Donnie Walsh is a good hire to control the Knicks. But the big question is if he’ll be allowed to truly rebuild the team from scratch, or if he’s going to continue the Isiah Thomas (and Scott Layden) tradition of just building upon something that doesn’t work.
It seems like the Knicks, for years now, only cared about trying to make the playoffs, and never even really tried to build a team that had a real shot at winning a championship. That they failed to even be decent is almost another story.
The Knicks need to clear house. In today’s press conference introducing Donnie Walsh as the new Knicks president of basketball operations, it was said the Knicks want to stay competitive but gain salary cap flexibility. That’s the wrong move. Don’t worry about staying competitive right away. (Wait, wasn’t the team trying to be competitive this season?) Clear house. Get almost everyone out. Start from scratch.
The Knicks need to try to do what the Seattle Sonics did. After realizing what they had wasn’t working, the Sonics got rid of everyone, managed to draft Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, won almost no games (yet just a few less than the current Knicks have) and have amazing salary cap flexibility for the future. Of course, while the Sonics may be leaving Seattle, the Knicks are firmly planted in New York City, a town that is a great selling point for superstars looking to rule the world in the future.
Removing Isiah from power is a step in the right direction. But let’s see if Walsh just keeps doing what Isiah was doing or does what he needs to do, begin a true rebuilding process that should see the majority of the team’s current players find a new home in the next season or two.
