The 2007 NBA Draft has come and gone and the two biggest trades were very similar, Western Conference All-Stars with huge salaries from weak teams shipped to desperate Eastern Conference squads.
Trade 1 - NY Knicks and the Portland Trailblazers swap Channing Frye and Steve Francis for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones.
On the surface the Knicks get much more talented and productive. They pickup 23.6 points and 10.1 rebounds for not much – Francis averaged 11.3 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in 44 games last year while Channing Frye averaged and 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his 72 games last season. Frye was not an integral part of Isiah's future plans in NY and everyone was waiting for the injury-prone Francis's bloated contract to expire.
Isiah once again tried to improve the Knicks quickly by acquiring a high-priced prospect / star (recall: Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis). While Randolph no doubt makes the team better, more talented and tougher, his $61 million over the next four years keeps the Knicks in salary cap hell through at least the 2009-2010 season. Also, how he will fit with Eddy Curry in the front court? Neither player defends well, passes well or blocks shots.
The Knicks seem unwilling to rebuild and will be stuck competing for the last couple spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Despite having the highest payroll in the NBA for the past two seasons, Isiah has been unable to put a team on the court capable of winning more than 33 games. With Randolph the Knicks are a 50-50 shot to make the playoffs let alone do anything meaningful in the post-season, even in the weak Eastern Conference. Isiah once again mortgaged the future and put the Knicks in a salary cap bind so tight that significant free agency is out of the picture for the foreseeable future in NY.
From the Trail Blazers' perspective, they were more than happy to get rid of Randolph on and off the court. He had worn out his welcome in Portland and with the additions of Oden and Frye and the emergence of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers are looking to have shooting power forwards who are comfortable away from the basket and will leave Oden space to maneuver inside. Also, Francis's expiring contract (which the team may buy out) gives them room to maneuver in a couple years when Roy, Oden and Aldridge gel together.
2 comments:
Steve Francis had to go - If we can get a scorer and rebounder for him, I'm all for it. No free agent is going to come here unless he can win - and the current squad wasn't going to do that. Francis and the other guy weren't going to get minutes anyway, so at least we'll get guys to can contribute...
Zach Randolph will be beast in the East. Aside from Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh, there is nobody else in the conference at the 4 that can even hang with him.
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