Isiah: My House, My Show!
by: David Kolb
Alright, so the NBA Draft is over and Greg Oden went No. 1, and Kevin Durant was picked No. 2.
Tell us something we don't know!
For weeks we knew that these two guys would go one and two respectively, and you had to know Oden would be No. 1, so where was the excitement?
Without question the Knicks made the biggest splash at the draft (besides Joakim Noah's suit).
Forget that Spike Lee got face time during the Knicks' pick; we got to see Spike applaud the trade made with Portland in real time. Some real hard-core clapping! He was giving the thumbs-up to a trade that brought Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, and Fred Jones to New York and sent Channing Frye and Steve Francis West to Portland.
The trade does a few things for the Knicks: 1) It creates a double-headed inside post-presence in a relatively small Eastern Conference with Randolph and Eddie Curry, both of whom are 20-10 type players; 2) The Knicks rid themselves of the brutal contract of Francis.
At the end of the day, the Knicks were able to take advantage of the surplus of big men the Blazers had because of their luck in the lottery (landing Oden). Credit Isiah Thomas, who understood Portland's situation and then for pouncing on the opportunity.
Yes Frye was a nice young player, but in no way can we believe that he has the same skill set as Randolph.
