Isiah is "Dead Man Walking". The Knicks are giving Isiah Thomas one year to turn around the mess he created in New York. He should start lining up his next job now.
Goddamnit, someone stop Jeff Van Gundy before he kills again. He traded away Rudy Gay and the Rockets' only backup center/PF for Shane Battier. I think I'm going to be ill...
As inept as Isiah is, the owner's ultimatum is even dumber.
Isiah the GM will end up making moves out of desperation to try to save Isiah the Coach. Even if the moves produce a couple of more wins in the short-term, he would likely be harming the long-term outlook of the team.
As bad as the Knicks are, it is difficult to imagine that any moves he makes could make the team worse. Of course, if anyone can accomplish that, it would be Isiah -- the Matt Millen of the NBA.
Off season signings have started with a few bangs.
New Orleans is fast out of the gate with a few deals while Chicago dropped the biggest bomb by landing Big Ben. This is either a genius move by the Pistons to let go of an aging star or a dumb miscalculation as they told him "this is our last offer". Bam, he's gone.
The Pistons quickly picked up Nazr Muhammed as a "replacement" but it's tough to replace the defensive player of the year(2 times running).
Actually, Ben is a four time winner of the Defensive Player of The Year Award. He will be tough to replace, but I think that Chicago vastly overpaid for Big Ben. He's 32 and is slowing down a little, which will affect his defensive ability. He adds absolutely zero offensive ability, so that's a lot of money to pay to a one dimensional player. The Pistons will miss his presense in the locker room, leadership ability and work ethic as much as his defense.
It will be interesting to see how Joe Dumars fills this hole. Muhammed is a nice start. If Joe can overcome losing Grant Hill to free agency (and actually turn it into a positive, as he did), then I think he'll have a solid plan to handle this, too.