You know, if we had succeeded in getting Donovan would be a helluva time to make that play
Dawg, I respect your acumen, vis a vis, evaluating talent.
But I remain baffled as to why Knicks fans were cuckoo for cocoa puffs regarding Donovan Mitchell.
And why not including R.J. Barrett and other pups plus draft assets in an Ainge Shakedown should still be regarded as a WHIFF. A genuine talent, in any event, but...seriously? A good facilitator and drop dead scorer, but a high volume one at that. And as far as facilitating, did we get Brunson to take the ball out of his hands?
DON'T BE GREEDY, Knicks fans.
On FACEBOOK and other internet forums, there remains this thread of thought in which the Knicks WHIFFING ON A SUPERSTAR seals our doom.
WHAT superstars, exactly?
The current SUPERSTAR we are WHIFFING ON, is purportedly, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a 6'6" PG/SG, whom OKC reeled in as part of the Paul George haul, which included Shai, Gallinari and, five [FIVE] #1 picks.
I mean, why exactly would OKC offload a player capable of 24-5-6 a night?
Utah was looking to retool for the future. Shai
is OKC's future, and just only turned 24.
The championship Knicks of the 60s-70s nurtured their puppies...lost Van Arsdale to Phoenix in the expansion draft, but otherwise, Reed, Russell, Bradley, Stallworth, Riordan, Frazier, Jackson. The Detroit trade was a blockbuster, as Komives as our startting PG, and Bellamy the starting center and a future hall of famer.
But Reed slid over to center, Debusschere in turn took Reed's PF spot, Frazier took over for Komives at the point, Bradley found his true niche in shifting from SG to SF, and Cazzie became a sixth man, while Stallworth, Riordan and Jackson blossomed as bench players and veteran Dick Barnett filled out the starting five.
Trade did not seriously impact our depth, as a Mitchell Trade would've. A true addition by subtraction move, that opened space for our pups to step in, step up and step out. Did not eviscerate our depth, and double clutched chemistry.
I DO NOT see a parallel between what Ainge was looking for as a return with the DeBusschere trade, as the Knicks did not gut their team team to get Dave DeB, though Bellamy was not chopped liver.
Eventually, Riordan and Stallworth were the cost of Earl Monroe, a pretty bold move, and a young Cazzie the price for the insurance of an elderly Jerry Lucas given the nature of Reed's knees, and led to two finals appearances, and one championship. To me, the Brunson free agent signing has already had a ripple effect on the play of Barrett, Randle and Robinson, while the competition between Fournier, Grimes and Reddish bodes well for the evolution of our starting five.
I recognize that I am in a small, if vocal minority, in preferring to go forward with R.J. in lieu of D.M., never you mind potentially losing Obi and Quick as well.
In any event...
LET THE GAMES BEGIN