Monday, February 22, 2010

The Chicago Bulls' Failure with the NBA Free Agents of 2000 and a Lesson For the Knicks

 While the basketball media-at-large, save Peter Vescey continue to shower love on Teflon Donnie Walsh, it's hard to find an actual fan endorsing the direction of the Knicks. Lost in the hullaballoo of the $-shedding move for the whisper of T-Mac. (His legs are fine! Where have we heard this before?) was the forfeiture of more draft picks. As the imperious and ever-on-his game Vescey points out in Sunday's Post, the team the Knicks lost to on Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder, were built, in less time than the Knick "rebuilding" plan has taken, through the draft. Durant was a no-brainer, but Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Jeff Green weren't.

Of course, everyone rationalizes, all will be forgiven if the Knicks end up with LeG.O.D.D. and Chris Bosh this summer (but what if it's Amare and T-Mac?). Well, let the past play prologue. In the summer of 2000, Tim "Big Funda" Duncan, Tracy "The fact that I was sought after in the year 2000 should be most ominious" McGrady, Grant "Oh Shit, Fila?" Hill, and Eddie "Butter" Jones were all free agents. The Chicago Bulls had cleared enough payroll to sign two of those ballers to 'instantly' rebuild in the wake of the Jordan/Pippen era.


They ended up with Ron Mercer.