# Rebuilding the Knicks...



## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

Alot of times I hear people saying that the Knicks should have gone through a more formal rebuilding process. I personally do not share that opinion but if I did, the best time to have done that may have been during the 2005 draft. Had we been able to do it all over, this is what I would have done.

That year, we owned the 8th pick in the draft and Stephon Marbury was still the go to man on the Knicks. We selected Channing Frye but in retrospect, the best decision may have been trying to move up into the draft to select Deron Williams. What we could have done is move Marbury to the Raptors for Vince Carter, and what would amount to be no.7 pick of that year. Remeber that Rob Babcock was still GM and had inquired about Stephon on several occassions thinking that he was the perfect fit next to Chris Bosh. Vince Carter's trade value was at an all-time low which resulted being moved that very same year for just filler and picks. 

I would have gone ahead trading Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson and the no.21 first pick

With both the no.7 and no.21 pick available to us, I would have traded both, a future first rounder and cash considerations to the Blazers for the no.3 pick. Remember that the Blazers had given up that same pick to the Jazz for the no.6, no.25 picks that year and a future first rounder. I think our package would definately been more attractive and would still have allowed them to draft Martell Webster. With the no.3 pick, I'd obviously select Deron Williams and no.8 Channing Frye if he was still around. With the no.30 pick, I'd still select David Lee.

Carlos Boozer at the same time had just completed the first year of a ridiculously expensive contract that the Jazz owner began to regret with Boozer being injuried so much. There were rumors of him supposedly being traded to get out of those financial obligations. If they were true, I would have gone ahead and moved Channing Frye, Malik Rose and filler to the Jazz for Carlos. The Jazz were rumored to have loved Frye and I know Sloan would love Rose's hard-working game. 

I'd still make the trade for Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis.

Derek Fisher was a free agent that year I believe and I would sign him for the full MLE.

With the Kings backtracking and temporarily trying to build around Peja Stojackovic, I would have looked to make a trade for Kevin Martin. I always loved his game and felt he was capable of being a hell of a complementary player. As it would turn out, he'd become much more than a complementary player. I'd trade Jamal Crawford and Trevor Ariza to the Kings for Corliss Williams and Kevin.

After all this trading, our team would look something like this:

*Roster*:
Deron Williams...PG
Vince Carter...SG
Quentin Richardson...SF
Carlos Boozer...PF
Eddy Curry...C
*Rotation Players*:
Derek Fisher...PG
Kevin Martin...SG
Anfernee Hardaway...G/F
David Lee...F
Antonio Davis...F/C

*Bench:*
Jerome Williams...F
Jackie Butler...C
Jamison Brewer...PG

It would have been a huge gamble back then especially considering how young Deron Williams was and the questions surrounding both Vince Carter and Carlos Boozer but if everything progressed as they have today, then that team would be Finals caliber.


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*Fun but....*

You have the advantage of hindsight. No way you pick Lee back then w/o knowing he would be what he is. Same with Deron.....nobody knew he would be THIS good. Plus, the team you put together plays NO defense at the 4 and 5 and is no way finals material without defense there. No size, either.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Fun but....*



alphaorange said:


> You have the advantage of hindsight. No way you pick Lee back then w/o knowing he would be what he is. Same with Deron.....nobody knew he would be THIS good. Plus, the team you put together plays NO defense at the 4 and 5 and is no way finals material without defense there. No size, either.


I know exactly what you mean. An even bigger problem is the fact that you don't really know too well how changing something could really effect the outcome of your next move. The draft for instance is a perfect example of this. I recall during the 2005 draft, their were quite a few people that believed Isiah would have chosen Charlie Villaneuva had he been available. If we moved up in that draft, it probably would have changed several selections and would likely have resulted in us not getting Frye. Not getting Frye means not getting Boozer, etc. Mostly, I just wanted to do this just to get some conversation going because the board has been kind of dead recently.

P.S., the Jazz are a good defensive team and two of their starters would hypothetically be Knicks today. Quentin Richardson also has been a solid defender so the only real defensive liability you have are Carter (whose decent) and Curry (who was particularly horrible back then). We'd be very impressive on the other end of the ball and I feel that alone would make us a powerhouse.

P.S., to the P.S., I would not keep Carter after his contract was up. I personally love his game but not a big fan of the man attached to it. I feel that he's a crybaby and slacker that is not nearly productive when he doesn't have someone who can take the responsibilities of being a leader ie Jason Kidd or Charles Oakley. Without that influence, he's rendered to nothing more than the above average player he was with the Raptors right before getting traded. That would give us the opportunity to play Kevin Martin whose a pretty good ball on ball defender.


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

I kind of have to agree with alpha to some extent , Zeke has been the GM/VP for 4 years now its easy to use hindsight , 

but if you are gonna talk about decisions you would have made along the way that he didn't I have a couple .

I would have aquired Tyson chandler 
tyson went for an ending deal(PJ brown) and JR smith who was dealt for eisley and 2 nd rounders .

the knicks could have easily beaten that with mo taylor's expiring deal +3 mil., maybe if need be added a 2nd rounder .

and with that the knicks have solved so many of their issues.

they still are able to make the zach for frye deal because channing had about as bad a season as a guy could have a few less minutes wouldn't have made much of a difference, i suspect tyson's presence would have mostly ate at malik's cato's and james' minutes plus of course eddy 's lee's and frye's .

but adding Tyson to the mix would made the the knicks a much stronger defensive team and would allow them to part with either balkman or lee much easier or possibly even have a real chance to make a Kobe deal.


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

No use talking in retrospect, what's done is done, move on with your life and write something more relevant to the current Knicks organization. You can ask only so many what-if's, there will never be a fulfilling answer to those questions.


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