It’s and I’m watching "Windtalkers," starring Nicolas Cage, which is absolutely awful. It’s the night following the draft lottery, which affects us every year no matter what. The Knicks did not have to play nurse in any Utah-Jazz-As-A-Silverback-Gorilla-In-Heat rape scenarios, as they landed their projected pick rather than a top three. I just thought it may be a good idea at this juncture, since finals just ended for me, to write up a piece about what we should be talking about and what we shouldn’t be talking about. Let’s hope this shit works, Maxwell McCombs!
1. Yes, the Wizards just landed John Wall. No, the Knicks should not trade for Gilbert Arenas.Okay, so here’s the first misconception that we’re dealing with at Posting & Toasting. The common belief is as follows: "Since the Wizards are going to get John Wall, that makes Gilbert Arenas available!"
Look guys, let’s go over this again.
- Gilbert Arenas is signed for the next four years under a maximum contract
- Gilbert Arenas is a ball-dominant, sweet-shooting potential superstar with more baggage than JFK (President or Airport, they both work)
- Gilbert Arenas is an injury liability
Personally, I like Gilbert Arenas. I think he’s been overshot his entire career as a first-banana when he’s really more like a second-banana with a God complex. But the fact of the matter is, you really can’t pay this much money for a guy whose range of "games played" for the last four years are as follows:
- ’06-‘07: 74
- ’07-’08: 13
- ’08-’09: 2
- ’09-’10: 32
For those keeping track at home, that’s 121 out of a possible 328 games, or 37% attendance. When you’re going back five years (literally) for highlights of a player who makes $16,000,000, turns 29 next season and is signed under contract until 2013, you need to throw the idea of trading for that player in the trash. Don’t permanently delete it, but the recycling bin is where it’s at for now. Come on guys, let’s use critical thinking skills.
2. Isiah Thomas is the gift who keeps on giving. Donnie Walsh should be the gift who keeps on buying.Like "Windtalkers," Isiah Thomas is horrible. But like " to
Magic, pick 29: This would knock us up about ten spots. At this point in the draft, you’re looking for dudes who projected late lottery and slipped. This would be a great time to snatch up James Anderson or Xavier Henry, both of whom will get taken after Gordon Hayward because he’s taller.
Any other possibilities should be noted by you dudes/dudettes. This is typically my favorite part of any given draft (trades and purchases). I estimate each of these picks to cost between $3 and 4 million. The Knicks own Cablevision!
3. Just because Eddy Curry is mostly useless does not mean the Knicks should trade him next year.The crop of 2011 free agents includes such gems as:
Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker, but also Tayshaun Prince, JR Smith, Kelenna Azubuike, Shane Battier, Carl Landry, Leandro Barbosa, and potentially even Ronny Turiaf. By trading Curry’s contract, we could get a shot at a pretty good player in the middle of the season, but we may be sacrificing another shot at some pretty good role players. Just keep in mind that midseason trades typically involve getting one big player as opposed to multiple role players.Azubuike, Barbosa, Turiaf and Battier total out to approximately the same monetary "value" as a
Chris Bosh or an Amare Stoudemire. Keep this in mind when salivating over big names like Tony Parker or Gilbert Arenas. We’re going to eventually require some dudes to play defense and knock down open shots, not just dudes who fill the box scores with points and turnovers.Let me know what you think. "Windtalkers" is abominable, real talk.