Muddling The Present For A Clearer Future

Busy day for the Knicks.

Let us say goodbye to Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph. I have to admit, they were starting to grow on me a bit. Jamal is a better player today than he was when the Knicks got him. Say this for him - he tried hard, he tried to listen to the coaches, and when he was on (which was too infrequently) he was exhilirating to watch. I'll also give Randolph some credit - he was playing hard this year, too, when every indication would say he'd tank it. Unfortunately for him, he'll always be a good numbers guy on bad team (the Shareef Abdul-Rahim Hall of Fame.) So the Clippers are perfect for him.

Let us pretend Mardy Collins never happened.

Let us say hello to Al Harrington. Some nights, he will be very good. Others, he will be awful. Believe me, I've watched a surprising number of Warriors games over the last two years. There is no in between with Al Harrington.

Let us say hello to Cuttino Mobley, and congratulate him on still being alive and periodically useful.

Let us try to ignore Tim Thomas and hope he goes away.

And let us not forget what this is about - cap space for 2010. All of these contracts expire by 2010, so the Knicks can make a play for one of the big free agents of that summer (LeBron, Wade, Bosh, and others.)

This is also about totally undoing what I*&!h did to the team, especially once Starbury, Curry, and Jerome (Big Snacks) James are finally gone.

As I said in my Disciples of Clyde post earlier today (also go ahead and listen to the new episode - we make Rudy Gay jokes, you'll love it) this ultimately will lead to mediocre basketball this year, and a big free agent in 2010. That makes me reasonably happy.

Since no one could undo this mess quickly, and we couldn't expect otherwise, reasonably happy is about as good as we can hope for right now. So let us sum up: nice job, Donnie Walsh. Let us hope it all pays off in 2010.