Can we send Z-Bo to Chicago?

by Tommy Dee on July 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm

By John Maloney

I’ve been reading these rumors throughout the media, updated almost by the minute, for the past few days. I have to comment on this important matter to Knick fans and that is…I do not believe that A-Rod had Conseco’s sloppy seconds.

Wait. Hold up, that’s not what I wanted to address.

Actually, I wanted to address rebuilding. The Knicks getting under the cap for the 2010 free agent bonanza, much like the cross-river Nets have made sure to do, is the most important goal for this franchise right now.

Which point guard should run the Knicks next year, to me, is irrelevant. I don’t care who plays point guard for the Knicks the next two years. Chris Duhon? Whatever. Raymond Felton? Sure, why not? Heck, you could even choose me; I play just as much defense as Marbury. Plus I’d be more than happy to lure interns into my truck. I would just need a truck.

What’s relevant is getting the house in order. I don’t care if the team goes 20-62 over the next two years, I don’t care if the payroll is $200 million, just as long as the Knicks are under the cap by 2010 for LeBron or Dwayne Wade. That is the prize that Donnie Walsh has to keep his eyes on, when he’s not sitting in his office throwing darts at a photo of Isiah Thomas while ripping through a second pack of Pall Malls. Because he must be realizing that it’s tough to get the house in order when the previous tenants did everything but store dead bodies in the basement.

Walsh has four players on the books for 2010 (five depending on Il Gallo’s contract), Zach Randolph ($17.3 million), Eddy Curry ($11.2 million), Jamal Crawford ($10 million) and Jared Jeffries ($6.8 million). Two of them, Curry and Jeffries, have player options for that year (“Mr. Walsh, I’ve decided to stay for this year and continue to get wildly overpaid. Thank you.”) His most marketable asset is in the last year of his contract, so all David Lee needs to do is say “I’m not signing an extension” and there goes any deal. That leaves Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford.

Crawford is, after Lee, the Knicks most valuable commodity. If he has to go, fine, but I’d like Crawford to stay (he could excel in the D’Antoni system). So the main focus for Donnie Walsh has to be unloading Zach Randolph and his remaining $48 million salary.

I’ve read that Milwaukee is a destination. They’ve wanted Zach for a while now and can send sharpshooter Michael Redd our way. This would not work, as Redd has a player option for $18.3 million in 2010 (“Mr. Walsh, I’ve decided to stay for this year and continue to get wildly overpaid. Thank you.”). The purpose of trading Randolph would be defeated. Unless they could flip Crawford, possibly to Golden State as mentioned in a previous post about Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News (which GM Chris Mullin might be desperate enough to do). Can there be something better? Let’s see.

So I’m wondering why the Knicks don’t take a shot at seeing if Chicago is interested. If The Knicks are going to trade Zbo for a shooting guard with an awful contract, it might as well be for one whose contract expires at the end of 2009/2010. Which Larry Hughes’s contract does. Plus, we wouldn’t have to flip Crawford and be subjected to the Larry Hughes era.

Why wouldn’t the Bulls be interested in Zach? Don’t they need a big low post offensive player like the Bucks do? GM John Paxson has to decide whether to sign impending free agents Ben Gordon and Luol Deng (or both), so getting Randolph might make the decision easier. They’ll have the space to absorb Randolph’s contract after next year, when those of players like Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni expire. Paxson is under the gun after botching the Bulls chance to get a big player and make a championship run when he had cap space. Randolph is a double-double guy (when not on a train wreck like Isiah’s Knicks). He’s from and still lives in Central Indiana, a few hours drive from Chicago. I think Paxson would at the very least give it a listen. It beats rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic with the Redd trade.

Let me take it one step further. How about Zach Randolph, Jared Jeffries and Malik Rose’s expiring contract ($7.6 million) for Larry Hughes, Kirk Hinrich and Cedric Simmons expiring contract ($1.7 million). The Bulls get rid of paying a back-up point guard $9 million a year for the next four. The Knicks get the point guard they need (I’m big on Hinrich) for now and later. The only problem is why would Paxson take Jeffries.

And since I’m spitballin’ here, let me take it another step further…of course A-Rod is sleeping with Madonna. He likes muscular chicks.

John Maloney is not a freelance writer- he writes when it hits him- but is an avid Knick fan whose work has often appeared on nykfp.com.

And he’s serious, he doesn’t have a truck.

Tommy Dee writes...I think this could happen, but Hinrich’s contract would be after 2010. Hughes for Z-Bo straight up would work should the Bulls suck up Randolph’s contract for one more year. They may have to as that Ben Wallace deal really screwed them. The question becomes, does Walsh take Hughes just to dump Randolph.
  • ericmiatol

    Why are we so sure we can sign Lebron or Wade?

  • midtown

    I disagree. We need to remain competitive and be on the verge of contending if we are to have a REAL shot at obtaining any of the star FA’s of 2010.

    So losing the way described up above is not an option. We must have cap space and be a playoff team. Minimum.

  • vino

    Agreed. LeBron, or anyone else won’t come here simply to come here. We can’t be a bottom feeder and expect New York to still be attractive.

    While Hinrich’s contract will be on the books durign the 2010 summer, it will only be for about half of Randolph’s. We would shed about 8 million in salary for that year by simply swappingthose two.

    It is also important ot remember that we are going to have guys under contract going into the free agency period of 2010. LeBron can’t play all by himself. He needs at least four other bodies to play with, right? By having Hinrich and not Randoplh, the Knicks would have considerablly more cap space.

    This guy Maloney is right. He simply formulated a compilation of the basic ideas of most Knicksbloggers on this site. Glad to see more people with their head on straight.

  • http://jetnation.com wishy2

    Nice read.

    Still going to be a long and painful 2 years waiting for one of the superstars to maybe play here.

    And he should buy a truck…. maybe even a van, they are cheap these days.

  • Kid Tarheel

    I am confused about one point. To me it seems as if Zach Randolph’s contract and Michael Redd contracts are similar in structure. How can we suggest that that would in any way be a poor risk for the knicks to take? While it does not satisfy our number one need that I believe we all agree is to get under the cap, we are also left no worse off in the meantime. Also, Redd has a very high probability to thrive in such an offense, leaving us actually much better off in the short term. With that said, wouldn’t a seemingly agreeable Redd (who has skills that other teams covet), be easier to unload for cap space than Randolph, especially if his catch and shoot ability does succeed with the Knicks?

    Another point that I think is being overlooked is the sign and trade option with a prospective team when Lebron becomes a free agent. We may not need to have all of the cap space because he may not be willing to accept less money (because of the extra year that the Cavs can offer) and he might feel better about the move if he didn’t leave Cleveland completely high and dry.

    One last point without getting too disjointed: If Lebron is seriously considering making a move to NY to secure his place in history (in basketball and in finance), his move will be calculated and concise. If the Nets do not move, and the Knicks do not have the space the first year he can opt out, I believe that Lebron will play out his contract and come to NY when it is best for both sides to do so. I don’t believe he is itching to get out of Cleveland (meaning I don’t think we are bidding against others), I think he recognizes that if he does what he is doing right now in NY, he will be immortalized worldwide and he will make more money in a NY media market than anyone else has ever imagined to make shooting a basketball (including Sir Michael).