Even more so since they feel (1) He wants a quick fix bc he isn't in for the long haul & (2) because of his first trade with DAL.
The TC trade blew up in his face ONLY b/c the perception is we could've gotten more for TC if we waited until the trade deadline (aka Mozgov deal).
But... This is Monday morning QBing... Right or wrong, Phil identified Felton and TC as the main reason the locker room fell apart. Melo and TC relationship strained after the Indy series...
But... Look at TC now. An overpaid bum. We weren't going to keep him, and he only played well in DAL bc that team is well-coached, has Dirk, and TC was looking for his last mega contract.
Felton had to go... Even if you concede that Felton is the better player this year and we're stuck with JC's contract for next year... At the time, getting a young Larkin and Jose appeared to be an upgrade over Fatty unmotivated Felton.
JAX badly underestimated how Dalembert was a skinnier version of Eddy Curry (doesn't like BBall all that much) and we swung and missed with both draft picks... Which, ironically enough suggests that waiting until Feb to deal TC to get 2 late first round draft picks... Doesn't mean much if you end up with busts.
Then came the Shumpert-Smith trades. For all this chatter of how Melo doesn't make people better (still not hearing whose career he's hurt)... Look at Shump and JR in CLE... Even the great Lebron can't get much more out of those 2... At least Phil got back LT.
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Back to the point tho... Phil has to establish that things have changed in NYK... They won't hand away draft picks... Give away assets... Take back bad contracts... He has to prove he can say "no" and won't pay 1.50 on the dollar.
I, for 1, am glad we didn't make a deal (costing us draft picks or even our Euro stash big man)... We aren't going anywhere this season... A Beverly, Martin, Lawson wasn't putting us over the top...
Endure a few more months and then improve the roster come this summer. Maybe we get a couple players... Maybe we make deals then, when the market is more affordable to browse around in.
Now... Don't take this as a defense of what Phil has accomished so far... This is his roster and its underwhelming to average at best... But at least we have players that have heart and we have the semblance of a foundation. It'll be amazing the turnaround if they can manage to grab a Teague or Conley this summer.