NY Post October 14, 2005 -- HOW many of Isiah Thomas' Knicks do you suppose meet Larry Brown's coaching criteria? An educated guess is, maybe Malik Rose, whose aggression generally makes up for lack of size and mental mistakes. David Lee might also qualify despite his lowly rookie status. From what I saw of him at the Las Vegas summer tournament, he has what it takes to become a taller version of Dave DeBusschere minus the major-league pitching arm and outpost accuracy, though he'll respectfully debate that second point. Citing anyone else would be an implausible stretch of my celebrated liberality. Certainly not Eddy Curry, at least not until he proves he's willing to act like a grown-up rebounder and sweat on a regular basis. Meaning today's roster is guaranteed to translate into tomorrow's transaction list. First on Brown's "Be Gone, Satan," Wish List is side of beef Jerome James, one rib shy of 300 pounds. That's 15 more than Larry's Law allows. Late last week, say sources, the Knicks intensified their full court press to pry Theo Ratliff from the Blazers. I have too much respect for Portland president Steve Patterson and GM John Nash to think that's humanly possible. Dumping the 7-foot James and his five-year $30 million endowment won't be easy, but it's not hopeless. It's not as if he's in danger of shrinking. What's more, this is the dream-weaving NBA where $6M per is only an average salary. Still, you've got to wonder why Thomas would gamble so much (relative to the real world) on someone so suspect who turns 30 on Nov. 17, yet never faked so much as a move on 6-11, 240-pound Zaza Pachulia. What was the problem? Too young (21)? Only two years of experience (all good) at Orlando and Milwaukee? Doesn't come with enough baggage? Too physical? Couldn't pronounce his name? Asked for too little? Source Did Jerome James really gain that much weight in the off-season?
That'd be great, Theo's got 2 years left on his deal according to NBA 2K6 and he's a better player even this far into his career than Jerome James IMO. If Larry wants Theo, Isiah should get something done to bring him in, he's already taken so many chances, one more wouldnt hurt. Theo would be a great mentor to Frye and Curry, Curry's still 23 so he's still got a lot of learning to do and Theo could be the perfect guy to mentor him and get him to acutally play some defense and dare I say some good defense.
I would love Theo in the knicks. He's a great blocker and rebounder and he also can help curry, frye, and james develop. The knicks need more veteran leadership in the team like Theo.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mo.Matik:</div><div class="quote_post">anyone know the odds of ratliff gettin movin to nyc?</div> Yeah I know the chances. It's somewhere between slim and fat chance. Portland doesnt want what the Knicks are selling. We have absolutely nothing to offer Portland except for maybe Penny's expiring contract but it probably wouldnt be worth it since we've already invested so much money in Jerome James. We dont have anything to offer anybody. The team we have now is the team we'll be watching during the season which is rather depressing. Anyway I think Isiah Thomas should be fired.
H20 do you alwasy gotta say that you think Isiah Thomas should be fired? I didnt really think it through in my last post, but like someone mentioned the Knicks got nothing the Blazers would want expect expiring contracts which are Penny, Ariza and Antonio if we dont waive him. None of those are good/desireable enough for the Blazers to swing a deal with Jerome James int he package.
I also think that NY has little to offer Portland, unless it includes a pick or Ariza, or cap relief. I don't think that Portland would want Jerome James, because his contract is too long and big.
Well, considering Portland is still somewhat in a rebuilding phase, I'm sure Penny or Davis' contracts will be appreciated. Theo Ratliff is nice and all, but with Curry and James around, there will be a glut at center. Considering both of them will be making some big bucks this season, it doesn't make sense to have them playing back up. I'd rather trade my expiring contracts for a more useful player or simply let them expire and take us out of cap hell one contract at a time.
