Round One

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – Kyrie Irving, Guard, Duke University

Wikipedia facts: Irving was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia where his father, Drederick Irving, played professional basketball for the Bulleen Boomers. Irving subsequently lived in Australia before relocating to the United States at the age of 2. He has dual citizenship in the United States and Australia and has recently expressed interest in representing the Australian National Team.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves – Derrick Williams, Forward, University of Arizona

Wikipedia fact: Derrick Williams originally committed to play at the University of Southern California but asked for a release from his letter of intent when head coach Tim Floyd resigned amid allegations of NCAA rules violations.

3. Utah Jazz – Brandon Knight, Guard, University of Kentucky

Wikipedia fact: On April 14, 2010, Knight signed an aid agreement with the University of Kentucky, not a letter of intent. Amid rumors that Kentucky coach John Calipari would jump to coach in the NBA, Knight’s parents advised him to sign an aid agreement. An aid agreement is different from a letter of intent in that the aid agreement is only a one way commitment, with Kentucky committed to give him one scholarship year while he can transfer without any repercussions from the NCAA, while a Letter of Intent means the deal is a two-way commitment between the school and the athlete. By signing an aid agreement, the Wildcats were committed to Knight, but he was not committed to them.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers – Enes Kanter, Center, University of Kentucky/Turkey

Wikipedia fact: During the 2008-09 season, Kanter was a seldom-used reserve for Fenerbahçe Ülker, a Turkish professional basketball team. He played in at least nine games with the team – four in the Euroleague and five in the Turkish Basketball League.

5. Toronto Raptors – Kawhi Leonard, Forward, San Diego State University

Wikipedia fact: In 2009 as a senior at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, he was named Mr. Basketball California.

6. Washington Wizards – Jan Vesely, Forward, Serbia

Wikipedia fact: Due to his speed and court movement, Veselý has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko.

7. Sacramento Kings – Jimmer Fredette, Guard, Brigham Young University

Wikipedia fact: From his early childhood, he showed unusual dedication to athletics, his older brother TJ recalling, “He was the most determined, competitive four-year-old I had ever seen.” TJ, an aspiring rapper, helped train him for his basketball career since before kindergarten.

8. Detroit Pistons – Kemba Walker, Guard, University of Connecticut

Wikipedia facts: Walker grew up in the Sack-Wern Houses in Soundview, Bronx, and is the youngest of three siblings. His mother is Crucian and his father is Antiguan. Walker is also a dancer. He performed three times at the Apollo Theater for the TV show Showtime at the Apollo.

9. Charlotte Bobcats – Bismack Biyombo, Forward/Center, Congo

Wikipedia fact: Biyombo was discovered by the former Jordanian and Angolan national team head coach, Mario Palma, at the age of 16 at a youth tournament in Yemen.

10. Milwaukee Bucks – Marcus Morris, Forward, Kansas University

Wikipedia facts: He was named the 2010-11 Big 12 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. He was also named a second team All-American for his play in the 2010–11 basketball season by both the Associated Press and by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and a third team All-America by Fox Sports.

11. Golden State Warriors – Klay Thompson, Guard/Forward, Washington State University

Wikipedia facts: Thompson is the son of former Los Angeles Laker great Mychal Thompson. His older brother Mychel played basketball for Pepperdine University and his younger brother, Trayce, was drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. Klay faced controversy when he was suspended for his final regular season game at WSU after being issued a misdemeanor criminal citation for marijuana possession.

12. Utah Jazz  - Chris Singleton, Forward, Florida State University

Wikipedia facts: In 2010 he was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Singleton is from Canton, Georgia and played high school basketball at Dunwoody High.

13. Phoenix Suns – Tristan Thompson, Forward, University of Texas

Wikipedia fact: Thompson was born in Brampton, Ontario, and is the oldest of four brothers of Trevor and Andrea Thompson. He is also the cousin of fellow NCAA athlete and former Virginia State University Trojan football standout Jemal Thompson.

14. Houston Rockets – Jonas Valanciunas, Center, Lithuania

Wikipedia facts: Valančiūnas started playing professionally for Perlas in 2008 and played there until December 2009. During the 2008-09 season the team played in the Lithuanian National Basketball League (NKL), Lithuania’s second strongest league, but moved up to the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) the following season.

15. Indiana Pacers – Markieff Morris, Forward, University of Kansas

Wikipedia facts: Morris and his brother have signed with a sports agent from Los Angeles and they have announced that they are going to be entering the 2011 NBA draft. He was picked to the Fifth Team All-America by Fox Sports after his junior season.

16. Philadelphia 76ers – Nikola Vucevic, Forward/Center, University of Southern California

Wikipedia fact: NO ENTRY

17. New York Knicks – Kenneth Faried, Forward/Center, Morehead State

Wikipedia facts: Faried broke Tim Duncan‘s modern-era (post-1973) Division I career rebounding mark with 12 rebounds in the Eagles’ 71–65 victory over Indiana State on February 19, 2011. The NCAA’s modern era began after 1973 when freshmen were permitted to play along with the split into the three divisions in use today. Duncan’s previous record of 1,570 rebounds had stood since 1997.

18. Washington Wizards – Marshon Brooks, Guard, Providence College

Wikipedia fact: Brooks left Providence College with two months left in his senior year to focus on preparing for the 2011 NBA Draft. Brooks left school two classes short of obtaining his degree.

19. Charlotte Bobcats – Alec Burks, Guard, University of Colorado

Wikipedia facts: He attended Grandview High School, where in 2009 he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Missouri. His senior year he averaged 23.0 points per game, in addition to 6.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He was also named the Kansas City Star and Metro Sports Player of the Year during his senior year.

20. Minnesota Timberwolves – Iman Shumpert, Guard, Georgia Institute of Technology

Wikipedia facts: Iman Shumpert’s father Odis Shumpert is an insurance broker and his mother L’Tanya Shumpert is an adjunct professor of art and design at Columbia College in Chicago.

21. Portland Trail Blazers – Jordan Hamilton, Forward, University of Texas

Wikipedia facts: As a sophomore he was a second team All-American by the USBWA. He was picked to the Fourth Team All-America by Fox Sports.

22. Denver Nuggets – Tobias Harris, Forward, University of Tennessee

Wikipedia facts:  Harris attended Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, NY for his senior year.  He was named a 2010 McDonald’s All-American.

23. Houston Rockets – Dontas Motiejunas, Forward, Lithuania

Wikipedia facts: Motiejūnas was a part of the Lithuanian Under-16, Under-18, and Under-20 junior national teams. With Lithuania’s junior national teams, he played at the: 2006 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, both the 2007 and 2008 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championships, the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, and the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

24. Oklahoma City Thunder – Tyler Honeycutt, Guard/Forward, University of California – Los Angeles

Wikipedia fact: Coming out of Sylmar High School, Tyler was very highly regarded, being rated as a top 10 small forward in the country by all of the major recruiting circuits.

25. Boston Celtics – Reggie Jackson, Guard, Boston College

Wikipedia fact: As a senior at Palmer High School in Colorado, Jackson won the 2007-08 Gatorade Colorado Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

26. Dallas Mavericks – JaJuan Johnson, Forward, Purdue University

Wikipedia facts: JaJuan finished his career at Purdue as the seventh highest scorer in school history (1,919), averaging 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2 blocks, .7 assists, and .7 steals. He shares school records with games in a season (37), total games (140), and games won (107). He finished 2nd in school history in career blocks with 263, as well as tallying 854 rebounds.

27. New Jersey Nets – Kyle Singler, Forward, Duke University

Wikipedia facts: Singler’s parents were both athletes at Oregon State University: his father, Ed Singler, was quarterback of the football team, and his mother, Kris Brosterhous, was on the basketball team. Four of Singler’s uncles played Division I football, baseball or basketball. His younger brother, E.J. Singler, plays basketball for the University of Oregon.

28. Chicago Bulls – Jimmy Butler, Forward, Marquette University

Wikipedia fact: Butler was not heavily recruited coming out of high school and chose to attend Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas.

29. San Antonio Spurs – Nikola Mirotic, Forward, Serbia

Wikipedia facts: Mirotić began his professional career with the Spanish ACB League club Real Madrid. During the Euroleague 2010-11 season, he emerged as one of his team’s most valuable cogs to win the Euroleague Rising Star award. In 2011, he signed a 5 year contract extension with Real Madrid.

30. Chicago Bulls – Shelvin Mack, Guard, Butler University

Wikipedia facts: In 2011, Mack help lead the Bulldogs to the 2011 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship game. He declared for the 2011 NBA Draft, to be held June 23, following his junior year.

Round Two

31. Miami Heat – Josh Selby, Guard, Kansas University

32. Cleveland Cavaliers – Malcolm Lee, Guard, University of California – Los Angeles

33. Detroit Pistons – Justin Harper, Forward, University of Richmond

34. Washington Wizards – Jordan Williams, Forward, University of Maryland

35. Sacramento Kings – Chandler Parsons, Guard/Forward, University of Florida

36. New Jersey Nets – Charles Jenkins, Guard, Hofstra University

37. Los Angeles Clippers – Nolan Smith, Guard, Duke University

38. Houston Rockets – Jeremy Tyler, Forward/Center, Tokyo Apache

39. Charlotte Bobcats – Travis Leslie, Guard, Georgia

40. Milwaukee Bucks – Jon Leuer, Forward, University of Wisconsin

41. Los Angeles Lakers – Darius Morris, Guard, University of Michigan

42. Indiana Pacers – E’Twuan Moore, Guard, Purdue University

43. Chicago Bulls – Norris Cole, Guard, Cleveland State

44. Golden State Warriors – Trey Thompkins, Forward, Georgia

45. New Orleans Hornets – Rick Jackson, Center, Syracuse University

46. Los Angeles Lakers – Bojan Bogdanovic, Forward, Serbia

47. Los Angeles Clippers – Scotty Hopson, Guard, University of Tennessee

48. Atlanta Hawks – Malcolm Thomas, Forward, San Diego State University

49. Memphis Grizzlies – DeAndre Liggins, Guard, University of Kentucky

50. Philadelphia 76ers – Willie Reed, Forward, St. Louis University

51. Portland Trail Blazers – Demetri McCamey, Guard, Illinois

52. Detroit Pistons – Isiah Thomas, Guard, University of Washington

53. Orlando Magic – Cory Joseph, Guard, University of Texas

54. Cleveland Cavaliers – David Lighty, Guard, The Ohio State University

55. Boston Celtics – Keith Benson, Center, Oakland University

56. Los Angeles Lakers – Jereme Richmond, Forward, University of Illinois

57. Dallas Mavericks – Greg Smith, Center, Fresno State University

58. Los Angles Lakers – Andrew Goudelock, Guard, College of Charleston

59. San Antonio Spurs – Davis Bertans, Forward, Latvia

60. Sacramento Kings – Ben Hansbrough, Guard, University of Notre Dame

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times wrote today that the hiring was “the wrong move” and that the lack of consultation with superstar Kobe Bryant was an even bigger mistake.  Bryant had made it clear that the only man he wanted to be his head coach was Brian Shaw, someone who has been an assistant under Phil Jackson but has zero head coaching experience.  Plaschke then goes on and assumes that if Bryant had been consulted, he would have listed Shaw, Rick Adelman and Jeff Van Gundy to his list of potential coaches.

When asked about the hiring of Brown, Bryant responded with a “no comment,” which has been translated to “I hate Mike Brown and this was the last guy I would have ever wanted.”  Quite a jump, I know, but that is what people have been assuming Bryant meant when he said nothing at all.

Bryant liked the idea of Shaw as head coach because he would run the same system that his predecessor, Phil Jackson, did and Kobe would likely be able to walk all over him and do whatever he wanted.  Hiring Adelman seems even crazier to me, as he was moderately successful in Houston, but missed the playoffs two years in a row, eventually leading to his firing.  Why would the Lakers want to hire someone that was just fired by the Houston Rockets?  The answer: they wouldn’t.

The Lakers hired the most successful coach on the market.  Jeff Van Gundy’s name has been thrown out multiple times and yet Van Gundy has given absolutely zero indication that he is interested in being a head coach right now.  But that has done nothing from keeping people from using his name as a potential possibility in Los Angeles.

But back to Brown.  The two major faults against him are that he got outcoached in the 2007 NBA Finals against Gregg Popovich and then he couldn’t get his team back to the NBA Finals despite back-to-back 60-win seasons.  One could also add that the team fired him because LeBron James didn’t like him very much.  And how do we get to that conclusion?  Because the team fired Brown to appease James and have him re-sign in Cleveland.  And what happened after the Cavaliers did what they thought James wanted?  James signed with the Miami Heat.  So getting rid of Mike Brown did absolutely nothing to entice James to stay in Cleveland.  And yet we continue to read that James wanted Brown out of Cleveland and he was fired because of James.

Getting swept in the 2007 NBA Finals against Gregg Popovich is hardly something to be proud of.  But is it really that awful?  Brown led his team, with a very young James, to within four wins of an NBA title, something no other coach did that year (other than Popovich, of course).  But because he got swept, it’s treated like they went 21-61.

60 wins in the NBA is a very good accomplishment.  Brown did it in back-to-back seasons with James and a cast of pine riders.  James left for Miami to play with two other stars and failed to win 60 games this season.  But because Brown didn’t to get his team to the NBA Finals, those years are considered failures.  For those counting at home, Rick Adelman has two NBA Finals appearances: 1990 and 1992.  He won three games in those two years combined.  And that was almost two decades ago.  Jeff Van Gundy has one NBA Finals appearance during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season; they lost four games to one against the San Antonio Spurs led by, that’s right, Gregg Popovich.  As for Brian Shaw: he’s never coached an NBA game.

Mike Brown may not be the perfect coach for the Los Angeles Lakers at this particular time.  But he was the best available option and the Lakers jumped on it.

The reaction has been pretty consistent: “really?”

With names like Rick Adelman, Mike Dunleavy, and Brian Shaw also mentioned for the open position, the news that Mike Brown is now the leading candidate has surprised many this morning despite a track-record that should speak for itself.  After Brown was fired by the Cavaliers last year, I wrote that he will likely be hired again by another team because teams can’t just go out and find championship coaches like they are third-string point guards.

With Phil Jackson’s retirement, there are now TWO active head coaches who have won championships: Gregg Popovich and Doc Rivers.  That’s it.  The coaches that the Lakers are rumored to be discussing have a combined zero championships.

But this is more about Mike Brown than it is about the other options for the Lakers.  Brown has two 60-win seasons under his belt, he’s appeared in the NBA Finals and he has experience coaching one of the biggest superstars in the game today.  This isn’t someone who should move to Los Angeles to take over a team that strives for 60 wins every season and also has one of the biggest superstars in the NBA?

Brown’s final two seasons in Cleveland featured records of 66-16 and 61-21, respectively.  He did this with LeBron James and a supporting cast that was so bad that it forced James to take his talents to South Beach and join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  And how did James do in his first season without Brown?  He went 58-24 and has (so far) reached the Eastern Conference Finals.  Let’s be clear here: LeBron James hasn’t accomplished anything this year that he hasn’t already surpassed.

Yes, the Heat is on the verge of the NBA Finals where they will likely meet the Dallas Mavericks.  But James has already been to the Finals; and so has Mike Brown.

I always find it strange that people will complain about the head coach of their favorite basketball team when they have no definitive choice of who should replace them.  ”I’d take anyone else” is often heard, which is ridiculous because they clearly have no idea who would be better.

If you can find a more accomplished coach than Mike Brown for the Lakers job, so be it.  But I don’t see one that’s available.

Isiah Thomas returning to the New York Knicks????  According to O’Connor, Thomas is “itching” to get back into the Knicks’ front office.  Like a bad itch, Knicks fans simply can’t get away from the man who ruined their favorite team for a decade.

Thomas tells O’Connor that not only does he think the Knicks would have made the playoffs if he hadn’t been fired, but that he can also recruit LeBron James to the Knicks in 2014 when James can opt out of his contract with the Miami Heat.  The best part of it: Isiah thinks he was fired only because of the Anucha Browne Sanders lawsuit, not for turning the Knicks into an embarrassment on the court even before the court battle.

I’ve previously written about the plan for the Knicks to hire Thomas as a consultant, which was thankfully overturned by NBA commissioner David Stern, so I won’t go into that much more.  Instead, I will attack Thomas on a few things he said in O’Connor’s interview:

“When I look at my GM/executive record, if I’m evaluated on that, then whoever’s after Donnie, if you’re not talking about some of the top people in the game, I’ll put my draft evaluation record up against anyone’s.”

Thomas often sites his success drafting players with talent that many evaluators didn’t see.  To his credit, Isiah has found a few diamonds in the rough like Wilson Chandler, David Lee and Trevor Ariza.  Nevermind that Thomas later traded Ariza for Steve Francis because he argues it was Larry Brown who made that deal, as if a coach could make a trade in New York without Isiah signing off on it.  The problem I have with Thomas’ argument is that he may understand talent, but he does not understand the Draft.

It’s a classic move to look back at past Drafts and show who the Knicks could have taken instead of who they did take.  The problem with Thomas’ Draft strategy is that he picks players in the first round who should have barely scratched the second round.  Renaldo Balkman, anyone?  A pre-Draft prediction of late second round to non-drafted, Balkman was selected 20th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft.  The 21st pick?  Yes, the one immediately after Balkman: Rajon Rondo.  An argument could be made that maybe the Knicks weren’t looking for a point guard, right?  Except the Knicks used their next pick, the 29th overall, on Temple point guard Mardy Collins.  Oops.

Enough with the Draft because Thomas traded so many Draft picks in order to…sink the franchise so far in the hole that the NBA League Office had to appoint Donnie Walsh to fix the problems (one example is that Thomas sent two draft picks to Chicago in a sign-and-trade for Eddy Curry, picks that ended up becoming LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah).

The biggest revelation comes to light when Thomas says that he was planning in 2003 to sign LeBron James during the summer of 2010.  Yes, Isiah decided in 2003 that he was going to nab LeBron James in seven years.  As described by O’Connor:

Thomas guessed James would ultimately sign an extension with Cleveland that would keep him with the Cavaliers through 2010, but went about acquiring players he thought would appeal to LeBron, anyway. Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford, for instance.

“They were just all friendly, and they were all on the AAU circuit,” Thomas said.

So Isiah signed Curry and Crawford because they were on the AAU circuit with LeBron James.  Wow.  It has come to light over the past year that Curry and James are friendly off the court, so I guess it’s not crazy to think that signing Curry might help get James.  Looking at how James took his talents to South Beach so that he could play with his friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, maybe it wasn’t a crazy idea.  Except…

“There was a method behind the madness,” Thomas said. He was confident Curry would opt out in 2010 to clear the necessary space for a fellow client of Leon Rose, [by the] name of LeBron James.

Thomas signed Curry to a contract with an opt-out clause for 2010, which he was hoping the latter would exercise so that he would have the necessary cap space to sign James.  In other words, Isiah Thomas signed Eddy Curry to a huge contract because he thought it would help land LeBron James in New York because they are good friends; but that Curry would have to leave the Knicks in order to bring James in.  Excellent plan!  Unfortunately, this was the thinking that led the Knicks to become the laughing stock of the NBA.

Now you must be thinking “hey, it’s not like Isiah can just decide to come back to the Knicks and it happens.”  Except that is exactly what will happen.

Thomas and Knicks’ owner Jim Dolan remain best friends (or at least the latter idolizes the former to the point that he is willing to let him do whatever he wants).  If Thomas wants to return to the Knicks, Dolan will make it happen.  And when it does, it will absolutely CRUSH the Knicks’ fan base.  This passionate group of supporters for New York’s only basketball team (for now) has been through too much and finally sees a brighter future with Mike D’Antoni, Amar’e Stoudemire, et al.  We have moved passed Isiah Thomas.  With the consulting gig terminated by David Stern, we thought we finally had the right protection to be proud to love this team again.  And now, Isiah creeps back in.

Every move the Knicks make from now until 2014 will have Isiah-stink on it.  If Mike D’Antoni isn’t brought back after his contract expires, expect Isiah to pick the next coach because, well, he’ll be back as President and General Manager at some point, so why not grab the coach of his choice to warm his seat until he returns?

Who knew that after a 120-112 drubbing by the Knicks in Chicago that we’d all feel horrible today…

As I was writing this post, Howard Beck from The New York Times posted the following thoughts on Twitter:

Click on the picture to get a clearer view.

However, have you ever noticed that we don’t get this same feeling from fantasy sports.  People argue that fantasy sports make you a better fan because you are well informed about more players than just the team you root for (if you even root for a team).  Whether that’s true or not is another discussion, but we really have no idea which players are winners in fantasy sports.

Can Derek Jeter lead you to a fantasy baseball championship?  Can Tom Brady or Kobe Bryant?  Who knows?  While I don’t have access to the Yahoo! Fantasy Sports or ESPN.com Fantasy statistics, I’d love to see an article about whether there are certain players that always wind up on championship fantasy teams.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out that while he can’t help his team win on the court, Zach Randolph has actually been on more winning fantasy basketball teams than any other player in the NBA?  I’m not saying you’d go out and draft Randolph ahead of Dwight Howard, but it’s something to think about.

So, if there is anyone from Yahoo! or ESPN.com reading this, please pass along my idea and hopefully someone will take charge and write about it.

2000-2001: Coached by Jeff Van Gundy, the Knicks finished third in the Atlantic Division with a 48-34 record thanks to the best defense in basketball (ranking first in opponents points per game at 86.1) but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Toronto Raptors three games to two.  The Knicks opened that season with a loss on Halloween, a 101-72 drubbing by the Philadelphia 76ers.  The starting five for that game was Marcus Camby, Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward.  Throughout the season, the Knicks used 19 different starting lineups, with the previously mentioned one used 23 times, followed by a Camby, Johnson, Houston, Sprewell and Mark Jackson combination 11 times and a Camby, Johnson, Sprewell, Houston and Glen Rice combination 10 times.

2001-2002: The coaching carousel begins now.  After leading the Knicks to a 10-9 record, Jeff Van Gundy was replaced as head coach by Don Chaney, who guided the Knicks the rest of the way to a 20-43 record under his watch, finishing the season at 30-52 overall.  The Knicks opening night starting five was Felton Spencer, Kurt Thomas, Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston and Mark Jackson.  However, that combination was only seen seven other times during the season, with the most popular combinations being Clarence Weatherspoon, Kurt Thomas, Sprewell, Houston and Jackson (34 times) and Marcus Camby, Thomas, Sprewell, Houston and Jackson 29.  Yes, Clarence Weatherspoon.

2002-2003: Despite the dismal season the year before, Don Chaney returned as head coach and led the Knicks to a 37-45 record overall, good for fifth in the Atlantic Division.  The opening night lineup didn’t exactly scream excitement, with Kurt Thomas, Othella Harrington, Shandon Anderson, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward leading the Knicks’ in an 86-77 loss to the Detroit Pistons.  Amazingly, that lineup was only used twice throughout the entire season, with the combination of Thomas, Harrington, Sprewell, Houston and Howard Eisley being used 61 times.  Yes, Othella Harrington and Howard Eisley in the same starting lineup…for 61 games…in an 82 game season.

2003-2004: Chaney’s time in New York didn’t last through this season, as he was replaced after starting 15-24.  Replaced by Herb Williams for one game (a Knicks victory), Lenny Wilkins was then brought in and led the Knicks to a 23-19 record under his watch.  While the 39-43 overall record wasn’t enough to grab a playoff spot, there appeared to be a little more excitement under Wilkins, then the winningest coach in NBA history.  The Knicks’ opening night roster even seemed ready for a playoff push, with Dikembe Mutombo, Kurt Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward (Van Horn had 29 points and eight rebounds in the 85-83 opening night loss to Orlando in overtime).  However, none of those names were what made Knicks’ fans think this was the year.  That name belonged to Stephon Marbury, acquired in a trade from the Phoenix Suns.  Marbury immediately moved into the starting lineup and into the savior role for Knicks fans.  Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way.  The Knicks used 23 different starting lineups, with the two most popular being Nazr Mohammed, Kurt Thomas, Tim Thomas, Shandon Anderson and Marbury (used 12 times) and Mutombo, Thomas, Van Horn, Houston and Marbury (11 times).

2004-2005: With Lenny Wilkins back and Marbury for the whole season, this was the year.  Except, as always, it wasn’t.  Wilkins lasted only 39 games, going 17-22 and Herb Williams moved over a seat to take on the head coaching duties, going 16-27, making the Knicks 33-49 overall (Warning: this is not the worst it gets).  The opening night lineup definitely had some firepower with Nazr Mohammed, Kurt Thomas, Tim Thomas, Jamal Crawford and Stephon Marbury.  In fact, it was the most popular starting lineup that season, with the second being those five but replacing Mohammed with Mike Sweetney (yikes).  Knicks’ rookie Trevor Ariza even made 12 starts that year.  Another name that cracked the starting lineup a few times: Malik Rose.  I’ll leave it at that.

2005-2006: This was the year!  Larry Brown has arrived to save us!  He brought the 76ers to the NBA Finals with Allen Iverson, imagine what he can do with Stephon Marbury!  And who is that big-man under center?  Eddy Curry!  With this inside-outside combination, the Knicks are headed back to the playoffs!  Except absolutely none of it worked.  Literally none of it.  The opening night starting five looks competitive: Curry, Antonio Davis, Quentin Richardson, Matt Barnes and Marbury.  But why look at an opening night starting five when Brown went on to use 42 different lineups throughout the season.  That’s right, 42 total different starting lineups in a season that has 82 games.  The three most popular (which occured 9, 6 and 6 times, respectively) were: Curry, Davis, David Lee, Nate Robinson and Marbury; Curry, Malik Rose, Qyntel Woods, Crawford and Robinson; and Curry, M. Rose, Jalen Rose, Steve Francis and Marbury.  Wow.  The Knicks finished 23-59, ranked 20th in offense and 27th in defense.

2006-2007: After bringing in all of the pieces for (what he thought was) a championship run, Isiah Thomas decided to coach this team himself.  The Knicks began the season with a thrilling 118-117 triple overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies with Eddy Curry, Channing Frye, Quentin Richardson, Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury as the starters.  Richardson had 31 points and nine rebounds, Marbury with 19 points and eight assists, Curry with 17 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, Jamal Crawford finished with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals and David Lee with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  While that starting line up was tied for the most used (11 times) with Curry, Frye, Jared Jeffries, Crawford and Marbury, we also saw Jerome James, Curry, Richardson, Crawford and Marbury ten times.  That’s right, Jerome James and Eddy Curry in the same starting lineup.  Just think about that for a minute.  In fact, I literally can’t write more about this season after picturing those two together.

2007-2008: With Isiah back at the helm, the Knicks matched their record from the 2005-2006 season, going 23-59 overall.  The opening night starters were Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford and Stephon Marbury.  That lineup was used a total of 17 times, tied with the Curry, Randolph, Richardson, Fred Jones and Crawford lineup.  Jones started 26 games that season…now you can begin to know why they won 23 games.  Isiah used 31 different lineups throughout the season, with the only two producing a record above .500 (they were both 1-0): Randolph, David Lee, Richardson, Wilson Chandler, Crawford and Randolph, Lee, Richardson, Jones and Crawford.

2008-2009: A new era in New York!  Isiah Thomas out, Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni in.  The team’s primary goal is to clean up the mess that Isiah left and to get rid of all the ridiculous contracts so that we can sign LeBron James in the summer.  Even better, they told everyone in New York about this plan so that we would stay interested and get excited for when LeBron comes in and saves the franchise and basketball in New York.  Unfortunately, the team told a few too many people and some other franchises figured maybe they could do the same thing…like the Miami Heat.  But this isn’t about LeBron, it’s about the Knicks, who began this season with Zach Randolph, David Lee, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford and Chris Duhon as their starting five (coincidentally, they beat the Miami Heat 120-115 on opening night behind 29 points from Crawford).  However, D’Antoni would only use that starting lineup three more times all season, getting more comfort from the combination of Lee, Jeffries, Chandler, Richardson and Duhon or Lee, Al Harrington, Richardson, Chandler and Duhon.  And how did the season go?  32-50.  For the record, only Chandler is still on the roster from those mentioned above.

2009-2010: So here it is, the last season before we get rid of everyone for LeBron.  Oh right, we didn’t get Lebron after finishing 29-53, although that was good enough for third in the division thanks to the historically bad seasons by the 76ers and the Nets.  Al Harrington, Jared Jeffries, David Lee, Wilson Chandler and Chris Duhon were the opening night’s starting five, which lost to Miami 115-93.  The rotation had a little more stability to it, with Chandler, Duhon, Jeffries, Lee and Danilo Gallinari starting 27 games together and the same combo but with Larry Hughes instead of Jeffries going 14 times.  But despite the small bit of regularity, the Knicks won 29 games for the third time in a decade.  Clearly things have to get better, right?

I know, reading all of that hurt.  It’s been an absurdly putrid decade for Knicks fans.  Not only did we go a combined 327-493 over the course of those years (yes, that is 166 games under .500) with seven different coaches, we also gave away so many assets and draft picks that we’re still paying the price (it literally hurt too much to try to throw those into the yearly summaries above, so I avoided them).  But there is some good news ahead.  I promise.

Only five players are left from that decade of torture: Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas, Eddy Curry, Wilson Chandler and Bill Walker, who was acquired at the trade deadline last season.  While the goal of cleaning house was to get LeBron, which didn’t work, the Knicks were at least able to rid themselves of players who were used to the putrid losing of the decade.  No more Stephon Marbury; no more Steve Francis.  Anfernee Hardaway, Jalen Rose, Malik Rose, Lavor Postell, Michael Doleac, Othella Harrington, Howard Eisley, Frank Williams, Shandon Anderson, Clarence Weatherspoon, Felton Spencer, Mike Sweetney, Moochie Norries, Tim Thomas, Jerome Williams, Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins, Maurice Taylor, Charlie Ward, Chris Duhon, Quentin Richardson, Fred Jones, Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, Qyntel Woods, Antonio Davis, Nazr Mohammed, Larry Hughes, Darko Milicic, they’re all gone.  This is a new era for the Knicks.

Amar’e Stoudemire is obviously the biggest difference.  Stoudemire comes to New York as the best basketball player the city has had since Ewing’s peak years.  While David Lee put up similar statistics in his last seasons with the Knicks, absolutely no one can argue they would rather have Lee than Stoudemire.  They are just kidding themselves if they try.  The stats might look close, but this is what Amar’e brings that Lee could never provide:

Can you quantify making a move that brings 20,000 people to their feet, possibly changing the entire complexion of a quarter and rallying a team behind it? If you can, I would bet Stoudemire far outproduces Lee in that category.  And for Knicks’ fans, the best part of that video is that they are all dunks from last year.  This isn’t getting a washed up former superstar like Anfernee Hardaway or Steve Francis, this guy is in his prime.  He’ll be 28 years old in November and has the chance to be a 30 points per game scorer in Mike D’Antoni’s offense.  Stoudemire’s previous season high is 26.0, which he averaged during the 2004-2005 season (the Knicks were 33-49 that season with three different coaches) and as the primary offense force for the Knicks, 30 appears possible.

Anthony Randolph is also a huge addition for at team that seemed to be offensively minded but not offensively talented.  At 6’11″ and 225 pounds, Randolph has a unique set of skills that should work perfectly in the D’Antoni offense.  He can handle the ball, pass, shoot the three (kind of) and block shots.  When was the last time the Knicks had a player like that?

Ray Felton comes in replace Chris Duhon, a point guard who had a great first half of his first season with the Knicks.  Unfortunately, the next three half-seasons were terrible and the Knicks gladly let him leave in free agency.

Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler return as the young talent, along with Toney Douglas and Bill Walker.  All four have the potential to be 20-point scorers.  Let’s be clear, I am not predicting that each one will average 20 points per game, I am simply saying that on any given night one or two of them could be in the twenties, which should provide a great lift next to Stoudmire and Randolph.

A few other nice pieces have been brought in to do the dirty work: Ronny Turiaf for interior defense and Kelenna Azubuike on the wing.  With the questions regarding Eddy Curry’s health, both physically and mentally, the Knicks brought in Russian center Timofey Mozgov, a 7’1″ raw big man who could be an interesting contributor given that he will not be heavily relied upon thanks to Turiaf’s presence.  In addition, those two men will allow Stoudemire to play his more natural power forward position instead of lining up at center.

With the talent on the Knicks’ roster, we might see at least four different lineups in crunch time:

- Turiaf, Stoudemire, Gallinari, Chandler, Felton
- Randolph, Stoudemire, Gallinari, Chandler, Felton
- Stoudemire, Gallinari, Azubuike, Chandler, Felton
- Randolph, Stoudemire, Azubuike, Gallinari, Felton

I haven’t mentioned Roger Mason, Jr. yet, mostly because I don’t think he’ll end up contributing as much as he has in the past.  He’s a streaky three-point shooter, who should get a fair number of open looks, but overall I think Chandler, Gallinari, Bill Walker and Azubuike will take up the minutes at the two and three.

I don’t think the Knicks can win an NBA Championship this year.  With the talent in Miami, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta and Milwaukee, the Knicks are definitely looking up at the better teams in the Eastern Conference.  However, a playoff spot should be all but guaranteed given the talent on the roster.  Looking at last season’s playoff teams, there are some spots available.  With the loss of LeBron James, it would be shocking if the Cleveland Cavaliers made the postseason.  Toronto finished 9th in the Eastern Conference, but with the losses of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, they won’t be nearly as competitive.  Charlotte looks like a question mark after losing Tyson Chandler and Ray Felton.  Washington should be better, but may not be quite there yet.

What does this all mean?  Simply put: the Knicks are a playoff team this year.

“Isiah Thomas brings unique experience as a Hall of Fame player, coach, executive and owner, and we believe having him as part of our organization will be extremely beneficial to the team’s success,” Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan and team president Donnie Walsh announced jointly in a statement.

Let’s not confuse ourselves here.  Thomas is a Hall of Fame player, yes.  But to mention his front office positions immediately after the “Hall of Fame” phrase is embarrassing to us all.  Under Thomas, the Knicks wasted away with the largest payroll in the NBA while never winning a single playoff game.  And, oh by the way, he cost his employer $11.6 million after being found guilty of sexual harassment in the workplace.  Despite this, he was able to maintain an amazingly close friendship with James Dolan, the man in charge of Madison Square Garden, Inc., which owns the Knicks, not to mention current Knicks’ president Donnie Walsh, who was hired for the sole purpose of undoing everything that Isiah Thomas had done.

While the team has said that Thomas’ role will be as a consultant, it’s very clear that the role will be expanded as soon as Dolan wants it done.  During the LeBron James courtship last month, Dolan sent Thomas to Ohio to try to get in a last word with James to push for the Knicks before he made his decision.  Not only did Thomas not meet with James, but the latter ended up in Miami.

The biggest issue here is that Knicks fans were moving on.  They had endured one of the worst spells in franchise history (literally known as the “Isiah Years”) but the hiring of Walsh and the cleansing of the roster was something that made the future just a little bit brighter; we were removing ourselves from what Thomas had done.  We could look at Amar’e Stoudemire and Ray Felton and Anthony Randolph and say “yes, we’re getting better.  No more Jerome James, Jamal Crawford, Maurice Taylor.  Goodbye to the memories of Steve Francis, Renaldo Balkman, Jared Jeffries and Mardy Collins.  And a big farewell to the Stephon Marbury days.”  Because we had moved on from the Isiah Thomas era, we could joke about it.  ”Remember how awful Jerome James was and how much we paid him to just sit there and do nothing?  How about the fact that Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph could never play together and yet we had both…which was almost as bad as putting Francis and Marbury together!”  Now, we’re the joke.

Thomas has always been given credit for his ability to evaluate talent.  He knows it when we sees it.  He’s given credit for drafting Damon Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady and Danilo Gallinari (he was apparently sent to Italy to scout the latter for Donnie Walsh).  But let’s not forget his amazing misses such as with Jeffries, Jerome James, Balkman and Collins.  And while he is given credit for drafting Wilson Chandler, who has surprised quite a few people with his basketball skills, we seem to overlook the fact that Thomas used a first round pick, #23 overall, for a player who many believed would not even scratch the second round.  Who was drafted after Chandler?  How about Rudy Fernandez (24), Aaron Brooks (26), Aaron Afflalo (27), Tiago Splitter (28), Carl Landry (31), Glen Big Baby Davis (35), and Marc Gasol (48)?

You know what makes this worse?  Looking at the 2006 NBA Draft when the Knicks got Balkman and Collins.  Here is how this one broke down:

20. Renaldo Balkman
21. Rajon Rondo
22. Marcus Williams
23. Josh Boone
24. Kyle Lowry
25. Shannon Brown
26. Jordan Farmar
27. Sergio Rodriguez
28. Maurice Ager
29. Mardy Collins

and moving on…

42. Daniel Gibson
47. Paul Millsap
49. Leon Powe

So while we give credit to Thomas being able to find talent, he is equally as bad at figuring out when to Draft these players.  It literally hurts too much to start dropping salary figures for the free agents he overspent on, so I will simply leave their names previously mentioned and finish up.

Knicks fans were moving on.  We had something to look forward to with this year’s crop of new players.  Though we didn’t land LeBron James, we got better.  We got the sense that the playoffs weren’t that far off.  No, we don’t have a championship contender, but making the playoffs at this point is a clear sign that we were moving on…and up.  But with the hiring of Isiah Thomas, we will now constantly have the thought in the back of our minds that we could be saddled with the next Eddy Curry or Jerome James or Jared Jeffries at any second.  No matter who it is, if the Knicks bring in any other player we’re going to start thinking “was this Isiah’s idea?”  And that’s not good for fans.

Five different people emailed me or texted me within 20 minutes of the news coming out that Isiah was being rehired by the Knicks.  My immediate response was that it was “a slap in the face to Knicks fans.”  A day later, I realize it’s actually worse than that.  The Knicks, or maybe it’s just Dolan, proved that they still have absolutely no idea what Isiah Thomas did to the very people who support the organization…the people who grew up watching Earl Monroe or Clyde Frazier or Bernard King or Patrick Ewing.  They don’t care what we think or how we feel.  As long as we keep buying tickets and hats and t-shirts and jerseys, they are going to do whatever they want to do.  And if that means hiring back Isiah Thomas, so be it.

The message to the fans: F@#% YOU! – (slap)

So, when do the Nets move to Brooklyn?

“It was here where I first learned how to play basketball, and where I met the people who would become my lifelong friends and mentors. Their guidance, encouragement and support will always be with me.  Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It’s where I started, and it’s where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me. Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me.”

Wait, doesn’t he mean to thank the city of Cleveland?  No, no he doesn’t.  Unlike fellow Cavalier-turned-Heat Zydrunas Ilgauskus who thanked Cleveland for its support over the years, LeBron decided that he was only thankful for his hometown of Akron, which I have previously pointed out is not exactly next door to Cleveland.

The LeBron James saga has been a messy affair ever since he chose to take his talents to South Beach and many people have been put off by how oblivious he has been to the reaction in Cleveland.  During the hour-long special “The Decision” on ESPN where James made it public that he would sign with the Miami Heat, the former St. Vincent-St. Mary’s star noted that he believed the “true fans” would continue to support him even though he was leaving the Cavaliers.  The instant reaction to his statement was pure shock that he would be so self-absorbed that he would think that Cavaliers fans who have been crushed by his departure would continue to support him.  But the instant reaction was misunderstood.

James wasn’t referring to “true fans” of the Cavaliers.  He was referring to the “true fans” of LeBron James.  And who exactly are those people?  They are the lifelong friends and mentors from Akron who he was thanking in his full-age ad today.

At the beginning of this week, the term “done deal” was used when discussing James and Chris Bosh heading to the Chicago Bulls.  However, the very next day, we were told that it was a “done deal” that James and Bosh would be joining Wade in Miami.  The New York Knicks are out of the LeBron Sweepstakes, until of course they are back in it because James hasn’t made a decision yet.  The New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers are also vying for these superstars and the Boston Celtics are now faced with their own dilemma as Paul Pierce officially opted out of his own contract to join the free agency party.

As a Knicks fan, I am much more concerned with what my hometown team will be able to accomplish over the next two months.  They have done nothing to hide the fact that LeBron James is their #1 target, the top priority for the organization since Isiah Thomas was let go and Donnie Walsh was brought in to right the ship.  While they are certainly interested in also bringing in Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire, they are only doing so because James has stated that he would like to play with either one of them.  Wade and Johnson would be good also, as would Dirk Nowitzki, but James is the goal.  The organization has literally been dedicated to bringing James to New York for three years and tomorrow marks the beginning of the legal wooing process.

The cornerstone of the Knicks’ plan for LeBron revolves around the city of New York, the most populated city in the United States and therefore the largest media market.  It is considered to be the center of the financial universe and is arguably the most advanced culinary center in America.  Its main arena, Madison Square Garden, is affectionately referred to as “the World’s Most Famous Arena,”  and one of the City’s baseball teams is the most successful than any other organization in professional sports.  New York is arguably the fashion capital of the world and also is home to Madison Avenue, the center of the advertising world.

It is the latter point that has been frequently used as the reason why LeBron James should sign with the New York Knicks or the New Jersey Nets, who will be moving to Brooklyn sometime in the relatively-near future.  James is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world and his brand is well known in many different circles.  He has endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and State Farm, to name a few and there are a number of reporters and columnists who believe that James’ portfolio of endorsements will grow if he moves to New York.  This, unfortunately, doesn’t matter.  James doesn’t become more valuable to Fortune 500 companies because he lives in New York.  LeBron can sell a Big Mac as easily in Cleveland as he can in New York.  The same goes for Vitamin Water and insurance.  Getting more of these deals is not the point.

James has said repeatedly that he wants to be a $1 billion athlete.  The only two who have achieved that feat are Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods…and neither of them did it strictly with basic endorsements.  Woods has built golf courses around the world and Jordan made tons of money through his Jumpman line with Nike.  It’s important to not confuse Jordan’s arrangement with Nike and LeBron’s.  Jordan has an ownership stake in the Jumpman line, which endorses its own set of athletes like Derek Jeter and Carmelo Anthony.  LeBron does not have this; he has his own line, but he’s the only one on the label, so earning $1 billion from Nike won’t happen.

So if getting more endorsement deals is the point, coming to New York is not going to be enough to bring James to the Knicks.  But if earning $1 billion is the point, New York is the only place to go.

Playing in New York will give James access to capital that he would not have in any other place in the country.  With private equity titans strewn throughout the tri-state area with cash to invest alongside possibly the biggest athlete in the City’s history, James will be able to make partnerships in New York that will diversify his investment portfolio so that he can become that billion dollar athlete.  Instead of a billboard showing James eating a new McWhatever Sandwich, he can open up his own restaurant.  Ever heard of Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse?  Well, LeBron can have one too in New York and if it’s popular, he can open more in Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, and Atlantic City.  How does “Akron Meats” sound to you?

Keeping with the food service industry, how about his own high-end sports bar like Jay-Z’s 40/40 club?  The club has been such a success for Jay-Z that locations have been opened in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Tokyo and Macau, in addition to New York.  LeBron can do the same, but he must start in New York.  He may be able to open a bar in Cleveland, but it would never be able to succeed enough for it to grow to China…never.

What else can James start in New York that will grow internationally if it succeeded?  How about his own sneaker store?  Even if it’s packed with Nikes, New York is the home to a myriad of niche sneaker stores that can significantly add to LeBron’s bottom line.  Even if it stays in New York, he will earn so much more there than in Cleveland or Miami or Chicago.

Want to start a new magazine?  New York is the place where Conde Nast and Time Inc. call the Big Apple their headquarters.  Sure, they could theoretically go with an idea from James if he called from Cleveland, but his request is greeted with much more interest when asked in a Knicks jersey.

How about his own record company?  How many musicians do you know that have started an empire from Cleveland?  And from New York?  That’s what I thought.

The opportunities are there for LeBron James in New York.  But they aren’t on Madison Avenue.  They are everywhere else.