[ESPN]Donnie Walsh's Monumental Mistake(Trading 2012 pick to Hou) ESPN September 22, 2010, 6:56 PM ET Link In Morey We Trust! AggieRocketsFan
I wonder if what happened wasn't driven by Isiah Thomas telling Jim Dolan that he can for sure conince 2 max guys to com eto the Knicks if the team just clears the salary space for him. It sure seems more like an Isiah trade than a Walsh trade.
He can second guess all he wants but how does Walsh know that Morey would have made that SAME trade without that second 1st Rounder?
I still don't think that Denver would want to do the deal with NY even if they were sending over their own first round pick. If Carmelo goes to the Knicks, along with Amare, that's a playoff team in the east. That pick is probably somewhere in the early 20's because Carmelo makes them a much better team, killing the value of the pick. If Houston sends the pick in a swap for Carmelo, the picks holds it's value, because no matter how much of an impact Carmelo has in Houston, NY will continue to suck.
If facial expression is any sign of how long each one in this picture remains tied with the Rockets... This picture is priceless. Morey- Not going anywhere. All hail the wizard. Martin- Future is very safe and sound as Rockets SG Hill- Iffy.. not to confident. Jeffries- Damnit... Morey is not stupid enough to give me another ridiculous contract... I better budget wisely. Armstrong- **** my life.
Morey's most underrated move I love this quote from Walsh, trying to explain why the Knicks won't get Melo and how he got fleeced last season: "I was going back and forth on that deal, and I guess I thought the ability to have enough money to get two stars, or get one star and one or two other players, that worked. We got Amare and Felton, so that worked," Walsh said. [Pause for comedic effect] "But you always want to keep first-round picks. The '12 pick I didn't like doing. I remember the night before we did it, thinking, 'I don't like doing this, but we're going to do it.' And I'll second-guess myself forever on that." http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=5604785 The trade at the time looked good, but now that we have the benefit of hindsight, it looks great. The irony of how the Rox can undermine any effort of the Knicks to acquire Melo with their own draft picks has been much discussed, but look how this shook out. - He allowed T-mac to talk s*** about how he deserves more playing time, all the while carefully limiting how much he could play and eventually not letting him play when management all came to the conclusion that allowing more PT would just lower his value - The Knicks bought it, and talked about how he would be an asset in the future for their team, that it wasn't just a financial deal - He goes to Detroit as a last-gasp option, for hardly anything - Meanwhile, we have the options to go after two legit stars, especially one in Melo, while retaining depth across the board and an enticing prospect in Hill What's overlooked is what could've happened; McGrady reveals himself to be way burnt out and over the hill, thus negating any value left, thus giving us nothing in return to be in today's position. We are in potential title-contention with this move last season, and without it we're playing to get past the first round of the playoffs.
Donnie couldn't resist making that last BIG deal as a GM. He essentially went all in after the flop, and washed out before the river. If he landed two of the max guys he so coveted this summer, he could have rode off into the sunset and hung his hat as the GM who saved the Knicks.
