"I didn’t like it when we did it." - Donnie Walsh on the McGrady trade

by ap3604 on Sep 23, 2010 5:06 PM EDT

It seems Donnie Walsh should start reading Posting and Toasting more before he completes trades...

Alot of P&T members, myself included, thought Donnie got a terrible deal by giving away so much in the trade with Houston this past season. Jordan Hill (a first round pick) right for Houston to swap 2011 first round picks, AND a 2012 first round pick?! Really Donnie? Giving up all of those future assets JUST to get rid of a 1 year of Jared Jeffries?!

There were some Posting and Toasting members that defended Donnie vigorously "How dare you question Donnie Walsh! He is God!" (compared to Isiah Thomas who wouldn't be?) but it appears now Donnie Walsh himself thinks he screwed up the Houston trade and has cost us a shot at superstar Carmelo Anthony by throwing away future picks on a rebuilding team just to save 6 million.

I'm overall happy with the changes Donnie has made for the team. He is a huge upgrade over Isiah Thomas and the team now has great potential but I figure it should be noted how Donnie HIMSELF thinks he screwed up the McGrady trade and might end up costing the Knicks a dynasty by losing out on Carmelo by throwing away picks Isiah Thomas style. Since Isiah would never get a free pass I figure Donnie should be held to the same standard of consistency.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2010/09/23/2010-09-23_walsh_regrets_dealing_no_1_pick.html?r=sports

Poll

If we lose out on Carmelo because we don't have a 2012 pick, what grade would you give Donnie Walsh?

A+

9 votes

A

22 votes

B+

20 votes

B

22 votes

C

42 votes

115 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Donnie's bout to beat the NBA game like he got a cheat code

by Kupe on Sep 23, 2010 5:11 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Sometimes you win trades, sometimes you don't

Donnie took a risk. Could’ve been a great risk, but it didn’t really pan out. While we put together a pretty nice team, which is absolutely a credit to Donnie.

But there may be a chance we lose out on another prize because of that trade, which is something I’m sure Donnie is more pissed at.

Toney Douglas

by FreeBradshaw on Sep 23, 2010 5:16 PM EDT reply actions

coughchrispaulcough

by hopelessknickfan on Sep 23, 2010 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't hear Donnie say that he "screwed up."

I did hear him say that he was “second guessing” himself, and who doesn’t do that when it comes to big decisions.

I’m not saying you’re right, and I’m not saying you’re wrong.

I’m saying it’s stupid to start giving grades and saying who screwed what up when nobody has played a single game yet. That’s why he’s only second “guessing” right now. When the season gets going, then he’ll be “knowing” whether he made the right move or not.

They will be for!

by StarksMiddleFinger on Sep 23, 2010 5:37 PM EDT reply actions

for real

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by stingy d on Sep 23, 2010 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

if the Knicks got LeBron...

…Donnie would be considered a genius and no one would be second-guessing anything.

by Taylor Bartle on Sep 23, 2010 6:19 PM EDT reply actions

yep.

i still think he’s doing a pretty genius job.

/// aighttho.com \\/// twitter.com/aighttho \\

by stingy d on Sep 23, 2010 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Everyone makes good points and many of us didn't like the TMac trade

but we DID all agree that the idea was to clear cap space for a big summer with or without Mr. ~~Akron~~ Miami. TMac had a huge expiring and that carries value so NY had to through in value as well. The best trades are the ones that both help and hurt each team. I feel like we helped ourselves much more than we hurt ourselves. And of course, we have yet to see how these “picks” play out.
Even when we traded for Curry… I don’t Isiah thought those picks would turn out to be high lottery picks (and as high a #2 overall). Shit, he expected the Knicks to be deep playoff contenders meaning those picks would have been on the 20s. No it didn’t work out, but the point is we couldn’t possibly realize HOW much we gave up until the time came to pass.
Its just the same here. And we haven’t even let a couple months pass. We now have young veterans and guys who are BETTER than draft picks because they have already been playing and are still extremely young!

Really the more important thing in this article to me is that Donnie Walsh isn’t afraid to be honest and leave room for the possibility that he makes errors. But you know… it might be a bit unreasonable to expect perfect trades 100% of the time. And I still believe this one has a long while to go before we can really see what the cost was.

"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."

by Chris Child's Fist on Sep 23, 2010 7:06 PM EDT reply actions

this.

and remember, this past season… when the knicks were god awful and the rockets were a very good western conf team, if we traded picks it would have been 9 for 14. So with our team getting better (and houston not getting worse) it should be even less important.

I am a fan of both the mets and knicks... so just kill me now.

by gbaked on Sep 23, 2010 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions

It was a trade that needed to be done

When your intentions are so obvious and your desperation apparent for all to see, of course your gonna get F’ed in the A. Then you saw how things unfolded and your all like “how could I have been so stupid?” but at the time, its what needed to be done.

I’ll chalk this one up as no big deal.

"But when he saw it, he just put his hands up and they couldn’t give it to him. It just fell to the ground, I-I don’t, you know … So, that showed me he had great experience..." - Jeff Van Gundy

by Anthony Bonner's Subpoena on Sep 23, 2010 7:42 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

"I Think I'm Pretty Nasty" - Jason Peters

by eaglesbabyy on Sep 23, 2010 8:00 PM EDT reply actions

I like how he man'd up and admitted he could have done better

but coulda woulda shoulda…. if we didnt make that trade…who knows if everything else played out the way it is now. You got to grade him based on whats on the roster now…and we have a hell of a lot better roster now than we did before that trade..

if we lose out on melo..so the fuck what!! there are two great pg’s who will remain nameless who are free agents in the next 2 years…

"they try to do what he do, and been where he's been, but they get folded in two.....he's the dude"

by semsemma on Sep 23, 2010 11:13 PM EDT reply actions

Isaiah vs Donnie

I think the biggest mistake the Knicks made in the past under Isaiah was not deconstructing the team like Scott Layden suggested earlier. It’s what Mike and Donnie did, Miami and LA, It’s how you come back. But that was New York mentallity at the time, just like get the Superstars. There’s know develope them mentallity in New York.

But the way Scott suggested it didn’t help at the time, he was in 2002 talking about 2008.

by Mongoke on Sep 24, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

yeah basketball isn't like baseball.

The Yankees and other teams can just reload each year and still gain youth because of the minor league system. With the cap in hoops, that’s not nearly as easy to do.

"you're the Rod Thorn in my Chris Bosh side."

by Chris Child's Fist on Sep 24, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions

The trade

at the time I totally agreed with it, but after following this free agency I’d have to say it was totally pointless. If we needed to move Jeffries for the cap space we could have still done it this summer. When we got verbal confirmation lebron would come with someone else, we could have just made the trade then…it was sort of pointless in hindsight.

by James Angelo on Sep 24, 2010 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

your hindsight is shortsighted

we would only have netted lebron and (possibly) felton, under that (best case) scenario.

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by stingy d on Sep 25, 2010 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions

in other words:

you’d be expecting a lot from the front line of……. eddy curry…… aaaaaand…….. uhhhhhh……. oh thats right: jordan hill and jared jeffries.

/// aighttho.com \/// twitter.com/aighttho \

by stingy d on Sep 25, 2010 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks to Donnie..

for being honest and having the courage to admit mistakes, somthing Isiah would never do. He has earned even more of my respect than before. But, if Isiah had traded away 3 first rounders to get nothing but cap space, his life would’ve been in danger. Hiil and 2 protected first rounders! People are still saying it was a good trade on here! Love most of what he’s done, but he’s made plenty of mistakes. At least he won’t make excuses for himself. He has the benefit of being so well liked, that others will make them for him.

by gaga71 on Sep 24, 2010 11:36 PM EDT reply actions

one is protected (in our favor)

one is a swap, that could potentially not even go down…

if we are really good in four years, what difference does it make if we give up the protected pick? very little. if we are no good- we’ll keep it. if we’re middle of the road, that pick won’t save us anyway!!!! at worst, its a simple and calculated risk that requires us to get better in order for it to pan out.

now – you seem to have the tone set, whereas – you think the team has gotten better on account of donnie’s moves. yet you believe the trade to open up nearly 10 mill in cap space, has handicapped the team somehow…. if you get down to the core of it- those are conflicting points of view.

we have a shit ton of money coming our way next season. a great stable of young, motivated, talented and friendly players. a coach who can help us win a ton of games, provided the players can be self-starters. a gm who can make the critical decisions. and an owner, despite his unrelenting bafoonery, that will spend as much or more money than the next guy.

and you talking ’bout draft-picks? not a player. i mean, not a player. but draft picks???

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by stingy d on Sep 25, 2010 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions