Next Move: Bring in a Center

by Chris Alvino on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:11 pm

News: Donnie would love to bring in a 7 footer who can block shots. Coincidentally, I would love to see Donnie bring one in as well.

As the current Knicks roster stands, there is no clear backup center to speak of, unless of course David Lee and Malik Rose fit that bill…… I didn’t think so either.
So there you have it, Donnie has to go get a shot-blocking center to provide the type of interior defense that only appears in the Garden nowadays when a visiting player kills the Knicks with it. But there is one minor problem: who can we go get?

I have given this thought, and I have decided that while I would love to add a player who can help us well into the future, I would be willing to bring on a veteran stopgap to keep us from making a foolish trade for a young player.

Potential buy-out options include guys like Stromile Swift and Raef LaFrentz, both of whom are in the final years of their current contracts. Swift, if bought out would require a deal worth more than the minimum, and thus would only be an option for the Knicks via trade. Swift for Rose anyone? LaFrentz on the other hand would have been absolutely perfect for the Knicks about 6 years ago. He was a sweet-shooting, shot-blocking center who would have been an ideal complement to either Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry. Now, I am not so sure. But if he were available without the Knicks having to give up anything, I believe that he would be a decent stopgap backup for us. How about Q-Rich and Malik Rose for LaFrentz and Martell Webster? I would do it, but would Portland? Theo Ratliff is a free-agent, but why would he sign a minimum salary deal to come play for the Knicks when he can sign the same deal to play for the Celtics or another contender? That’s simple, he wouldn’t (although I would love to have him).

Young shot-blockers are out there, but I am not sure how readily available they are. Sean Williams of the Nets comes to mind, and to a lesser extent, Hilton Armstrong of the Hornets. Neither team figures to give up on these guys, and I am not sure if the Knicks would have what it would take to get either of them Armstrong has had a rough start to his career, and I do not think that the Hornets would sell low on him just yet.

One player who I would love to see the Knicks get on the cheap would be Shelden Williams. I know he is too small to be a real center, but I believe that he is the type of player that the Knicks can really use. He can come in and rebound and play interior defense, two traits that would be ideal for a bench player. His stock is really low right now, and maybe the Knicks can get him for Renaldo Balkman and a swap of future second round picks. Or maybe the Knicks can take on Abdur-Rahim’s final two years and send Malik Rose the other way. After all, the Kings have plenty of players in front of Williams, including Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson, and Brad Miller. While I am not sure if either deal would work financially, I think that they would both be good moves.

Lastly, would anyone be against exploring a deal that would send Eddy Curry to Memphis for Crittenton/Lowry and Darko Milicic. Memphis needs a post scorer, and Curry would fit in well there, as there is no one else there to clog up the paint on offense. Curry’s contract is not overly cumbersome, but it can potentially go through the ’10-’11 season, which is something the Knicks do not want. In Milicic, the Knicks would get a good shooting shot-blocker who, while not as offensively talented as Curry, will keep more people out the paint than Curry will. Milicic reminds me of a poor man’s Raef LaFrentz with a bit less range on his jump shot. (As I noted above, I think that a young LaFrentz would be perfect for the Knicks.) The Knicks would also be able to bring on a young point guard like Crittenton to hopefully develop behind Duhon. Giving up on Curry would be a tough thing to do, but this move would also create cap relief for the summer of ’10. I’d go for this if it were on the table.

Those were just some options that I feel the Knicks can look into without completely overhauling our roster. I am curious to know what everyone thinks, and hopefully hear more potential ideas for Donnie to consider. Every Knick fan from Donnie Walsh onward knows that the Knicks need an interior defender who can deflect shots and deter players from driving down the lane. However, does anyone know who that guy is?

About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • reddog2669

    Herb still looks like he can give a few minutes per game. Unfortunetly, if Diop gets 5 years full mid level, the pickins will be slim at what the Knicks can offer. What about the Birdman for cheap?

  • Kid Tarheel

    Don’t know if we need a center per se. Perhaps just someone who can guard them.

    If I were Walsh, I wait on any moves right now. I guess I can understand why people are throwing around all of these wild trade scenarios, but I’m just not sure I would make any moves right now. Lets figure out who can flourish in this system and who can’t. Maybe Crawford is great in this system and plays like Rip Hamilton- and maybe he’s just Jamal Crawford. Maybe Randolph scores 25 and grabs 12- and maybe not. I don’t think we lose anything by holding off – with the possible exception of David Lee because of his contract situation (his value is certainly at its peak). And maybe Curry- I just don’t like the guy as a basketball player.

    If I’m Donnie Walsh, I tear the world apart looking for a PG to draft next season. Maybe we can get lucky and a Jennings or Rubio will be available to us. Maybe Ty Lawson, Darren Collison Or Nick Calathes will be good fits. That to me is the best place to start our rebuild. By that point we will have a strong grasp on where we should go and who we should go after. We will have Duhon to help bridge the gap for a year as well.

    If we can punt Randolph outta here now, lets at least get some value for him. Bc next year, he’ll likely be much more valuable with only two years left on his absurd contract.

    My excitement for this new era of Knicks basketball stems mostly from the fact that I think D’Antoni system makes players who are not valuable to other teams valuable to his- which opens up to us the pool of available players that will help us win. Look at the Suns- Sean Marion was a Beast in Phoenix and ordinary in Miami. Diaw was washed up with Atlanta and vital to the Suns. Nash was great with Dallas and an MVP with D’Antoni. And familiar to Knick fans- Q average 15 a game and led the league in 3s in his lone season there. Tim Thomas almost helped the Suns over the hump in the playoffs in ’06 and fooled the Clips into another long, guaranteed contract.

    So I say lets wait. Lets wait and see which 3 or 4 players really take to this style of play. And then lets take a firing squad to the rest.

  • Kid Tarheel

    With all that said, I do love Deng- and Crittendon will be a solid NBA player.

    Just for fun – I’d send Lee, Nate and Rose for Deng (assuming he signed in the 10-12 mil range), He seems to be a great mix of offense and defense that would help glue this team together.