Grading Donnie Walsh
Given the nature of his position, we have to grade Walsh based pretty
much on what he has done since he arrived up until this point. As the GM, Walsh does not have as much of a direct impact on the daily operations of this team. He cannot make moves every day to tinker with this team, or at least not on the level that the players and the coaches can.
So starting with the off-season, Walsh’s first big move was bringing in Mike D’Antoni to coach this team instead of Mark Jackson. At the time the decision was made, I will be honest and say that I wanted Jackson. Nothing against D’Antoni, but I did not want a high profile coach to come in and coach a team that was destined for the dumps this year. Needless to say, but I was wrong. D’Antoni was the perfect coach for this franchise and was a great (GREAT) hire by Donnie.
Aside from making a draft pick that cannot truly be judged yet, Walsh’s big acquisition was bringing in Chris Duhon to take over at the point guard spot. He is what we needed; a true lead guard who cares more about orchestrating an offense and commanding the defense of the team than he does about being the team’s leading scorer. Another great move by Walsh.
Then a few of Walsh’s moves since then have been a bit questionable. First, he decided to roll with Anthony Roberson instead of Patrick Ewing Jr. Ewing, who would have gotten his chance to play thus far, would have at least been a fan favorite, a player who would help bring back thoughts of the old glory days. His presence would have been a complete feel-good story for this franchise and its fans. Now, Ewing is in the D-League and Roberson cannot crack a 7-man rotation. Still a questionable move in my book.
Based on his history of not buying out contracts, Walsh has allowed Jerome James and Stephon Marbury to not only rot on the bench (James) and rot in the media and wherever he might be right now (Marbury), but he has also deprived his coach and his players from having reinforcements. Because those two players have been wasting roster spots, D’Antoni has been forced to play undermanned for most of the season. Players like Duhon and Lee have had to play too many 40-minute games for this team to win. Buying out these players, especially in James’ case, would b expensive, but minimum salary players that are young and athletic would be helping this team more than they are right now. I know it is not worth adding players just for depth, but this team really, really needs depth. Oh yeah, Marbury is still a distraction in the media (although not as bad now).
Then we have the two trades. Both were great for the long-term, but only really one for the short-term. The Harrington deal has been great. He has stepped up his offensive game and has lit a new fire in the Garden. The Randolph deal has left this team without another big scorer/ rebounder. To this day, the Knicks still need depth.
Overall, Donnie has done a god job. This team needs depth, but like with everything else with Donnie, we all have to patient.
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