I want Mills to succeed. Delaying the pruning of this roster will kill his chances of holding the job. When you got nothing you got nothing to lose by taking some bold steps.
Also well said -thoug bold steps arent what you take when you want to follow through with your initial plan.
I dont think they will tear this down. I think they will take the pieces they drafted - keep what they like from the guys they signed - and see if a run is possible with Mike Miller.
I think even winning 30 games and falling short of the eight slot - in Mills/Perry's eyes - is a win. And yeah, I know - for draft purposes - its not so much.
ut if you think of the term "build", 17 to 30 falls in there. 17 to 17 is a) not progress and b) demoralizing to those coming back
Actually I was riffing on an interview with the CEO of Disney that was aired a few days ago. One of the things his wife told him when he got the job was that the average term of most CEOs was very short. With that in mind, Eisner decided to take chances, bought Pixar, and partnered with Steve Jobs, and so on.
I've never suggested they "tear it down". To the contrary, pruning hard simply recognizes that the summer signing spree was an exercise in taking a shotgun blast approach to identifying keepers. It remains a thoughtful and intriguing risk.
In essence, the FO wanted to identify a keeper or two from the pack (IMO, Payton and Morris) and make available the rest to interested contenders for a premium. The premium may not get realized in all cases but the concept is sound. The Darko trade enabled the Knicks to fortify their roster with sensible contracts and insulate themselves from crippling injury. Again, the fact that the losses don't reflect that insight is unfortunate.
I hate to sound repetitious but two players who need to be promoted are Allen and Wooten. The reason is the defensive intensity they add to the third string. Ideally, Wooten takes Randall's spot and Allen supplants DSJ. This is not a tear down. It reinforces the rebuild with an emphasis on defense something Miller knows how to deploy.
Given the disappointment of this start, I've reconsidered the value of tanking. It makes little sense at face value. There's a lot more luck involved AND yet another year of not learning how to win. Instead of imagining a bright and shiny lottery star let's imagine another year just like this NEXT YEAR.
No, I think we need to start winning. There's no logical reason not to. We will have draft picks coming out of our ears in the next few years - more youth is not the problem. Winning is.
And Free Agency is an eternal magical wishing exercise. Let's trade for a useful player or two who are pros.
Hahn has floated a reconsideration of trading for CP3. If its Randall, DSJ, and say Portis or Ellington for CP3 and a future pick or two - what's not to like? In that case, Payton becomes movable. Go out and identify a decent young forward or two. Make it interesting.
Miller can't fix the same team that has just 4 wins. He needs some help with a tweaking of the roster. Mills and Perry are on the right path. Mills can expose a much better team and record with some help.
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