Thursday, July 05, 2007

The Zach Randolph Trade and What's Next for Isiah's Knicks

Well the 2007 draft came and went for Isiah's Knicks. By the following morning, Channing Frye and Steve Francis were no longer Knicks. Isiah had drafted Wilson Chandler, and traded for the rights to second round draft pick Demetris Nichols. But, of course, the main buzz of the evening was created when Isiah pulled the trigger to land Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau. Immediately after the trade was announced, Spike Lee was interviewed--he said that he likes Dick. Take what you will from that.

Randolph is a dominant power forward in the NBA. At this time, he is only 25 years of age. He has gotten in trouble outside of basketball many times in his young career, but if Isiah can influence him for the better, the Knicks may have improved with the transaction.

Of course for the real knicks fans, the first thing that came to mind when we traded for another power forward was, what happens to future nba all star David Lee's minutes now that Randolph is in town? According to recent interviews with Isiah, Lee is going to remain a substitute player, which implies that Quentin Richardson or Jared Jeffries will be the starting small forward for the 2007-2008 knicks--that is if they don't try to acquire Ron Artest between now and the beginning of the season in November.

Yes, the same Ron Artest that started the brawl over an empty beer cup, the same Artest that announced that he wanted to abruptly retire from the NBA to pursue his career in rap music. Artest, as I recall, stated a few years ago that he still wants to play for the Knicks, and Isiah may make that happen. Considering that Isiah should have been fired for not getting the Knicks in the playoffs last year, perhaps Isiah felt desperate to revamp the lineup.

I'm against the Ron Artest rumors, because I think Artest is emotionally disturbed. I don't think it's his fault, he just wasn't raised the right way, and has no control over his emotions. It is dangerous to have a guy like that on your team--because he is so unpredictable and violent.

Lets not forget that New York already has a pretty decent small forward in Quentin Richardson. The catch with Richardson, of course, is that he just had back surgery, and it is unknown how athletic he will be after his return. I'm hoping for a full recovery, because Q was the best player for the Knicks for the first month and a half of this past season, before his back started ailing him again.

There is also Jared Jeffries, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler and Demetris Nichols (each with their own unique talents) to consider at the three spot. Bottom line is, if everyone that is currently a Knick stays healthy, the Knicks may not need Artest to make some noise in the playoffs next season.

I am particularly against Artest coming to the knicks if the trade involves David Lee or Renaldo Balkman, two great players that will only get better as they learn the nuances of the NBA game. We haven't even seen a limit to Lee's upside yet, he doubled his numbers in his second season in the league to 10 points and 10 rebounds OFF THE BENCH. Balkman seems prime to follow suit if the minutes are given to him--but with the roster the way it is, minute management will be a touchy subject at nearly every position for the Knicks in 2007-2008.