By: Dan
Suddenly everyone in NYC is a Knick fan again.
With the signing of Amar'e Stoudemire and the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets the New York Knicks became fashionable once again. People that have hidden themselves under paper bags for a decade are now donning their blue & orange jerseys with their chests out. Barber shops no longer change the channel when Knick games come on. All five bouroughs are now flying the flag of their team for all to see.
So far they been rewarded with a 5-3 record since the team traded for Anthony along with Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, and Shelden Williams. Unfortunately something is being lost in the euphoria of the Knicks being relevant in the NBA once again after the Anthony trade.
The fact is that the Anthony trade has the stench of Isiah Thomas all over it.
Now full disclosure here, I'm a long-time Miami Heat fan. That doesn't mean I'm going to trash the Knicks without merit simply because they are the Heat's most bitter rival. This trade however is just too obscene to ignore.
One would have to have been Helen Keller to not notice that Anthony made it clear that he wanted to play in New York. That put the Nuggets in a position where they either traded him or watched him walk away leaving them with nothing. It also gaves Knick General Manager Donnie Walsh time to undo the mess that Thomas left behind.
Walsh was doing a good job of building the Knicks from the ground up and had a plan once they lost out on LeBron James & Dwayne Wade. He zeroed in on Anthony but didn't want to pay too high a price for him & knew he could aquire him via free agency in the end. Suddenly though orders from above told him to get Anthony at all costs. Those orders were coming from owner James Dolan, but it was really the design of Thomas.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports in an article titled 'Thomas' influence grows within Knicks' went into great detail about how much weight Thomas still has with the Knicks by way of his cronies in the front office & being in Dolan's ear. Thomas has seduced Dolan to the point that he had Dolan completely humiliate Walsh and undermine his authority. Thomas has pushed for Walsh's plan to be imploded in order to get Anthony by pulling off his signature style of trade. That is vastly overpaying for a player that would have been aquired for less.
Whether it was Stephon Marbury, Eddie Curry, & now Anthony, a Thomas trade has always given more than needed to attain players. The most damaging currency has been in draft picks. In the Anthony trade the Knicks not only traded more draft picks away but also gave away four potential starters. The worst pieces given away were Raymond Felton and Danilo Galinari. Felton will be especially hurtful given that Billups won't stick around long.
So enjoy the euphoria Knick fans! Feel proud that your beloved franchise is relevant once again!
Just don't say you weren't warned when you realize that cost of this feeling is your team's soul.
If you want to read Wojnarowski's article here's the link:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-thomasknicks022011
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