Mike D’Antoni, who has a history of working well with established veterans and would be a decent fit with their current roster they should think seriously about one of their own former coaches, i.e. Mr. Larry Brown.

There are many good reasons this little corner of the net has long held that Jerry West deserves to be placed in an exalted category among NBA General Managers:

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Last season it was Carmelo Anthony. This season it’s Dwight Howard. Players who hold the threat of walking as a free agent over a team to force a trade to a destination they prefer.

Jerry West wants none of it. He says teams should call the player’s bluff — make him leave the money on the table to walk away.

The legendary player and long-time league GM of the Lakers and Grizzlies (and current Golden State minority owner and team consultant) was asked in interviews on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles how he would handle such a situation if it were his team.

“I honestly think I’d call their bluff,” West said in an interview on 710 ESPN’s Mason and Ireland show Thursday, not mentioning Howard specifically. “I really would, because I don’t think any agent or player is going to leave $30 million on the table. I just don’t believe that’s going to happen….”

“If I were an executive on a team where a player says he’s going to leave, let him leave,” West said on 710 ESPN’s Max and Marcellus show earlier Thursday. “It would be better than saddling yourself with a bunch of players that are not going to fit in to what you’re trying to do — high-salaried players, in many cases overpaid players by today’s standards, that would burden you going forward.

“I’d almost rather start over again myself. You’re not going to replace that player, but there’s an enormous penalty there and it looks like to me like the inmates are running the asylum if you let that happen.”

Jerry West just became very popular in Orlando.

West has always been a risk taker and his strategy comes with one big risk — that the player isn’t bluffing and would leave. Meaning the franchise gets nothing. Maybe West would rather just start over, but if you hold out like Denver did (and find an owner like James Dolan who caves to work with) you can get a fair amount of talent back.

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The most important of which involves a specific perspective on the game of life that transforms negatives into positives, at all costs.

i.e. When a free agent leaves your team it is simply not the case that, “The franchise gets nothing [in return].” The simple facts are that: i) The franchise actually gets the Salary Cap space formerly associated with the departing player to use as it sees fit going forward; and, ii) The departing free agent gets to sign an employment contract with a new team worth $30.0 M less than he could have received from his former team.

If someone says that they no longer wish to work with you, or your team, then, once their present contract expires, you should simply wish them well and allow them to leave, so that you are in position to continue moving forward without them.

It really isn’t about the playing bluffing games at all.

What it’s really about is the important difference between: a) Being a Winner; and, b) Being a Loser.

If the New York Knicks were indeed forced to include each of the following assets in their just-completed trade for Carmelo Anthony:

1. Raymond Felton/PG;
2. Danilo Gallinari/SF-PF;
3. Wilson Chandler/OG-SF;
4. Timofey Mozgov/C;
5. Anthony Randolph/SF-PF [sent to Minnesota];
6. Eddy Curry/C [sent to Minnesota];
7. 1 Future 1st Round Draft Pick [2014]; and,
8. 2 Future 2nd Round Draft Picks [obtained from Golden State in exchange for David Lee last summer]; 

then, it was certainly a hefty price to pay for the “opportunity” to field the following line-up the remainder of this season:

STARTERS
1 Chauncey Billups, PG
2 Landry Fields, OG
3 Carmelo Anthony, SF
4 Ronny Turiaf, PF
5 Amare Stoudemire, C

BACK-UPS
6 Tony Douglas, PG
7 Andy Rautins, PG-OG
8 Roger Mason, PG-OG
9 Kelenna Azubuike, OG-SF
10 Bill Walker, OG-SF
11 Shawne Williams, SF-PF
12 Renaldo Blackman, PF
13 Shelden Williams, PF

and “the possibility” of adding a player like Chris Paul, as well, somewhere down-the-road.

If Denver and Minnesota do actually decide to keep each of the players obtained by their respective teams in this reported transaction:

then, it may well be the case that:

1. New York has obtained the best player involved in these trades, but may still have failed to appreciably advance their franchise, in pursuit of winning a League Championship;

2. Denver may have obtained as close to “fair value”, as possible, in exchange for their disgruntled former “star” player who did not wish to sign a contract extension with their team;

and,

3. Minnesota may have made out like bandits, by acquiring 2 solid assets for their franchise, in exchange for only 1 ”spare part” on their current roster.

Time will tell if this transaction actually marks the end of Donnie Walsh’s tenure with the Knicks or, if it ushers in an era of renewed long term prosperity for the once-proud franchise, under the continued direction of its aging native son. 

As inocuous as this event may seem to be … at least, on the surface … in reality, it just might prove to be the leading edge of an iceberg.

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Isiah Thomas to serve as Knicks consultant

Thomas, a Hall of Famer with the Detroit Pistons, had a dismal run as team president from December 2003-April 2008, with the Knicks never winning a postseason game despite often having the league’s highest payroll. He was also the coach the final two seasons, getting dismissed after a 23-59 season in 2007-08.

Despite all that, plus that lawsuit brought by former team employee Anucha Browne Sanders that cost MSG $11.6 million, Thomas has remained close to Dolan and Walsh, even while coaching Florida International University, a job he will keep.

In fact, even when he was fired, he didn’t even fully leave. Walsh kept him on in an unspecified role until Thomas took the FIU job.

“I’m excited to once again be a part of the New York Knicks organization,” Thomas said. “I was honored to have been asked to help during the recent free agent recruiting process, and believe that this new role takes full advantage of my skill set as an evaluator of basketball talent.”

The Knicks said Thomas would “assist the team’s senior management in various capacities, including player recruitment.”

He helped the team in that area during free agency, when the Knicks landed Amare Stoudemire. He also was sent to Ohio to talk to representatives from LeBron James(notes), who eventually signed with Miami.

Walsh thanked Thomas during the press conference for Stoudemire, sparking reports that Thomas would return to the organization, perhaps even as general manager.

Before his failures in New York, largely a result on overspending for big names that didn’t work out, Thomas was known as a good evaluator of talent. He drafted Tracy McGrady(notes), Marcus Camby(notes) and eventual Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire(notes) in Toronto. Walsh has used him to scout in New York, sending him to Europe to see current Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari(notes).

The Knicks will call on those skills in Thomas’ current role.

“He will provide valuable insight and analysis of young prospects from around the world,” the statement said.

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 You Make The Call …

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Please feel free to explain your answer further in the comments section.

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Update:

#1. Seems as though Jeff Eisenberg was thinking in a similar way to this corner, about this situation with Zeke and the Knicks, when this news first broke [on Friday].

#2. Thomas won’t return to Knicks, afterall.

On Tuesday, SI.com published its review of owners in the NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL, listing both the top 5 and the bottom 5 in each of these leagues. These are the bottom 5′s, respectively:

[Number Rank, Owner, Franchise, Purchase Year, Purchase Price, Current Value, Winning %, Playoff Seasons, Championship Season]

National Football League
5 Denise DeBartolo York, 49ERS, 2000, N/A, $865 M, .417, 2, 0
4 Mike Brown, BENGALS, 1991, N/A, $941 M, .351, 1, 0
3 Dan Snyder, REDSKINS, 1999, $750 M, $1,538 M, .488, 3, 0
2 William Clay Ford, LIONS, 1964, $5 M, $917 M, .411, 9, 0
1 Al Davis, RAIDERS, 1966, $180,000, $861 M, .569, 21, 4 

Major League Baseball
5 Ted Lerner, NATIONALS, 2006, $450 M, $406 M, .419, 0, 0
4 Jeffrey Loria, MARLINS, 2002, $158 M, $277 M, .502, 1, 1
3 David Glass, ROYALS, 1993, $96 M, $ 314 M, .432, 0, 0
2 Tom Hicks, RANGERS, 1998, $250 M, $405 M, .489, 2, 0
1 Peter Angelos, ORIOLES, 1993, $173 M, $400 M, .486, 2, 0

National Basketball Association
5 R-Johnson/M-Jordan, BOBCATS, 2004, $300 M, $284 M, .417, 0, 0
4 Chris Cohan, WARRIORS, 1991, $130 M, $335 M, .409, 3, 0
3 Michael Heisley, GRIZZLIES, 2000, $160 M, $294 M, .388, 3, 0
2 Cablevision/J-Dolan, KNICKS, 1997, $300 M, $613 M, .439, 7, 0
1 Donald Sterling, CLIPPERS, 1981, $12.5 M, $297 M, .341, 4, 0

National Hockey League
5 Predator Holdings LLC, PREDATORS, 2007, $193 M, $164 M, .499, 1, 0
4 Atlanta Spirit, HAWKS, 2004, $80 M, $158 M, .519, 1, 0
3 Charles Wang, ISLANDERS, 2000, $187.5 M, $154 M, .416, 4, 0
2 Alan Cohen, PANTHERS, 2001, $101 M, $163 M, .443, 0, 0
1 MLSE, MAPLE LEAFS, 1994, $102 M, $448 M, .471, 8, 0 

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Now …

Which of those 20 separate owners also happen to have a 2nd franchise in one of the other 3 leagues?

MLSE also owns the Raptors [NBA, 1998, N/A, $400 M, .454, 5, 0].

If you combine the efforts of the Maple Leafs and the Raptors, might it be accurate to say that MLSE is possibly the worst owner of them all?

Current Franchise Value: $848 M
W-L Record: 920-1984
Winning %: .464
Playoff Seasons: 13 [of 26]
Championship Seasons: 0 [of 26]

You make the call.

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