Thoughts on Sessions

by Tommy Dee on August 26th, 2009 at 5:54 pm

I can understand the fan’s frustrations about the fact that the team has failedto make a huge splash this summer. I like action as much as the next guy. But it’s clear that Ramon Sessions isn’t a get at all costs type of player.

With no apparent sit downs planned, the Knicks may move on as Donnie Walsh isn’t prepared to dig too far deep into the 2010 budget for Sessions. We should have seen this coming, I mean if he’s not doing it for David Lee or Nate Robinson, why would he do it for another player who isn’t a proven winner and who also has limitations?

But my question is why wouldn’t Sessions agree to a significant payraise for this year and less for next? Why wouldn’t he want a guaranteed starting spot with the Knicks, without blocking a path for a major free agent next year? I mean the guy was in the D League two years ago. To be fair, I guess I could say the same for Lee.

Whatever the case for Sessions, it appears clear that there are no trades on the horizon as it was reported that was a roadblock hindering a Sessions addition. Moreover, if Washington does still have a crush on Jared Jeffries, which we’ve heard so much about, without Sessions in the fold wouldn’t it make sense for Walsh to pull the trigger on a Jeffries for Mike James deal?

Maybe that could go down during the year, which is an important point to remember. Walsh did make deals in November last year, completely out of nowhere. So Sessions may be out of the picture for now, but there’s still plenty of time to make changes, the changes fans are craving.
  • jho

    If that deal (Jeffries for James) was on the table, there is no doubt in my mind Walsh would have already accepted it. Walsh CANNOT be thinking that Jeffries is a long-term solution here. I think it’s farily obvious that Washington would want more from the Knicks for taking on the extra year of Jeffries’ contract.

  • EQ1217

    I read somewhere that the holdup is over Donnie refusing to throw in cash in the deal.

    At first it seems hard to believe, but I’m starting to think Donnie has a small market mindset, were you just don’t throw money around even if it benefits you.

  • Myles A. Mills

    if you’re willing to “throw” $3 mil at Mike James, then you can put some money into getting rid of Jared Jeffries sorry behind.

    I don’t buy that, EQ.

  • Myles A. Mills

    Sorry not Mike James, Toney Douglas rather

  • Jeff Cykiert

    I don’t know why you assume that he has a guaranteed starting roll on the knicks. Duhon is a more proven, better point guard than sessions at this point in his career. He had a great first half of the season for us and the 40+ minutes a game did him in, and we talked about how we need to get a legit PG to back him up and decrease his minutes, and see if he can have a full season playing like he did. That was his first year ever getting any sort of significant minutes; he went from being a benchwarmer to running the new york knicks for 42 minutes a night in one season; you can’t forget that.

    Now we might be getting the decent, possibly high-potential ramon sessions, who has never successfully run a team, is only 22, has no outside shot, and had a few good games in one season of his young career, and we assume he is our new PG of the future? He’s getting the nod automatically over Duhon? No way. Duhon is our starter going into next year no matter what unless we got Jason Kidd. Ramon sessions is pretty much a draft pick, and not even a particularly special one, so there is no reason to assume he will be our starter.

  • swtnes34

    This term of endearment, ‘paience’, is not helping this year’s team and could backfire. As you guys have pointed out what ‘superstar’ would be willing to come here with 4 contributors and 8 empty bench seats? I think our rebuilding efforts should be going on now to help the 2009-10 Knicks get in the playoffs and then we can add pieces needed. And I agree with Jeff C. we only need a competent backup PG at this point because the minutes definitely wore Duhon down. If Sessions would be too high priced for such a player, drop the dancing and move on. Remember, we were going to sign Sessions right after “August 1st.”

  • earlthepearl

    Its a bit strange that so many people are congratulating Walsh on his “patience,” rather than complaining that his job is to improve the team, even while watching payroll.

    If you assume that this is the team they are going with, how exactly are the Knicks going to recruit James or any top free agent next year to play with such a weak squad?

    Also, how come no one is on Walsh’s case for throwing cash at Kidd and Hill?

    All I know is that as constituted, this is going to be one bad, boring team to watch in 2009-10, and then its very possible the Knicks will swing and miss wildly when trying to sign free agents in 2010.

  • finestrg

    I don’t see why they don’t go out and get Mike Taylor on board right now. Outside of Sessions, he’s easily the best PG option out there right now. I mean this team kills me – they won’t show any interest in a young, cost-effective prospect filled with potential like Taylor but they’ll continue to show interest in every retread & their brother out there – White Chocolate, Jamaal Tinsley, Troy Hudson… I mean come on man. Wake up already. For the amount of potential and upside we’re talking about and for the small amount of money it would cost to at least invite Taylor to training camp, he’s an absolute no-brainer. The Clippers cut him. I think it was a mistake but whatever. One man’s trash could be our treasure. It’s not like Dunleavy’s know as some great judge of talent & personnel. If he think’s he’s better off moving forward with Telfair & Mardy Collins, God bless him. And to think they may have cut him loose because he had a bad summer league. Absurd. Toney Douglas didn’t rip up summer league for us – did we give up on him? One thing’s for sure, just looking around the ‘net, there’s a lot of Clipper fans that are pissed off they cut this kid loose, that’s for sure..

    Best case scenario — not as well-known or as high profile, but I see a guy with similar talent and skills to Jerryd Bayless and Jeff Teague. I’d say he’s at least on par with Aaron Brooks only a little taller. Brooks played well for Houston last year… I also see some Sam Cassell, minus the post up game but with much better athleticism & hops – Not particularly in style but that type of confidence offensively. With some hard work and dedication there’s no reason he couldn’t develop into an impact scoring PG.

    Worst case — I read somewhere someone comparing him to Ronnie Price. I wouldn’t totally disagree with that assessment but I think he’s better than that to be honest. At the very least, say he failed to show any PG maturity at all, at the very least I see a guy who could help Duhon out with the workload, help bring Douglas along a little more slowly and replace Nate’s off-the-bench offense if Nate isn’t retained. This guy’s a talented & confident offensive player who lit us up for 35 last year at the Garden.

    Go get him now and sign him up for training camp. They should go get Taylor and then still continue there pursuit of Sessions. Whatever, I just don’t wanna see us come away with nothing here and stuck without a chair when the music stops..

  • Rene

    No need ro make a trade now and make a bad one.I rather wait to see what we got with Curry before I do something.Sessions is not the answer,Jeff right Duhon was awesome till we killed him with minutes,I like our core of Gallo and Chandler and Lebron,the rest is gravy.Let’ wait sign Lee and N8 to one yr deals and play with what we have.Hill shows promise.Darko is a sleeper,he might supprise in this system it will be fun we have alot of talent and Lebron will come,Rubio would be nice if we could work a deal ,that GM got DW going nuts waiting too.My man goal is to move Jeffries and Curry this year while keeping my core.And yes Lebron is part of that core.LOL

  • SilentJay

    All Knicks affairs throught this offseason, and all scenarios for the future are “ifs” or “maybes”. If Sessions came to the NY we could have a more attractive team; if a superstar wore the blue & orange in 2010, etc. When DW came, we knew he would start a long rebuilding project, and we had to have known that something like this would happen
    My guess is, Donnie did not expect, for example, that the cap would suffer the way it did. I don’t think he expected Lee, for instance, to put up much of a fight in terms of a new cheap contract (but that’s very debatable since it can be looked from many angles); or to see his two rookies (one a top ten pick) playing below par at camp (once again, things that happen at camp ahve no relation whatsoever to what they can show once the season starts. Personally, I have high expectations for both of them).
    So, just a thought, this slow summer from Donnie’s part might actually be because he’s found himself against a corner. Yes, he started great, getting rid a contracts that were very difficult to shed. That was the first part. But what that project needs to come full circle is for a number of factors to line up, and we know what they are. JJ and Curry’s contracts have to go. In JJ may be easier to move, and some serious thought will have to be made in the big man’s case.
    Then there’s the young team at hand, one that needs to add an attractive player, or have Gallo and Will, for instance, to make big splash. Why? to put together a better season than the last and at least get a shot for the playoffs.
    So, since money’s tight, Donnie’s motto is simple: the cap stays where it is. I respect that. Now the task at hand is the most relevant and difficult one: trade your two biggest contracts. Or at least one. Then think about bringing someone in.
    There’s no doubt that the PG is our weakest spot (Duhon had a decent season, but he needs a backup, or needs to sit if someone better shows up). I say give Douglas and Hll a shot, if the playoffs are not important. Give mileage to the rookies.
    So again we come to the “maybes”. Maybe the Knicks don’t bring someone in. Maybe the team makes the playoffs just with the present roster. Maybe they strike out in 2010 and make big in 2011. Or maybe they’re the biggest winner in 2010. As fans we knew that the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons were gonna be difficult for us. So we gotta sit tight, vent, and hope that something actually does happen when we least expect it… sine that’s proven to be sort of Donnie’s MO.

  • BiggieSmalls

    Sign sessions to a 4 mil per contract

    trade jared jeffries and a future 2nd rounder to Washington for James

    trade Duhon to Orlando for a portion of their Turkoglu exception

    call it an off season

  • CircleLimit4

    The Jazz would love us to have Mike James and Douglas as our PGs

  • bob go knicks

    i really have to laugh at everyone who says “duhon needs a backup” duhon is a backup,and the knicks need a starting point guard

  • bob go knicks

    man donnie walsh has got to have some kind of plan because there is no way hes gonna go to war with what we have now.this team couldnt win 25 games as constituted

  • BiggieLittles

    LMAO@DUHON needs a backup so in other words the knicks are going to have 2 backup point guards but 1 is the starter.lmao…

  • BiggieLittles

    trade duhon for skip to my lou..
    i’ll be happy with that..

  • jaknicksfan

    We all have to relax the season is still 2 months away. we have a good young nucleus with Gallo and Chandler plus the rookies who i think highly of. we have to have aptience. I want Sessions too but there is no proof that he is gonna be the Answer for this team either. The last thing we need is a setback. Get Mike taylor or Even sessions and Donnie will make some deals during the season. Lets just try to show some faith in Donnie. Douglas will be a good back up point to whoever we have.

  • ScottD

    Why are people saying that the Knicks will be worse than last season, if they stay put?
    If we retain Lee and Robinson on any type of one year deals, who have we lost from last year, other than Q Rich and Chris Wilcox?
    Neither of them were difference makers.
    We have added Milicic, who could help us more than he should hurt us,
    An in shape Curry, who was a 19/7 player just two seasons ago, who manhandled Dwight Howard around that time, and who better prove that he is not done in this league!
    Douglas, who has reasonably good upside as a back up and defender behind Duhon, and Hill who most likely will have more upside than Wilcox.
    We also should be seeing Gallo playing at his full potential, as well as Harrington, who says that his goal for the upcoming season is to involve his teamates more.
    And for all those players who’s contracts are expiring, they should all have an equal or better showing than they did last season.
    The above, coupled with the fact that there will likely be some type of trading occuring, as is typical in the league, and I think that we will be on the road to improving this team.
    Donnie’s patience is not easy to bear, but it in my opinion, it is much better that watching an impetuous Isiah Thomas single handedly bury this team in the sand (mud).
    And last but not least, we won’t be dealing with issues such as “what will happen to the artist formerly known as Stephon Marbury”.

  • ScottD

    Oh, I forget to even mention Chandler, and the fact that his game should be maturing as well!

  • bob go knicks

    its really nic that everyone is soooo happy that donnie walsh is saving money for jim dolan so that the rich prick can go out and buy more usless things.buy when the season starts and the knicks stink out the league and to boot dont have a draft pick next year,what are we gonna watch on tv or at the gardeni think according to rules that the knicks have to at least try and win a few games next year.please cant the commish interfere? this is gonna suck so bad if yer a real knicks fan(that means lik,es to watch them win) you cant buy a winnerSIGN SESSIONS NOW —TRADE JEFFRIES LATER

  • jaknicksfan

    I couldnt agree with you more, Great Post ScottD

  • jaknicksfan

    You know what Dolan Really isnt that bad of an owner. He”s willing to spend as we have all seen. he just had the wrong guys running the team and he was much too loyal to them. God forbid we could have cheap ass Fred Wilpon like the mets do, hes an a**hole. Dolan will spend cash and as much as necessary to Win. in a couple of years this will all pay off

  • jaknicksfan

    And we will be a much better team than we were last year just as Scott said, we are young and upcoming.

  • ScottD

    Bob your comment “SIGN SESSIONS NOW- TRADE JEFFRIES LATER”
    Is the equivalent to “STICK IT IN NOW- USE PROTECTION LATER”

    ps. I suppose it’s safe to say that your glass is less than half full!

  • jaknicksfan

    LOL, i couldnt have said it any better!

  • BiggieLittles

    RUBIO or IVERSON
    will be a knick..

    stay tuned..

  • jaknicksfan

    I would much rather have A.I.

  • jaknicksfan

    The NY POST is reporting that David Lee will not accept the Q.O. and isnt happy with 1 year deals and might hold OUT. what a joke in this economy be happy you have a JOB.!!

  • NashWonder

    Amen! I agree 150%!

  • NashWonder

    Why would Orlando trade for Duhon when they just sign Jason Williams? Secondly, why would anyone trade money right now now for a spot they just filled and when in fact they still have a spot to fill on the wing? Thirdly I’m sorry but Sessions is not that much better than Duhon, frankly he’s not better than him at all and if you people think thats the case then you haven’t been watching basketball that long.

  • Shea1012

    Good point on Dolan, one I never really thought of – now he seems to have the right people.

    But as a Mets fan, and no defender of Wilpon, you can make the exact same point about the Mets. The team has the second or third highest payroll in baseball, it is just that his baseball people spend it in the wrong places. (This year seesm to be the first real sign of budget pinching, as evidenced by the Mets not signing a handful of draftpicks to save like $1mm total).

    To keep it on topic, I agree with the posts above regarding Sessions – so many of you are crying to lavish this guy with a long term deal based on like 20 games. The last time we gave someone big time money for a handful of games his name was Jerome James. I am nto saying Sessions is a bum, he may grow to be a very good player – but why should we bid against anybody but time – as of now Sessions has no other offers – same with Lee and Robinson.

    BTW, I use Twitter to follow certain people/celebrities I find funny. I have been getting nates tweets and all I can say is, thank goodness he can play ball, because he might be the dumbest person on the planet.

  • parkerstrong

    Clippers arent that interested in Sessions…..

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Clippers-not-going-hard-after-Ramon-Sessions?urn=nba,185458

    The best offer is the rumored Knicks deal at 4million for 2009 and an unguaranteed 2010 contract. 2-year deal works with his RFA status. Better deal that the Bucks QO-if the Knicks cut him he will be unrestricted instead of still be restricted by the Bucks if he takes the QO.

  • MiamiMoe

    BOB GO KNICKS for once i agree with you Duhon is not a starting PG, i think we should keep him cuz he does manage the system very well but we need a starting PG that can run our squad for years to come…i like Sessions but it does scare me a little that US & THE CLIPPERS ARE THE ONLY ONES CHASING HIM, the 2 most troubled franchises in recent history. so i agree that DW should be patient w/ him but i like his potential… SCOTT i agree with you 200%. i don’t think this team played to its potential last year and as is i think we can win some games…Finally i hate what’s happening w/ Lee maybe holding out. we need to show marquee FA that we know how to deal w/ our players and so far we’re 0-2 with Starbury last year and Lee this year…LEE IS GETTING 0 OFFERS AND HE WANTS TO HOLD OUT ON US???? i like what lee brings to the team but the more this drags on the more would rather lee gone..
    P.S. I agree w/ the Dolan comment, he always spends $$$$ no matter how bad we are and he stays outta the way he just needs the right captains steering the ship….I also i agree w/ the Curry comment, i think we should be patient w/ him and not jump @ the first trade, if he goes back to his 19/7 form or finally lives up to his potential we will beat ourselves up for givin him away, Its not good business to let talented 7 footers walk in this league. People say that both parties wanna mutual split but if we’re winning games or starting something special then neither parties will be singin that tune

  • parkerstrong

    Andy (DC-Metro)

    Who is the player or team that no one is talking about that is on your radar screen? Please dont say Durant or THunder- I’m already driving that bandwagon with Simmons riding shotgun

    John Hollinger (3:27 PM)

    Player — Ramon Sessions. Most underrated player in the league. Will be a big-time pick up for the team that lands him. As for teams, I think the consensus is largely accurate right now, but there’s one quasi-surprise team I’m keeping my eye on pending future moves this summer.

    I’m not the only one who thinks Sessions at 4 million will be a steal….

    http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/28036