So Penny and TimThom come off of the books AFTER this season. Allan Who?ston is going to be waived. That's $28 million officially off the books in 2006, plus $19 million more in relief from Allan Who?ston's contract. That will leave Goatbury as the only Knick earning more than $10 million in yearly salary.

Maurice Taylor's contract expires after 2006-2007, and he will surely have incentive to earn another one. Malik Rose and JYD are both sitting at $6-7 million per for a few more years, and at least the two of them contribute. Sweetney hits option years in 2006-7, and 2007-8 and he will have to play for a new contract also.

The good news is that Crawford is locked in under $10 million per until 2009-10 and his option year in 2010-11 is just over $10 million. Quentin Richardson has 5 years and 37 million left on his deal, which takes him to 2009-10. Those are two good young players locked in for several years. This should give Trevor Ariza, the new Knicks - Frye, Robinson, Lee - and the others to come ample time to gel into a legitimate team.

I have to be optimistic about the Knicks.

So the Knicks future is clearer, having acquired C/F Channing Frye - 6'11", F David Lee - 6'9", F/G Quentin Richardson - 6'6", and G Nate Robinson - 5'9" draft night.

A quick guess at the Knicks line-up is as follows:

C: Channing Frye/Jackie Butler/TimThom
PF: Malik Rose/Mo Taylor/Sweetney/David Lee
SF: Ariza/Richardson/JYD
SG: Richardson/Crawford/Penny
PG: Goatbury/Nate Robinson/Jermaine Jackson

And that's 15 players, which means Allan Houston is gone. One way or another, he will not, should not be on the roster next season. Bruno Sundov is a Free Agent, and may be gone, depending on what happens the rest of the off-season. Jermaine Jackson is also a Free Agent. Since the Knicks could theoretically also have Crawford playing PG, and now with Nate Robinson backing up Goatbury, Jackson's future as a Knick is also in question. Jackson did contribute some decent minutes at back-up PG last year and I would not mind if he sticks around.

Apparently, the Knicks would RECEIVE the conditional 1st round draft pick, not GIVE it to Phoenix. I like the sounds of that much better. Isiah, if he doesn't fuck it up, has the opportunity to add some serious size and youth and athleticism to the front court over the next few years as their now stacked guard/small forward rotation matures. Should be interesting. C'mon Isiah....

...also in the news. The amnesity provision of the new CBA allows a team a one-time cost saving measure. A team can cut a player from the roster, and although their salary still gets paid, and still counts against the cap, it does not count on the luxury tax. So this means the Knicks are likely to waive Allan Who?ston now, rather than waiting for his contract to expire in 2007. Woo-hooooo!!!

The Knicks, pending approvals and physicals and all that, are about to trade Kurt Thomas and a future conditional first-round pick for Quentin Richardson.

I am not sure how I feel about this deal - it depends on what the Knicks do in the draft THIS year, and what they end up doing with Goatbury. At least Q-Rich is not max contract. He has 5 years and $37.7 million left on his deal, with an additional option year. Kurt Thomas has 2 years and $14 million left, with an $8 million 2007-2008 option. So once again, Isiah has increased the length of contracts on the Knicks.

At least Q can play. He lit up the Knicks when he played this year, making 7 of 14 3 pointers. And he is young, 25 with 5 years in the league.

So what is the Knicks line-up going to look like?

C: TimThom/Jackie Butler/Bruno Sundov
PF: Malik Rose/Mo Taylor/Sweetney
SF: Ariza/Richardson/JYD
SG: Richardson/Crawford/Who?ston (if he ever plays again)
PG: Goatbury/Crawford/Jermaine Jackson/Penny (if not hurt)

The reason this trade does not make sense is that the Knicks now have 2 SG (Crawford, Richardson) or 2 SF (Ariza, Richardson) or 2 PG (Goatbury, Crawford) but have a SF as their starting center (TimThom).

Here's hoping the draft produces a 6-11 dunking PF and a 7 footer who can play D and block shots for the Knicks!

As has often been noted (more like yelled) by us at Knicks games, the best Knick is their trainer, Mike Saunders.

Apparently, others agree. The National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association (NBATA) voted Mike Saunders as the NBA Trainer of the year.

If only Goatbury was half as valuable as Mike Saunders....

Reports indicate that current Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown has agreed to become the Team President of the Cleveland Cavaliers following the end of this season.

There goes the best coach not available to the Knicks. I hope they don't do something stupid and hire PJ Car-lose-some-mo'. And I don't think Phil "Front-Running" Jackson would take the job, and I don't want him either.

Who's left? Smokin' Herb Williams, former Minnesota coach Flip Saunders, and a bunch of who knows whos.