Six years ago, owner James Dolan, Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas skipped happily out of a Dallas locker room and onto a Cablevision charter bound for Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend.
The Knicks were on a giddy roll, at 25-29, slipping into playoff position, amidst a resurrection led by Thomas’ hiring and Marbury’s acquisition.
While Marbury competed in the skills competition, Thomas tried to upstage All-Star Sunday as he pulled off another blockbuster trade and held his press conference in the All-Star interview room at the Staples Center.
Thomas dealt Keith Van Horn and role player Michael Doleac for Tim Thomas and Nazr Mohammed — a deal that looked sweet on paper.
“I inherited a situation that wasn’t good,” Thomas said as he stole that Los Angeles afternoon. “Until we’re the best, we’re not done.”
Actually, Thomas was done. After the break, the Knicks sputtered, barely hung on for a playoff berth and were swept by the Nets in the first round.
The Knicks haven’t been back to the playoffs since. Even Thomas will admit the Knicks never regained the proper chemistry after that trade.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones not made and that could happen with the Carmelo Anthony Sweepstakes. Yesterday, Dolan, with Thomas’ voice still in his cell phone earpiece, flew to Los Angeles for All-Star festivities and CBA labor talks.
Dolan’s newest star Amar’e Stoudemire will be in Los Angeles — the first Knick to start an All-Star game since 1992. Rookie Landry Fields is one of the bright lights of the Rookie-Sophomore game. And all that will be overshadowed by Anthony’s omnipresence in Tinseltown during which the Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov looks like he just may upstage the Knicks.
Knicks team president Donnie Walsh has spent weeks trying to decide how much is too much to obtain the Nuggets superstar and the Nets, offering four first-round picks, might have made their decision for them.
Is instant star power more important than young glue guys and supporting cast? It’s been the biggest conundrum Walsh faced in his time here.
The Post reported yesterday the Nuggets last week asked for the whole enchilada — Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov and a first-round pick (via an Anthony Randolph trade) for Anthony and aging point guard Chauncey Billups.
The Knicks feared the outlandish demand was a sign the Nuggets don’t want to deal Anthony to them by asking for something that would get turned down. The Knicks and Nuggets were still far apart before the Nets swooped in to offer them golden nuggets.
Walsh will not give up more than four assets for Anthony and Billups, even if the deal sets up the possibility of adding Chris Paul or Deron Williams in 2012 via free agency. And that’s the biggest concern if the Nets get him, that Paul would be headed to Brooklyn, too.
Without referencing Denver, Walsh indicated Wednesday the proposal on the table would make them worse.
“If it’s a good trade, I would do it,” Walsh said. “But I have to look at the end of the trade and say we have a good basketball team.”
At 28-26, in the sixth seed, the Knicks are a decent team and Anthony’s addition with Stoudemire would make the team more imposing. But if he goes to the Nets, they are not losing out on LeBron James. Anthony made the conference finals just once despite a good cast in recent seasons. As terrific a scorer as he has been, Anthony does not help the club’s biggest weakness — perimeter and interior defense.
Walsh said he is pleased with the Knicks’ record and sees a young core only getting better. Walsh wants to add a big center foremost and could spend their cap space on Tyson Chandler or Marc Gasol this summer. If the Nets’ deal falls through, Walsh still could hold his cards and wait until summer.
“We’re going to be above .500 at the break,” Walsh said. “I think that’s an accomplishment for a team that’s just came together and for just under 25 years on average. More importantly is what it means to the future of the franchise. I feel good about that.”
Walsh is patient to a fault, unlike his flashy predecessor who went on Miami radio Tuesday and said of the Knicks’ Anthony pursuit,
“Everyone agrees they need to keep improving to get to a championship level,” Thomas said. “I don’t think anyone’s saying: ‘This is it.’ In order to get to a championship level, which every team aspires to get to, you try to get the best players and try to get as many as you possibly can and see if you can win it.”
Walsh’s response from the Garden came Wednesday, even with his future for next season is in doubt, perhaps even more so if the Nets get Anthony.
“What I like about this team is it’s a very young team, which is getting missed all the time,” Walsh said. “This isn’t a team we’re saying they’re going to be what they are today. A lot of these guys will develop and be better players than what they are. I think we’ve got between the third and fifth youngest team. You’re build through some guys and who you can bring in with them.”