Dont blame it on fate he just ****ed up. Walsh's job isn't to talk about what he's going to do, it's to make moves to help the team. Although he kept the entire league in the dark we now know that Riley was in precisely the same situation as Walsh all along. Riley like Walsh also went ALL IN this summer and had been planning this move for years amidst incredible skepticism and criticism in Miami, taking some bad season so he could move pieces around and have the cap room to make a move. If he had struck out and not landed Lebron and Bosh, Wade would have been gone and his franchise would have been ruined as badly as New York. But Riley did his GM's job. In addition to clearing cap space he insinuated himself with Lebron, and over the past couple of years made himself a sounding board and mentor figure. In comparison, Walsh simply assumed that he could sign not only 1 but 2 significant players with no groundwork. And he made his plan know so far in advance that everyone else could plan to counter his intentions. Not only did NY assume they bet their entire franchise on that assumption for the next 4-5 years including draft picks and longterm contracts. I live in NY and what they picked up in the offseason was NOT near what people in this city considered a plan B. But let's assume that this was his plan B. Then this is another area where Walsh then ****ed up. Even before this summer, many observers specifically mentioned waiting for 2011 to pick up Melo. This should have been his plan B or at least plan C... pick up 1 star then wait a year and pick up Melo. Even assuming that Walsh has expertly executed his "plan B" this summer(clearing cap space and picking up any 2 players he could land) if he had at least been cognizant of a plan C (Melo) and he'd held onto one draft pick or at least had some pieces to move the Knicks would have Melo right now. And this isn't an "impossible" situation to know since even the jackasses on ESPN were talking about that very possibility before the deadline. Obviously center Brad Miller is not plan B to forward Chris Bosh. First of all Morey had built this team to contend without Bosh or Melo and both those guys are more like Plans 1a and Plan 1b. They were side strategies to his main plan of signing Yao, Scola & company and accumulating assets in case any opportunities line up. Morey is still operating on his Plan a. Likely Morey's plan b only comes into effect if Yao gets hurt (and you know Morey has a contingency for that come the trade deadline if that unfortunately comes to pass)
If there is one thing we should thank T-Mac for, this is one of them. If he would have been ok with 7 minutes per game and not b**** about it, chances are that trade for the draft picks does not happen. If he didn't "block the trade" ( ), we would be stuck with Cousin Vince and no NY draft picks. Tracy McGrady, the blessing is disguise. :grin:
Even now I don't think that Morey is really going after Melo unless he can do it without losing Martin. I think Morey is hanging around the Melo trade scene to try and be a part of the trade. A trade of the size this one will be has the potential to move some very nice cheep young guys off the Knicks team and Morey is laying in wait with "Donnie Walsh's monumental mistake" in his back pocket. Of course if he can get Melo for mostly backup players and picks, I'm ok with that. I can't see the future but my prediction is that the 2 knicks picks will be VERY valuable cause the Knicks are gonna suck.
