Leading up to this afternoon's NBA trade deadline, the Knicks, just three games out of the playoffs, were in desperate need of another scoring guard and a defensive presence at center. In rapid succession, Walsh addressed both deficiencies. He first jettisoned the expendable talents-- and contracts-- of Tim Thomas, Jerome "Big Snacks" James and Anthony Roberson to Chicago for Larry Hughes, a proficient scorer who talked his way out of Chicago and, before that, Cleveland, but could very well revitalize his career under Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun system.
Walsh then sent seldom-used Malik Rose--and his expiring contract, a valuable commodity in this economy--and some cash to Oklahoma City for Chris Wilcox, a 6-10 center/power forward who can bang down low with the big boys and put up some points in the paint, to boot. (Wilcox was previously part of the trade that would have brought Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma City if Chandler hadn't failed his physical; the trade fell apart yesterday afternoon).
Like Rose, Wilcox will be a free agent at the end of the season, while Hughes is on the books through next year. Neither contract interferes with Walsh's master plan of going after LeBron James and the other big-name unrestricted free agents, like Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, among others, in 2010.
In the meantime, the Knicks are poised, for the first time since 2004, to make a serious run at the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Admittedly, bringing in Hughes is risky, to say the least, but I do think he's going to thrive under D'Antoni and playing off Chris Duhon. Even Bethlehem Shoals is intrigued. Hughes is also a pretty good on-the-ball defender, which should help keep opposing guards from driving unmolested into the paint. If they get by him, at least we now have a player in Wilcox who can do something about it.
And with Thomas gone, D'Antoni can now give more burn to Danilo Gallinari, who has impressed in spots this season, and let David Lee play more minutes at power forward instead of playing out of position at center. Further, by getting rid of Thomas, James and Roberson, Walsh opened up two roster spots, which means he could theoretically bring in two more players, like the recently released Quincy Douby and Patrick Ewing, Jr., which would make at least this fan happy.
Another good day at the office, I'd say, for Donnie Walsh, the man who will be forever remembered around these parts for ridding the Knickerbockers of Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford and Jerome James in the same season, delousing the Garden once and for all of the stench Isiah left in his wake.
