Anybody but Isiah

Former Pacers GM Donnie Walsh is set to oversee the basketball operations for the Knicks, and while Corky from Life Goes On would be an upgrade over Isiah Thomas, but Walsh is so overrated as a talent evaluator it's ridiculous. He destroyed the Pacers and built the Warriors in an incredibly one sided eight player mega deal about a year ago, hired Isiah Thomas as coach, traded Antonio Davis for a top 5 pick, and used that pick on Jonathan Bender instead of Shawn Marion, Rip Hamilton, or Wally Szczerbiak. His one great trade was Dale Davis for Jermaine O'Neal, but that was an obvious move at the time.

NBA trade are weird

To show how weird NBA trades are, let's go back and try to evaluate a draft day deal from June: Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and a 2007 2nd rounder for Channing Frye, Steve Francis, and a 2008 2nd rounder. Portland promptly bought out Francis' contract for $30 million, in fear of his negative attitude rubbing off on Greg Oden and company, and let's cancel the 2nd rounders out, so the deal was more like Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and $30 million for Channing Frye.

Randolph is averaging 17 and 10, Frye is averaging 6.6 and 4.5. The Knicks are on pace to win 24 games after winning 33 last year; the Blazers are on pace to win 44 after winning 32 last year. So Portland trades a perennial 20 and 10 guy, 2 decent contracts, and mid eight figures for a 6'11" pulse, and they win the trade. How the hell is anyone supposed to evaluate NBA trades, when this has to be considered a decent haul? You can argue other reasons for Portland's improvement and the Knicks' fall, but there were no other substantial changes in terms of personnel. The moral of the story is you don't want to have negative personalities on your team, no matter how productive they are.

Best. Name. Ever.

Chris Webber is apparently engaged to a South African star named Cleopatra Mariri. She has been living here all over the United States wherever Chris Webber is playing over the last four years. She's got another celebrity friend named - wait for it - Chichi Letswalo who has come to the greatest country in the world "looking for a rich man and a job." But wait, it gets even better! Miss Letswalo was hired as Stephen Marbury's nanny at $140 a week. The same Stephen Marbury who admitted to sharing an intern with a cousin outside a strip club last month. So let me just say what we're all thinking: Marbury just hired a 24 hour bang maid for a fraction of minimum wage. Which makes it the best Knicks signing since Pat Riley.

Stephon Marbury's Letters to the Editor

Isiah Thomas is on trial for sexual harassment, which begs the question, is there any aspect of being employed by a team that Thomas can do well? Anyway, the atmosphere around MSG is pretty ridiculous. How about this exchange between the plaintiff, Anucha Browne-Sanders, and Thomas:

Browne Sanders said Thomas bristled at her efforts to get players to turn out for corporate events scheduled long before he took over the team in December 2003.

"Bitch, I don't give a f--k about the sponsors..." Browne Sanders testified Thomas told her. "I don't give a f--k about ticket sales."

She also said Thomas rebuffed her March 2004 request that he sign renewal-request letters sent out to past season ticket holders with a pointed shot at loyal Knick fans.

"Bitch, I don't give a f--k about these white people," Browne Sanders said Thomas told her.

She also claims "started every sentence to her with the word 'bitch.'" But this stuff was pretty tame until Stephon Marbury took the stand yesterday. Marbury had sex with a college aged intern either across the street from a strip club ("We got together right across the street") or from her dorm:

The intern said Marbury and Gonsalves [Marbury's cousin] were also at the strip club where she was celebrating her birthday and that - over the objections of her friends - she accepted a ride back to St. Johns from Gonsalves.

The intern, according to Browne Sanders, said that when she climbed out of Gonsalves' vehicle Marbury pulled up in his and said, "Are you getting in, or not?"

First Pat Riley sets the NBA back 30 years with his thuggish Knicks squads with Oakley and Starks, then the Knicks go from mediocre to awful with the transition of Scott Layden to Isiah Thomas as GM. Now, in the year and a half with Isiah as coach, they've had 90+% buyout of Larry Brown's deal, the brawl at the Garden, and now this PR nightmare? Good thing he got that extension in March. Also, the Knicks have to pay over four times as much to the luxury tax as the rest of the NBA combined!