The long term plan has got to be to get under the cap and accumulate VERY GOOD draft picks. I would rather we SUCK for a few years than pick up a player that makes us a little better but does nothing to help clear cap space. Making us a little better just guarantees that we keep getting mediocre picks and get nowhere. We don’t need any more one dimensional role players via the draft. We need a superstar.

K. Martin fits better on the Knicks and would probably make us better (if he stayed healthy), but we aren’t going anywhere with him, he doesn’t speed up our ability get under the cap, and we’ll wind up getting worse picks if he does in fact make us better.

In addition, I understand the “minutes” point to a degree, but you guys make it sound like anyone can score 20 and get 10 boards if he just shoots enough. That’s preposterous.

It actually takes a lot talent to put yourself in a position to take that many shots in a game. Now granted, Zach takes some shots we would perfer he didn’t, but his misses most of them.
If he made only slightly better decisions, it would not impact his average much and would make him a much more effective player because his FG% would rise.

We aren’t talking about asking him to stop shooting and only score 10-15 a night. We are asking him to stop shooting when he’s double and triple teamed from more than 15 feet out.

If he averaged 17 and 10 instead of 20 and 10, his assists went up 1 per game, and his field goal percentage went up 3%-4%, it would not hurt his salary prospects going forward. He already KNOWS he’s overpaid and he’s never going to get that salary again.

1. Curry plays a position that the Knicks have no one else to play.
2. Curry is a better low post scorer, which the Knicks could use, if used properly.
3. Curry doesn’t cut into David Lee’s minutes (who does what Randolph does best, but does it better).
4. Curry’s contract is equally as long but is uninsured, making it less useful time spent at the Trade Machine because we laymen have no idea what teams are willing to take on such a liability or how much they are willing to pay for such a liability.
5. Curry did get here first, giving fans more time to come to terms with his weaknesses and thus become more apathetic toward them.
6. Curry’s main fault is that he is not very good. Randolph’s main fault is that he is an asshole.

I guess, personally, the case against Randolph over Curry is that I can root for Curry to succeed, but every time Randolph gets the ball I want him to dribble it off his foot and turn and yell at the ref while the other team fast breaks just to hear the boos cascade down.

But if we can get rid of Curry too, I’m all for it.

Sadly that’s all we have to look forward to.

How do you establish a value on him except by what the market was for him on draft day? Randolph has certainly done nothing to up his value since July. Equal value for him is a bad player with a bad contract. Added value for him is an expiring contract and a prospect (like KB said earlier). Francis/Frye is added value and Portland’s improvement reflect that. Why would Portland have turned down better offers if they were available. The Lakers probably offered Kwame and their pick. Since Portland could wait an extra year for added contract relief they took the Knick deal instead. That Laker offer (Kwame and Critendon) is off the table now because the Lakers are the #1 team in the West right now and Randolph would absolutely ruin what they have and everybody knows it. Therefore, Randolph’s market value has dropped since July. Equal value for Randolph is what the market says it is. Milwaukee turned down a deal that exchanged him for two of their overpaid scrubs, and that deal would have netted them Balkman too.

KMart, Wallace, the Corpse of Shaq, etc… These are the players that represent Randolph’s equal value. Maybe, if the Knicks are lucky (unlikely) and/or good (highly unlikely) they can fleece another team and get added value (like Portland did last summer). But the problem with going for a steal is that he needs to be kept on the team for what could be 2 1/2 years and I, personally, am going to have a hard time rooting for the team when I can’t stand 20% of the starting lineup.

it’s fun to throw around imaginary trades on the web to try to free up the money to do this, but in the end, the only way this will probably happen in the real world is if LeBron is inexplicably jonesing so hard to don blue and orange that he signs for the midcap and is happy to make it up in increased endorsement money.

this is what this franchise has been reduced to, a low percentage prayer 2+ years away based largely on the fact that King James likes wearing a Yankee hat. CONGRATS, DOLAN. I hope you’re proud of yourself.

I looked at the rebounding output of the three main frontcourt pairs, Randolph/Curry, Randolph/Lee, and Lee/Curry. I was shocked to find their output identical.

All three pairs average 20.7 rebounds over 40 minutes. Randolph only gets such impressive rebounding numbers because he reduces the rebounds of his teammates.

If Randolph does not help this team with his rebounding then that means he is actually good at nothing and is completely useless.

I believe in adition by sutraction because a coach cannot glue a 26 year old PF making 15 mil+ a year and averaging 20/10 to the bench even if he has better players in front of him. Randolph would be a huge distraction if he got benched and the noise would be unbearable if he was out of the rotation completely.