Open Look: New York Knickerbockers

-"The Walsh Plan"-

Donnie Walsh
President of Basketball Operations
Year Zero


(1) Fire Isiah Lord Thomas III: Walsh will have his mandatory sit-down with Isiah and he will come to the conclusion that Isiah is not fit for the future direction of the Knicks franchise. Isiah has a good eye for talent but poor judgment. Therefore, I can see Joe Dumars hire Isiah as a consultant for the Pistons. He will be welcomed there and he will not have a position of power. It’s his best-case scenario.

(2) Hire Scott Perry as General Manager: Walsh should resist the urge of hiring Kiki V away from the Nets. Kiki did not manage the Denver cap well and he is not the answer to this team. Scott Perry assisted in building the young nucleus of the Pistons and he should be a good 1-2 combo with Walsh.

(3) Retain Glen Grunwald as VP of Basketball Operations: Grunwald should be the only holdover of the Isiah administration.

(4) Hire Mark Jackson as Coach: Mark Jackson’s appointment as coach seems to fit like a glove on paper and I’m sure that he will impress Walsh with his leadership abilities.

(5) Buyout Stephon Marbury’s contract: Walsh should wash his hands of this PR nightmare. Give him his buyout and let the door hit him on the way out.

(6) Trade Eddie Curry & Nate Robinson TO Seattle for Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins, & Johan Petro: Eddie Curry is a terrible basketball player. He may be a scorer, but he doesn’t rebound, defend, help-D, or distribute well. He is a humungous liability. Walsh should consider making this trade. It will give Seattle the Big they always wanted, pairing him up with Kevin Durant & Jeff Green. Seattle should be in the Derrick Rose market so that makes Earl Watson expendable.

(7) Trade Quentin Richardson & Mardy Collins TO Milwaukee for Bobby Simmons: Trade a huge bust for another huge bust and you hope that a change of scenery will turn both careers around. That’s the theory.

(8) Sign Randolph Morris to a 2-year/2.5-million dollar contract: Randolph has some potential and I think he can max-out as a dependable Big off the bench. Give him 2-years and see if he can develop.

(9) Sign Chris Duhon to a 2-year/5-million dollar contract: The biggest problem the Knicks have is ball distribution. They are like a baseball team that doesn’t get on-base. Duhon is pass-first point-guard who should spell Earl Watson for at least 20 minutes per game.

(10) Draft O.J. Mayo with the 5th Overall Selection in the 2008 NBA Draft: Depending on where they actually pick, it looks like Mayo will fall at this spot. Time will tell, but O.J. can score, and the Knicks desperately need a shooter.


2008 Potential Depth Chart:

PG Earl Watson -- Chris Duhon
SG Jamal Crawford -- Damien Wilkins -- O.J. Mayo
SF Wilson Chandler -- Bobby Simmons -- Renaldo Balkman
PF Zach Randolph -- Jarred Jefferies -- Malik Rose
C David Lee -- Johan Petro -- Randolph Morris -- Jerome James




Depth Outlook:

-Earl Watson and Chris Duhon will help immediately in ball distribution. Earl and Chris combined for a 3.107 AST/TO Ratio compared to the 2.034 that Crawford/Marbury/Collins/Robinson posted at the PG spot last season. That’s a jump of 1.073.

-Giving David Lee more playing time. Lee has the potential of being a 15/10 guy as a starter in this league and he does all the little things well. He is Mr. Intangible. He is overmatched as a starting center, at that position, he’s mainly a rotation-guy, but switching off with Zach Randolph and giving David 30-plus minutes will be beneficial to the franchise.

-Give Wilson Chandler a chance to start as SF. Chandler has impressed in the last couple of weeks with extended playing time. He has big-time potential. In fact, he is very similar to the Pacers' Danny Granger (more on that in the next blog!).

-Reduce Jamal Crawford’s control of the floor and preach shot selection. Sure, Jamal can score 20-plus but he only shoots at a 40% clip. That is terrible. With added emphasis on Earl Watson running the show and giving more shots to Zach, David, and Wilson, Jamal should focus on being a Rip Hamilton type player and start off by raising his FG above 42.5% minimum, if not, then he has to go in order to make room for O.J. Mayo.

-Preach D, especially with Zach Randolph. He may be the worst post-defender in the league. He is the biggest liability to the team’s success at this juncture. He needs to take the other side of the ball seriously or the Knicks will have no choice but to shop him as well.

Cap Outlook:

-The expiring contracts of: Stephon Marbury (19,012,500), Jerome James (5,800,000), Malik Rose (7,101,250) all come off the books in 2009. That’s $31,913,750 off the Cap.

-Add: Renaldo Balkman (1,280,640), Wilson Chandler (1,091,640), David Lee (990,600), and Johan Petro (1,077,120) as well: $4,440,000.

-That’s a total of $36,353,750 off the Cap on 2009. That should bring them near the Cap-Max for 2009.

Donnie Walsh’s 4-year Plan (based on his 4-year deal):

-Year Zero/One: See above.
-Year One: Lower expectations, aim for 30-wins, re-build the franchise.
-Year Two: Attain Cap flex with expiring contracts, aim to contend for the playoffs.
-Year Three: Hit the Free Agent blitz (aka, LeBron James) and make the big push to be a perennial playoff contender.
-Year Four: Become a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. Challenge for the NBA Title.