Spent: The Knicks

[Kyyle23]

Spent: The Knicks

 

March 5, 2006

 

BY JOHN JACKSON Staff Reporter

 

 

During a home game last week, the New York Knicks fell behind by 20 points to their local rivals, the New Jersey Nets, and the Madison Square Garden crowd -- which had seen this act far too many times this season -- let its feelings be known with a chorus of boos and a boisterous chant emanating from the rafters.

 

''Fire Thomas! ... Fire Thomas! ... Fire Thomas!''

 

New York's a tough town, and the fans aren't shy about making their feelings known. Still, such derisive chants are relatively rare and difficult to recover from. Especially with the tabloids (as seen on New York Daily News back pages below) hammering Thomas on a regular basis. The ''Fire Thomas'' movement figures only to gain momentum as the Knicks continue to spiral downward.

 

$TUPORMAN

 

Since becoming Knicks president in December 2003, Isiah Thomas hasn't been shy about acquiring players with big-money, long-term contracts. Here's a list of his most expensive pickups still with the team, with salary this season and remainder of contract:

 

JEROME JAMES

Acquired: Aug. 2, 2005

2005-06: $5 million

Remaining: $24 million next 4 years

 

EDDY CURRY

Acquired: Oct. 4, 2005

2005-06: $7.39 million

Remaining: $47.6 million next 5 years

 

JALEN ROSE

Acquired: Feb. 3, 2006

2005-06: $15.7 million

Remaining: $16.9 million next season

 

STEVE FRANCIS

Acquired: Feb. 22, 2006

2005-06: $13.7 million

Remaining: $48.5 million next 3 years

 

STEPHON MARBURY

Acquired: Jan. 5, 2004

2005-06: $15.35 million

Remaining: $61.6 million next 3 years

 

With a 103-98 victory at Milwaukee on Saturday night, New York moved a half-game ahead of the NBA basement despite a $125 million payroll -- by far the highest in the league and more than double the salary cap of $49.5 million -- and Isiah Thomas, the team's president of basketball operations, has become the face of the franchise's shortcomings.

 

At 16-43, the Knicks have dropped 22 of 25 games and are guaranteed their fourth straight losing season, the franchise's longest such streak since the mid-1980s. Before taking a first-quarter lead in Wednesday night's loss at Memphis, the Knicks had gone a remarkable 15 straight quarters (nearly four games) without having a lead.

 

How bad are things for Thomas? ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' ran a segment Wednesday debating who was the worst GM, Thomas or Matt Millen of the NFL's Detroit Lions. Ouch!

 

Not long ago, Thomas was best known for his accomplishments as a player. The Chicago native and high school legend at St. Joseph led Indiana to the NCAA championship in 1981, helped the Detroit Pistons win back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 and was selected as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players ever in 1997. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and often was introduced as the best ''small'' man to play the game.

 

Of course, that was before he took over the Knicks in December 2003.

 

A little more than two years later -- after a slew of budget-busting trades and free-agent signings, plus one headline-grabbing sexual- harassment lawsuit -- Thomas has become fodder for comics.

 

Consider this joke currently making the rounds:

 

''The former Garden executive suing Thomas for sexual harassment, Anucha Browne Sanders, recently offered to settle the case for $3 million. Thomas, though, insisted on $50 million over five years.''

 

In fairness to Thomas, the Knicks already were a mess when he arrived. They had missed the playoffs the previous two seasons and had an aging roster and a bloated payroll. The business philosophy of Garden chairman James Dolan appears to be to throw money at every problem, as though the Knicks simply can spend their way to a better team.

 

That certainly was the strategy last summer when Dolan opened his checkbook and Thomas went on a spending spree. First came the signing of coach Larry Brown to a five-year contract reportedly worth more than $50 million.

 

Thomas then outbid all other suitors to sign center Jerome James -- who averaged 4.3 points and three rebounds last season with the Seattle SuperSonics in his best NBA season -- to a five-year, $29 million contract. (James, 30, currently is residing at the end of the Knicks' bench.)

 

The Knicks concluded the summer by completing a controversial sign-and-trade deal with the Bulls for free agent Eddy Curry. Never mind that Curry missed the final month of the previous season with an irregular heartbeat and the NBA's insurance carrier wouldn't underwrite his contract. The Knicks signed the 6-11 center to a six-year, $55 million deal.

 

Brown, the vagabond coach who has won at every stop, was supposed to turn a roster of overpaid underachievers who play little defense into winners, but it hasn't quite worked out that way.

 

Thomas' solution? More money, more spending. He completed trades last month for Jalen Rose ($15.7 million) and Steve Francis ($13.7 million), but the team has shown no improvement.

 

In a season of lows, the Knicks might have hit rock bottom in a 121-93 loss at San Antonio with Thomas, Dolan and other members of the team brass in attendance. Dolan, who rarely speaks with the media, felt compelled to defend Thomas after meeting with Thomas and Brown on Tuesday in Memphis.

 

''I believe in the plan; I believe in the strategy; I believe in the guys executing it,'' Dolan said. ''Maybe some people think I'm brain-dead because of that and the record. But you know what? Time will tell.

 

''There is no magic wand to wave over this team to make them a contending team. [Thomas] will persevere through the rather difficult time now, and you will see that people will be lauding his job later on. Now, they're looking at the record and going, 'Boo.' I don't blame them. I guess in some ways it's to be expected.''

 

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, a longtime friend of Brown's, seemed to take a shot at Thomas when he implied that the Knicks don't have the type of players Brown likes.

 

''Anybody who follows Larry's career knows how he likes to play and what he thinks wins,'' Popovich said. ''It begins with defense, and the more long, athletic, tough-minded people he can find, the more he likes them. That's usually his modus operandi.''

 

There have been numerous reports throughout the season that the Knicks players and Brown don't get along, but it appears they're stuck with each other. With Thomas' most recent deals, the Knicks are committed to $410 million worth of contracts through 2011, and many of their players have little trade value because of their contracts.

 

Thomas' problems this season haven't been limited to the basketball court. Sanders filed the federal sexual-harassment suit against Thomas and Madison Square Garden on Jan. 24, accusing Thomas of unwanted advances, discrimination and ''demeaning and repulsive behavior.''

 

Sanders, a three-time All-Big Ten player at Northwestern, was fired from a job as senior vice president, marketing and business operations, of MSG on Jan. 19. In a news conference after the suit was filed, she said she was forced to sue because ''my pleas and complaints about Mr. Thomas' illegal and offensive actions fell on deaf ears. He refused to stop his demeaning and repulsive behavior, and the Garden refused to intercede.''

 

For his part, Thomas insisted he never harassed Sanders.

 

''She didn't even work for me,'' he said. ''I will not allow her or anybody, man or woman, to use me as a pawn for their financial gain.''

 

Regardless of the outcome of the case, Thomas' public perception has taken a major hit. Although he was one of only a few players to be booed in his hometown -- there was no love lost between the Bulls and Pistons during their classic battles in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- he always has been a popular public figure mainly because of his Cheshire-cat smile.

 

Actually, though, Thomas is no stranger to controversy. It has followed him everywhere he has been since the end of his playing career with the Pistons.

 

During the final weeks of his playing career in 1994, Thomas negotiated a deal with Pistons owner Bill Davidson to take control of the basketball operations of the franchise after the season. The move made perfect sense. Thomas had expressed an interest in a front-office position when his playing career was over -- some folks around the team had been calling him ''the GM'' for some time before that -- and he was still wildly popular in Detroit.

 

Davidson, known for being a somewhat eccentric owner, put one condition on the deal: Thomas couldn't tell anyone; the deal would be off if word leaked out.

 

Sure enough, word of the agreement leaked out, and Davidson blamed Thomas, who denied having anything to do with it. No matter. Davidson canceled the deal -- the job eventually went to Thomas' longtime backcourt partner Joe Dumars -- and Thomas suddenly needed a new post-career plan.

 

He landed on his feet a short while later, taking over as part-owner and executive vice president of basketball operations of the expansion Toronto Raptors in May 1994. He drafted impact players such as Tracy McGrady, Damon Stoudamire and Marcus Camby but left in 1999 after numerous disputes with his partners about the direction of the franchise.

 

After leaving the Raptors, Thomas had a brief stint as a studio analyst for NBC and purchased the Continental Basketball Association, which reportedly was on the verge of folding. He reorganized the league from top to bottom and had bold plans of turning the minor-league operation into the ''Microsoft of basketball.''

 

During his two-year tenure, the CBA reportedly lost between $5 million and $7 million and fell into bankruptcy. Thomas also made few friends among executives of the league's franchises. Several said he was prone to profanity-laced tirades during conference calls with league GMs and tried to rule by intimidation.

 

''Just the rudest person I've ever run into,'' former Fort Wayne (Ind.) Fury GM Rich Coffey told the New York Daily News earlier this year. ''He's a very poor business person. He doesn't listen to people. He's always right. He makes poor decisions, and I'm talking about the CBA in particular.

 

''Who he listens to are people who tell him what he wants to hear. The fact that he's still in basketball and running the Knicks just astounds me.''

With Thomas' most recent deals, the Knicks are committed to $410 million worth of contracts through 2011, and many of their players have little trade value because of their contracts.

 

I dont understand how Dolan thinks this plan will work.

[Phuck the Cubs]

^ Plus they still own Allan Houston like 50M, and some other players no longer on the team or in the league another 50M

[Balta1701]

^ Plus they still own Allan Houston like 50M, and some other players no longer on the team or in the league another 50M

And they're giving up 2 different draft picks over 2 years which are almost certainly going to be top 5.

[Phuck the Cubs]

^ What's the second one? I know we got their pick this year. If it's their pick we get in 2007, you're half-right. We have the option of swapping picks with them. We won't get theirs and keep ours in 2007, like we will this year.

[Wedge]

Who's the more hated GM: Thomas or Millen?

[witesoxfan]

Who's the more hated GM: Thomas or Millen?

 

Easily Thomas. Atleast Detroit has a chance in hell, especially with Martz on the sidelines now. The Knicks are fookered for a long ass time.

[sayitaintso]

That entire article could have been sumed up in 4 words. The Knicks are fu*ked.

[Balta1701]

^ What's the second one? I know we got their pick this year. If it's their pick we get in 2007, you're half-right. We have the option of swapping picks with them. We won't get theirs and keep ours in 2007, like we will this year.

So you're telling me that, without a first round draft pick, the Knicks are actually going to get better next year?

[Phuck the Cubs]

So you're telling me that, without a first round draft pick, the Knicks are actually going to get better next year?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Huh? No. I'm saying that the Knicks will have a 1st-rond pcik next year, but it will likely be tied to the Bulls, and our pick will be tied to the Knicks.

[Balta1701]

Huh? No. I'm saying that the Knicks will have a 1st-rond pcik next year, but it will likely be tied to the Bulls, and our pick will be tied to the Knicks.

Yes, but given that the Bulls are about to get the Knicks top-5 pick this year, I think the possibilities of the Bulls having a lower pick than the Knicks next year are incredibly remote, as I think the Knicks project to having their names come up in the top 5 of the draft both in 06 and 07. In other words...the Knicks are giving us 2 top 5 picks in exchange for Eddy Curry and a pick hopefully in the 20's next year. I'll take that deal.

[jackie hayes]

Semantics... All he's saying is that the Knicks aren't w/o a pick next yr. Though it will very likely be lower. You're arguing about an agreement, guys.

[GoodAsGould]

Semantics...  All he's saying is that the Knicks aren't w/o a pick next yr.  Though it will very likely be lower.  You're arguing about an agreement, guys.

 

id say Balta is arguing and cuckthefubs is confused because balta is basicly arguing against himself lol

[Balta1701]

id say Balta is arguing and cuckthefubs is confused because balta is basicly arguing against himself lol

Formidable opponent...

[Phuck the Cubs]

Whatever. We got 2 1st-round picks this year, hopefully a really good one tied to the Knicks, and next year, hopefully another real good pick. We will finally have our post-Jordan dynasty

[Kyyle23]

Whatever. We got 2 1st-round picks this year, hopefully a really good one tied to the Knicks, and next year, hopefully another real good pick. We will finally have our post-Jordan dynasty    

 

I think they said the same thing when the Bulls got the #2 overall and #4 overall pick in 2001. Lets not count our chickens before they hatch, there have been plenty of lottery picks that have gone bust.

[Balta1701]

I think they said the same thing when the Bulls got the #2 overall and #4 overall pick in 2001.  Lets not count our chickens before they hatch, there have been plenty of lottery picks that have gone bust.

Let's just run this down...

 

2nd pick in 1 draft in exchange for Elton Brand

2 picks in 2 drafts, along with players, in exchange for Eddy Curry.

 

Well, at least I like our chances.

[Kyyle23]

Let's just run this down...

 

2nd pick in 1 draft in exchange for Elton Brand

2 picks in 2 drafts, along with players, in exchange for Eddy Curry.

 

Well, at least I like our chances.

 

Oh I do too. I just think the term "Post-Jordan Dynasty" is a stretch for right now. God I hope I am wrong, but as for now I wont count on it.

[Balta1701]

Oh I do too.  I just think the term "Post-Jordan Dynasty" is a stretch for right now.  God I hope I am wrong, but as for now I wont count on it. 

Well, part of that could depend on how you define a dynasty. The Pistons have been really good for 3.5 years and won 1 title. Are they considered a dynasty? I don't think so. If we're talking several titles in a short span, probably not. But I'm just hoping we can get to the level where we have a legit shot, like Detroit, Miami, SA, Phoenix, and Dallas right now. And with a quality coaching staff and the players we currently have, I think we're basically 1-2 guys away if we find the right people.

[Phuck the Cubs]

Well, part of that could depend on how you define a dynasty.  The Pistons have been really good for 3.5 years and won 1 title.  Are they considered a dynasty?  I don't think so.  If we're talking several titles in a short span, probably not.  But I'm just hoping we can get to the level where we have a legit shot, like Detroit, Miami, SA, Phoenix, and Dallas right now.  And with a quality coaching staff and the players we currently have, I think we're basically 1-2 guys away if we find the right people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope Bulls-Pistons becomes as good as it was in the 90's.

[Kyyle23]

I hope Bulls-Pistons becomes as good as it was in the 90's.

 

I think the rivalry has already taken steps back to where it used to be in the early 90's. If the Bulls had as much fight every game as they do when they play the Pistons, they would be a much better team this year.