Who’s That?

by Tommy Dee on March 30th, 2009 at 11:06 pm

Interesting exchange as told to Marc Berman.

“…Denver’s Renaldo Balkman told former Rocky Mountain News reporter Chris Thomasson the club “regrets” trading him last summer. D’Antoni’s response?

“Who’s that?”

Knicks play in Denver tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to be the guy trying to stop Balkman going to the rim. D’Antoni went on to say Renaldo, the Knicks’ former first-rounder, is a good player but his presence would have stopped the growth of Wilson Chandler.,,”

So there you have it, Balkman was traded so that Wilson Chandler could get minutes. Exactly what we thought.
  • Brett Justin

    EXACTLY I mean come on lets be serious…. Balkman was ok and energy off the bench but Chandler is 10000 times better then he is and he would of just taken minutes from him… its not like anyone will be loosing sleep that he is gone haha

  • Chris Alvino

    Speaking of Balkman and small forwards, what does everyone think of Dante Cunnigham of Villanova. He plays a power forward role in college, but he looks about 6’7 and is probably not big enough to do that in the pros. I like him as a post-up playing SF though. He is tough and he battles against the bigger guys really well. He might not get drafted this year, but he is a senior. I think he’d be a guy worth trying out.

  • bmathews77

    I don’t know why Balkman would even say the Knicks regret trading him. Balkman would not have been a difference maker to this team. Not like he’s much of a difference maker for the Denver Nuggets either.
    I think the Knicks made the right move. By moving Balkman, they were able to give minutes to Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. Two forwards who have a brighter future than Renaldo Balkman.

  • efunk

    I’m going to the game tonight in Denver and breaking out the old H20 jersey. I might need to purchase a retro Frazier or Bernard King jersey for the future though. As though the Knicks haven’t had enough trouble winning lately, I’m not too optimistic about their chances of winning on the 2nd night of a back to back game with both at altitude.

    In the chat, I didn’t see any comments about the possibility of drafting Tyreke Evans. Even though Memphis lost the game to Mizzou, Evans looked like a man amongst boys who could handle, get to the basket and finish, and ran the point better than what I had heard about him, although his outside shot is suspect. Get Nash here as a tutor and Evans could really develop as a PG. I like Lawson as the better overall pure point guard right now, but Evans looks like he has tools that will translate into becoming an elite NBA player…

    What do you think?

  • NYKat

    Walsh could have gotten rid of Z-Bo for Darko, but decide to be patient and up his value…

    He should’ve at least done the same with Balkman, he could’ve been a throw in to another salary dump, but its pretty obvious by D’antoni’s quote the Knicks thought very little of him…Walsh screwed this one up

    …and “who’s that” is some good bulletin board material, I’m rooting for Taz tonight