I have this wild and complicated scenario that, aside from obvious collusion, could be a plausible solution to the Mike D'Antoni situation.
Warning: This is pure speculation. But since everyone else is doing it -- and not being held accountable for it (i.e.: there was no "staggering offer" made by the Knicks and there was no meeting today between Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni's agent, Warren LeGarie, as was reported elsewhere) -- let us grab a handful of goo and throw it at the wall. If it sticks, we'll take all the credit.
If it doesn't, we'll just pretend we never said anything.
The scenario involves the Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors. Now, Fixers, stay with me here.
The Suns have refused to give D’Antoni permission to speak with the Raptors, for whom former Suns executive Bryan Colangelo is the general manager. Suns managing partner Robert Sarver doesn't want to see Colangelo reunite with his buddy Mike D.
But that doesn't necessarily mean D'Antoni can't wind up in Toronto. D’Antoni could quit if he had assurances via backchannels (i.e. his buddy) that Toronto would give him the job.
But Colangelo would first have to get Donnie Walsh to give assurances that he would hire Sam Mitchell, a Walsh favorite, who then would have to quit in Toronto before D’Antoni was hired.
Round and round she goes....
In this scenario the Suns get out of paying D’Antoni the $8.5 million left on his contract and the Raptors get out of paying Mitchell the final three years of the extension he was given last summer.
And the Knicks get an experienced candidate who fits more of the mold Walsh is looking to set for the franchise.
Or, of course, Walsh could just give D'Antoni a boatload of money. Or give the job to Mark Jackson and put an end to all of this.
For those who are wondering about Avery Johnson, I heard today that he might just take the $11 mil coming to him from Dallas and sit out a while until the best opportunity opens for him. It suggests even he believes New York is not a good fit for him.
Stay tuned....
Comments (38)
"We suck again."
-Rob Schneider (Waterboy)
maybe walsh is waiting on tom thibodeau.
I'd be satisfied with Kenny Smith as GM and Mark Jackson as coach.
Also, certain coaches may want to see where the knicks pick in the lottery before signing up to coach Isiah's mess of a team.
Dantoni isn't coming here. Once his agent stops playing games he'll end up with the bulls.
Avery Johnson isn't coming here. He can't handle New York.
Sam Mitchell isn't coming here. He isn't a better candidate than Mark jackson.
Thibodeau MIGHT come here. He defines east coast basketball, and would bring a defende first philosophy back to the garden. If he doesnt want to go from 66 wins to 23 wins, Jackson gets the job.
It's all logical; the question is would David Stern allow all of the team's and agents to negotiate it. It seems to me that while Phoenix may not want Mike D to reunite in Toronto with Bryan C, they have very little negotiating leverage as the bridge with Mike D has been burned and there is no chance they could choose to bring him back at this point. Assuming he is not the Knicks top choice and that Atlanta keeps Woodson (no sure thing), Phoenix would otherwise need to eat the remaining $8.5mm on his contract unless the Bulls are in a rush to sign him. From a monetary viewpoint, D'Antoni would be better off getting fired and trying to double dip like Skiles did (buyout from the Bulls and new contract from the Bucks). If he really wants to get to Toronto, the Raptors are the ones in the awkward position as they are the ones that may need to initate the 3-way conversation. If they initiate the call with the Knicks to ensure the Knicks will sign Mitchell (and at contract terms at least as good as he already has) and the media learns about it, the Raptors are hosed with Mitchell if the Knicks don't choose to sign him.
This is a very tricky and awkward situation, but if the Knicks prefer Mitchell and the Raptors prefer D'Antoni (and he is not the Bulls top choice), the deal makes sense but is quite complicated. I do like it for the Knicks.
nba teams should start doing coaching trades
Why is D'Antoni a good fit? We have a bunch of guys that don't know how to play defense, can't hit the three, no true point guard, and a starting center that is too fat to face up the basket. What the heck? We need a coach that's going to run a tight ship and teach these guys to play defense. Not D'Antoni.
help!
please get Peaceman's ax and knife off my back!
ouch
watch ur backs when Peacewoman is around
I don't understand why Walsh does not hire the best GM asap. Who will be making the roster decisions? The GM?
Kenny Smith is an illiterate moron. What business experience does he have? What was his college major? What has he ever managed? How he is a candidate for a pro job dealing with huge salaries is unfathomable. Get Knight or King or some MBA big business genius ex-jock.
As for a coach, D'Antoni and Knicks defensive tradition don't mix. Back up da truck for JVG.
DTR
even on Hahn's site, Peacewoman's mental stupidity is coming into question. makes you wonder how he feeds his 14 children and how he has money leftover for his parole officers
im gonna have to agree with pete on this one.
get this d'antoni business out of here. i hate hearing that we're even entertaining this guy. he's like far from what we need and the complete opposite of where we should go. on top of all this, hes not a disciplinarian at all....get thibodeau in here who i hear watches game film non stop and actually cares about defense.
let d'antoni go to the punk ass bulls. i'm so sick of hearing his name.
Seems the second-rate hockey writer is censoring posts. Interesting. And hypocritical.
Meanwhile, Peaceman, stop trying to write. Like me. Or even like you. For, as it is with another lame scribe, you lack the ability. Try something that's more your speed. Something real, well, simple.
No to Mitchell. I hope Walsh isn't that stupid.
wasn't Thibodeau a former assistant to Van Gundy/Riley?
Is Greg Anthony available? He's a really smart guy and could do a good job with the Knicks too.
Don't know how Ewing would do...
wasn't Thibodeau a former assistant to Van Gundy/Riley?
Is Greg Anthony available? He's a really smart guy and could do a good job with the Knicks too.
Don't know how Ewing would do...
Peacewoman was hated at KnicksDefense, KnickKnation, and Berman's blogs
read the transcripts there and see for yourselves.
also read how he badmouthed and butchered his respected brethren Trane and even Alan Hahn
peace is a phony
watch ur backs!
yuck to the sam mitchell idea. toronto, a team loaded with talent, never developed an identity (ohter than inconsistent) under his stewardship.
if it's d'antoni, well, you could do a lot worse.
in hindsight, jackson makes little sense, he has zero experience.
thibadeau's the guy.
yuck to the sam mitchell idea. toronto, a team loaded with talent, never developed an identity (ohter than inconsistent) under his stewardship.
if it's d'antoni, well, you could do a lot worse.
in hindsight, jackson makes little sense, he has zero experience.
thibadeau's the guy.
I'm not sure I understand all the discussion about who is the best candidate for the Knicks coaching job. You have a candidate who's never coached anywhere, you have a possible candidate who has only been an assistant coach for bad teams until Kevin Garnett came along, you have a head coach who has won 60 games in the NBA on two occasions, and you have a head coach who couldn't handle the bright light of Dallas.
Now, who would you choose?
And this argument about what coach fits the Knicks roster is crazy, Within 24 months, 80% of that roster will be gone.
D'Antoni is by far the best choice.
Wow! Lady PEACEMAN getting killed and exposed here too.
Peaceman is a certified idiot.
Everyone knows that. Guilty as charged.
On to b.ball…..
It’s amazing how TVAnalysts that were ex-players become Coaches/GMs (or at least candidates.). True, some of them are natural leaders and are truly knowledgeable. But most, other than being visible on TV, have nothing to offer.
Guys like Quinn Buckner, Legler, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith, Steve Kerr….. these are/were armchair quarterbacks who looked & sounded intelligent with the benefit of hindsight, with the aid of rehearsals, replays, and what have you. Including JVG, most of their predictions are dead wrong. Heck, you got to be real stupid not to look good giving hindsight viewpoints.
I reiterate:
- D’Antoni is not the right guy to coach & clean up Isiah’s mess;
- No D, that’s the obvious one. He’s heard that the last 4 years but have not modified his approach;
- cannot strategize properly to protect a 3 point lead with seconds to go in the game;
- does not make any adjustments or countermoves in the playoffs. If he does, it’s too late and it’s because it’s so damn obvious that he had too.)
T. Thibodeau is the best candidate out there.
Big MAK
Mak,
Back to the boat! I've just sent Alan the new Anti-Troll
software from Troll Kill! Bye Bye! LOL
Still makes no sense to me why you would want D'Antoni or Jackson instead of Carlisle. A. Johnson I can understand b/c he won in Dallas and they played D before J. Kidd. D'Antoni is a good coach but his style is not fit for the Knicks or the East. Carlisle should have been our guy despite his history with Walsh.
Lady PEACEMAN,
Ever wonder why you're getting slammed by a lot of people in many sites? Got to look in the mirror BOY. Everyone's on to you. Apparently not just me.
Don't worry BOY, you can carry my luggage the next time the family goes boating. And remember BOY, I like cream & sugar with my cafe. Now say good morning to your Master Drossman
ESPN's Ric Bucher just reported D'Antoni is leaning towards the Knicks...
This is usually a good blog with good solid comments but I don't like the racial innuendos I'm seeing in the comments recently. Think I am going to tune out for a little while until the draft before I say something I'll regret . . . Been fun.
hey all, the reason why alan's blogs are BY FAR the only worth reading is because not only does he offer great insight, but teh people who read his blog usually do the same. there are a lot of people in the blogs in the past few weeks spending a lot of time on a lot of nonsense (like all this peaceman and peacewoman idiocy). hey guys, can we stick with insightful basketball please. that's why people come here. people don't come here to listen to grown adults act like 5 year old kids throwing insults in the schoolyard. seriously. grow up or get lost.
as for hoops, it seems like i am the only one who's in favor of d'antoni and i'll tell you why...
first of all d'antoni basketball is entertaining; and if we're not going to win i'd like to be entertained for my $125 a game tickets, thank you very much.
second, i don;t buy this "his style won't work in the east" stuff. the last i checked the west has been far superior to the east since MJ left the bulls. so something tells me they're doing something right.
and finally, i will agree with all of you when i say that you're right about us not having the right roster. but rosters change and walsh is a master of that. if d'antoni comes, i'm sure it's with teh understanding that walsh is going to pull the trigger on quite a few moves. further, i'd say that we have about half a roster that would thrive with d'antoni... i could picture any one of the following guys thriving in phoenix during the heyday: balkman, chandler, crawford, lee, nate and to a lesser extent even fred jones. i mean, for real, can't you picture nate flying up and down the court with these guys? d'antoni would be the best coach for nate, that's for sure. so if eddy curry shows up fat and can';t keep up he doesn;t have to play. same for zach. and as far as marbury goes, i'd buy him out anyway... no one needs a drama queen.
i say let's go for d'antoni and let's see some entertaining hoops for a change. we're not not challenging for a championship andytime soon, so let's at least have some fun, great basketball... don;t tell me you wouldn;t have rather been in the suns situation the last few years than ours.
To all the posters who have intelligent things to say,
I will skip pass the trolls atempt to turn this blog into Berman's
3rd grade exchange of insults! A lot of good hoop knowledge here
and Alan suggests to ignore the Trolls! Which I will respectfully do!
Any responds to them keeps them alive! DFTT!
This is what happens when you don't feed Trolls
Wow – what a great thread to jump into (the previous one) when I’ve slept 90 minutes since wednesday, and very little for weeks. I won’t lie. There have been way too many Troll sightings for my liking. And I told Alan it was time to enforce the ban again. But that’s not what’s been keeping me away. Let’s not give the Troll too much credit. It’s been one of the most intense work periods of my life. Just finished. Now I’m drunk with no sleep.
And, for the record, I never can’t defend myself. I didn’t miss anything on KD. It’s the Troll who missed my rebuttal on KD. He can’t even get this story right. As Peace knows, I don’t run from a fight, or a troll.
@knicks4: You’re right, but don’t let it chase you. It happens on these sites. You did the right thing: Speak up.
Also for the record: I love the Suns (and thought they might have been one hip-check away from a championship last year). But I, too, think D’Antoni is the wrong kind of coach. It won’t happen, but the coach we need is JVG. We need discipline and defense. And that’s what JVG is all about. I’m surprised Alan is so keen on Mark Jackson, only because I’m not sure what he’s so keen on. How do we really know what kind of coach he’d be? And it’s not about whether he played defense. He was too slow, especially his lateral movement. But that doesn’t mean he can’t teach it. He just couldn’t do it. Phil Jackson couldn’t do 90% of what Michael could do (or Shaq or Kobe), but he coached them well. What scares me about Mark Jackson is that I just don’t know. I like giving someone a chance. I like fresh blood. But I also like guys who pay their dues. (Oh, and whether it’s true or not, I like Alan’s Toronto/NY/PHX scenario. If it were Isiah, he’s be offering lottery picks.)
mike - good call on the recent blog comments. i come to this one because i think Alan gives the best and most fair and balanced insight, and the comments are usually interesting and well-thought. let's try to keep it that way.
I struggle with D'Antoni, because I think the Suns success had more to do with Nash and Stoudemire than with their coach. He might be able to get some young fast guys that the Knicks might keep and aquire to play in a system that works, but there's going to be a real limit to it. I'd be more in favor of a defensive-oriented coach.
Defense is more important factor than a flashy offense, especially when building a team basically from scratch. Instill that mindset early. Establish a culture of defense.
Look at the Celts. They're making Lebron look about as effective as Jerome James out there. And if they could keep that up, and play the same brand of ball against the Magic/Pistons and Kobe, they'll be champs.
@ Mike
I'm with you on D'antoni. My exact sediment on Marbury too!
Balkman and Lee would thrive with his upstyle tempo! We would need another three point threat besides Nate and Crawford!
That's why I suggest that we trade down for two lower picks
if we don't Land Rose! How about Brandon Rush(three point range) and Joey Dorsey? They could run all day!!!!!
here we go
dantoni style is fun i would be nice but remember defense makes u the champs we don't wonna be chumps..
jackson all the way
dantoni would make the knicks fun to watch but at the end itz gonna be dammmm...
give jax a 2 year deal see what he can do i think he can reach marbury being from bk..
so no to dantoni...unless tom is his assistant.
beasley all the way....
stay tuned for more KnowLedge
@ Trane
Thanks for setting the record straight! You've always gave back as good as you've recieved in any exchange with our disagreement on the Knicks! We also have two common Goals that never wavier.........we love the Knicks and we want a Troll
Funeral!
Alan, please have a Funeral for the Troll?
@ Matt b
The Celtics barely won game one against the Cav's in Boston
with Lebron playng terrible! Ben Wallace did not play in game 2!
I'm sure Lebron will break out of his slump at Home and this
series will be tied when they return to Boston!
I'll take Mitchell if we can get Caleron or T.J. Ford in the deal. But I like the smoked filled room deal. I'm sure mor of it goes on than people let on.
A lot of good hoop knowledge here.
Wake me when just one morsel of it comes courtesy of Peaceman.
Just one.
Miracles happen every day.
Maybe this will be Peaceman's day?
We can all dream.
I AM ON BOARD WITH THE KNICKS HIRING D'ANTONI
to me the knicks are a three point shooter away from being an phoenix style team.
for the knicks to be a defensive team they would have to turn over the entire roster.
who on the knicks would you consider to be a defensive specialist?
balkmen?chandler?
what about crawford,zach,nate,curry?
who could think any coach could change these guys into defensive specialists...please
i think that the knicks should play to these guys strengths instead of trying to force a square peg into a circle...these are offensive players.
THEY SHOULD TRADE FOR MIKE DUNLEAVY FROM THE PACERS.
@knowledge... great point about defense. i love the 90's knicks with mase and oak bruising anyone who tried to get near the rim. only problem is i agree with nyc 2 infinity... these guys will never defend...
that said, mike d with tom t as an assistant would be spectacular; regrettably i can;t see tom t leaving the celts to take an assistant job... too many people want him as a head coach.
Check out Real Gm's Lottery Simulator
On the third "Click" I had the Knick with the #1 Pick!
I thought it would have taken many more?
I guess thats why they call it "The Lottery?"
CAN WE DO THIS AGAIN? GET OUT THE HORSE SHOE
I agree there’s been too much emphasis on non-basketball. I’m the worst offender. I promise from here on in: all bball, all the time. I’ll leave the paTROLLing to others. Alan’s right. That’s the only response that makes sense – namely, no response at all. DFTT.
With all this drama over the new coach and GM, it diverts focus from the even bigger problem this franchise faces: This roster is in shambles. No matter who they bring in to coach . . . no matter how lucky we get with the ping-pong balls . . . this isn’t a quick-fix. (We barely have one player good enough to start on a contending team.) Most teams in the lottery with terrible rosters at least have one legit star player, or a few more assets and/or opportunities (draft picks, valuable contracts, etc.). The real legacy of Isiah is that he not only left the Knicks with one of the worst rosters in the league, there’s very little for a new GM to work with.
I hate to be the voice of doom, but getting rid of Isiah is just the first step on a LONG road back to respectability.
d'antoni would be awesome