If you don't think Curry is on his way out of New York, you're delusional. He's only playing 22 minutes per game in December, and his numbers are in the trash. Last night against Orlando, he only played 4 minutes. Patrick Ewing pretty much damned him in saying he doesn't have the New York mentality. Now the situations for such a trade are perfect. Bulls suck. Knicks suck. Paxson needs to salvage this team, or he is at risk of being fired. Isiah is really on the verge of being fired. Bulls need a low post presence that they can dump the ball into and have them go to work. Knicks need a point guard (Stephon Marbury is going AWOL again?). New York has the salary make up that would allow them to take on Wallace. Now I'm definitely not suggesting that we take on Marbury, another team will have to do that. But we can definitely provide them with his replacement. Bulls Trade: Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace Knicks Trade: Eddy Curry, Quentin Richardson, Malik Rose A lot of underachievement flying both ways. It also might open the door for the young guys. Tyrus is the athletic freak you might want to put next to a guy like Curry. Same with Noah. Smith can pop out for jumpers while Curry is in the low post. Gray is obviously the same as Curry, so we wouldn't play them together. PG-Ben Gordon/Chris Duhon SG-Quentin Richardson/Thabo Sefolosha SF-Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni PF-Tyrus Thomas/Joe Smith C- Eddy Curry/Joakim Noah/Aaron Gray Not a juggernaut team, but even if it takes Curry until next year to get back in complete shape to play, I think it is a step in the right direction for the franchise. It makes us still offensive minded, opens up an opportunity for Gordon to flourish at the point, and throws away Wallace's entitlement minutes, giving Tyrus an opening. We have a guy that we can go to early offense in the game. This team is a normal sized team. Hopefully Paxson falls back on old tricks and calls up Isiah. Gives the Knicks something like: PG-Kirk Hinrich/Nate Robinson SG-Jamal Crawford/Fred Jones SF-Renaldo Balman/Wilson Chandler PF-Zach Randolph/David Lee C- Ben Wallace
Pax might not have a lot of sack, but using the "Pax doesn't have sack" meme to push a trade that's just plain awful doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to me.
I must say I'm not liking the trade for either team. From a Knicks perspective, we take on huge contracts from struggling players. Wallace has been particularly bad this season averaging 4 points, 8 rebounds on 32% shooting. I know he was never an offensive force, but he's more of a liability if anything. His defense has also been declined significantly since anchoring Detroit's two years ago. Let's not forget that he's 33 years old too. Hinrich has been nothing short of a disappointment with his stats diminishing in almost every category. Acquiring these players would put the Knicks in jeopardy financially as well as on the court. Also, why would Isiah trade two lottery picks to acquire Curry and trade him right back to the Bulls for their struggling players? His ego alone will not let that happen. As for the Bulls, it would be a mistake acquiring Quentin Richardson. He's injury prone and has shot the ball horrifically all season. He rebounds well and plays good defense, but if he's not hitting that streaky shot of his, he's a liability on offense. And Rose is one of our guys expiring with Marbury next season, so I doubt Isiah is willing to let him go. The only way I see you guys acquiring Curry will be for a first round draft pick.