Getrealistic....this thread is not about the trade of Jordan Hill, its about the reason why Jordan Hill was traded.
Out of 51 games with the Knicks Jordan Hill played 250 minutes.
Out of 8 games with the Rockets Jordan Hill played 100 minutes.
The same way 6.9 Scola talents needs a defensive bigman to run the floor with him, 6.9 David Lee needed the same defensive bigman to run the floor with him at the start of this season.
David Lee as our center did not need a SF-Jefferies, SF-Gallo, and SF-Chandler "pretending" to be a defensive Bigman PF.
u and so many others believe the trade was done for cap space for the 2010 offseason.....
If that was true, then the Knicks being a consistent 23 WIN team could've put 2 first round picks (2009 & 2012) on the trade-table along with Curry's contract at the 2009 draft night to go after T-Mac, Boozer, Okafor, or Chandler. Believe me, if those players team did not bite then several other teams would've bitten at that offer before the 8th pick arrived.
What transaction did we do to lower the cap throughout the 2009 offseason (June to October)?
Jordan Hill is not a defensive presence dude. Go read a scouting report or just remember watching him play. He has a very raw offensive game and can block some shots but he's fair from a defensive presence. Maybe he will become a good defensive player but as of now he isn't. So the arguement that David Lee needed to play next to Jordan Hill is lame. Last a check David Lee is having a career year.
If you want to say we should have played Hill more minutes that fine. But honestly does it really matter now. If we played him 40 minutes a game or 2 minutes a game the fact of the matter is he's gone.
If you can please tell me a viable trade that Donnie Walsh turned down regarding the contracts of JJ, Curry, or Marbury (who you bring up foolishly from time to time). In my estimation Donnie Walsh has only made one bad decision when it's come to in season player transactions. He should have traded Nate and Jefferies for Kenny Thomas's contract. But lets be honest Nate lovers like yourself would have had a fit if that happened.
I can understand people complaining about draft picks. Maybe we should have taken Lopez (personally i still wouldn't have) over Gallinari. Thats definately a very debateable topic. And obviously we should have drafted Jennings over Hill but the fact remains as far as following the plan he set out to do on his first day Donnie has succeeded.
This shouldn't be a shock to people. On his very first day on the job he said HIS GOAL WAS TO GET THE TEAM UNDER THE SALARY CAP FOR THE SUMMER OF 2010... Everybody was forwarned that the next to seasons were going to be rough and salary dumps. We all knew this... this isn't the time to bitch and moan about giving up Jordan Hill.
Also Kiya other then LJ nobody on this forum really wants Okafor, Chandler or the other crappy players you named. We're in the market for star players and depending on what we land we'll see what we do with Curry's contract. In my opinion if we strike it rich and land some big star quality guys i'd use Curry's contract on a vet. But if we only get some second tier guys like a Joe Johnson and i'd hold onto the contract and let it expire and go spend it in 2011.
One last point in this rant.
People now complain that we gave up on Zach and Crawford but the fact remains. We may have very well made the playoffs as a 7th seed but with that cast of characters and the salary cap situation we would have been a 1 and done playoff team. This was the only way to fix the Knicks.
Watch the playoffs in the next few months. All the teams that will contend for a championship will have atleast one star player if not more. The Knicks don't have a star player and in today's NBA you need a star player to win. In all honesty the Knicks don't even have a second option player.
Cavs- Lebron and Williams
Magic - Howard and Lewis/Carter
Boston - Pierce and Rondo
Heat - Wade and Nobody
Atlanta - Joe Johnson and Joe Smith/Al Horford
Lakers - Kobe and Gasol
Blazers - Roy and Aldridge
Nuggets -- Melo and Billups
Thunder - Durant and Westbrook
You get