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View Full Version : Isiah back in New York as consultant


Venti Quattro
08-06-2010, 01:46 PM
Isiah Thomas rejoins Knicks; still at FIU (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=5442858)
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Archive

Isiah Thomas wants back in the NBA as a general manager but until then he'll take being a consultant to the New York Knicks while still coaching Florida International.

Thomas told ESPN.com Friday that he accepted a more formal and unique consulting position with his former employer to aid Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh in any decision he needs assistance, be it draft picks, trades or personnel decisions.

"I'll be available to him for that," Thomas said by phone from South Florida. "I've always said that if there's a GM position that should ever open that I would be interested in going back to the NBA as a GM for the right spot and the right opportunity. In terms of going back as a coach I don't see myself doing that."

Thomas, who coached FIU to a 7-25 record (4-14 in the Sun Belt) last year in his first season on the job, said he first checked with the NCAA to clear that it was OK for him to be a paid consultant with an NBA team and still be coaching a Division I school. FIU athletic director Pete Garcia was unavailable for comment early Friday.

"I couldn't be the GM,'' said Thomas of maintaining two jobs. "But we checked with the NCAA and you can do it. I'm excited about what we're building here at FIU and that will continue to be my main focus. In my spare time when I do have time, just like I've always done, I'll consult and advise the Knicks whenever they ask for my help."

In a statement released by the team Friday, the Knicks announced that Thomas' role would be to "assist the team's senior management in various capacities, including player recruitment."

Thomas, a Hall of Famer with the Detroit Pistons, had a dismal run as team president from December 2003-April 2008, with the Knicks missing the playoffs every year despite often having the league's highest payroll. He was also the coach the final two seasons, getting dismissed after a 23-59 season in 2007-08.

Despite losing hundreds of games and a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former team employee that cost the organization $11.6 million, Thomas has remained close to Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan and Walsh.

Thomas said he has been under contract with the Knicks since he was fired. He said he was under contract when Dolan sent him to Cleveland to meet with LeBron James' representatives in a last-ditch effort to convince James' inner circle for him to sign with the Knicks.

Thomas said that the meetings in Cleveland were personal and private and "it wouldn't be in anybody's best interest for me to divulge who I met with and what I discussed."

Thomas said he will focus on recruiting for FIU and coaching the Panthers. But getting an official title back with the Knicks has a special meaning, especially since his mother Mary passed away last January.

"I'm excited to work with the Knicks again," Thomas said. "I wish my mom was still alive to see this."

Why would they still need Isiah after all of what he put the franchise through?

LOL NEW YORK

LOL "done being losers"
lefty
08-06-2010, 01:50 PM
Lol wtf
hater
08-06-2010, 02:11 PM
Consultant:

"Isaiah, do you think this is a good idea?"
"yes"
"ok, do the opposite"
ChumpDumper
08-06-2010, 03:19 PM
I would totally take him on as a scout. He's quite a good judge of draft talent, for example.

Just keep him away from the checkbook.
21_Blessings
08-06-2010, 03:27 PM
Isiah's eye draft talent is a bit overrated as well and wouldn't be worth him fucking the female employees.

I don't see how the Balkman pick made any sense when the Knicks could have taken him at 29 and they desperately needed a point guard that wasn't crazy.
anonoftheinternets
08-06-2010, 03:46 PM
Consultant:

"Isaiah, do you think this is a good idea?"
"yes"
"ok, do the opposite"

that was reasonably funny, and for a sec i thought lefty typed that and i actually did a double take :lol then realized it wasnt him.
JamStone
08-06-2010, 04:06 PM
Isiah's eye draft talent is a bit overrated as well and wouldn't be worth him fucking the female employees.

I don't see how the Balkman pick made any sense when the Knicks could have taken him at 29 and they desperately needed a point guard that wasn't crazy.

Isiah's eye for draft talent is overrated, but it's still very good. Even when he misses, I think they still end up being decent players as opposed to complete busts. And he's had better success than most finding late first round or second round talent.

With Balkman, a lot of people questioned that pick and with good reason. Rumors were that Isiah had got the impression that the Suns were targeting Balkman and if he waited until pick #29, Balkman would have been gone. He's the guy he wanted, and sometimes in the draft, even if you overrate a player by selecting him ahead of where his value really is, it's not necessarily a bad pick if that's the player you wanted. Looking back, the Knicks would have definitely been better off taking Rajon Rondo, who was taken with the next pick. But, then again while Marbury was crazy, he was still a pretty good player in 2005-06 and his crazy wasn't fully exposed yet. And, the Knicks also had Steve Francis under contract as well. Would have been better to take Rondo, but at the time, Isiah and the Knicks were likely hoping one of those guys would work out for the next couple seasons and Isiah was looking to build the rest of the supporting cast.
Basketballgirl25
08-06-2010, 05:04 PM
He could be there Consultant for how not to suck
21_Blessings
08-06-2010, 06:07 PM
Even when he misses, I think they still end up being decent players .

He sure read Eddy Curry's talent perfectly. Might as well have been a draft pick since he gave up, what, two of them for that loser and destroyed any playoff hopes for the next 6 years :lol


With Balkman, a lot of people questioned that pick and with good reason. Rumors were that Isiah had got the impression that the Suns were targeting Balkman and if he waited until pick #29, Balkman would have been gone.

Phoenix was known for shopping their 1st rounders and Balkman was considered a late 1st/2nd round gamble. Even if that completely untrue Phoenix rumor came to fruition then worst case scenario the Knicks could have bought him if they really wanted. Yeah Isiah got his guy; only problem was the guy had no business ever going that high to begin with it. Everybody knew it as well.

Francis/Marbury were well known headcases in 06 that no team particularly wanted to deal with in a serious capacity and their careers were heading in a downward spiral at the time. Another costly miss by the great Piston Isiah Thomas.

Anyway at this point Isiah is done and Knicks continue prove why their franchise is a joke if they're actually giving this guy another job. If killing the CBA wasn't enough to run this guy out of the league. Christ.
dbreiden83080
08-06-2010, 06:08 PM
Jim Dolan is the worst owner of all time..
sribb43
08-06-2010, 06:14 PM
1st move will be to tell Walsh to bring Marbury back from China
JamStone
08-06-2010, 06:59 PM
He sure read Eddy Curry's talent perfectly. Might as well have been a draft pick since he gave up, what, two of them for that loser and destroyed any playoff hopes for the next 6 years :lol

But Curry wasn't a draft pick. He was a trade. Isiah showed several times poor judgment when it came to acquiring players, based on their talent or how they would fit chemistry-wise on the team, other than the draft, e.g. Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Zach Randolph. You initially talked about his eye to draft talent. Why would your only example to refute what I said about his drafting talent be a player he acquired through trade?

Oddly, more or less, I was agreeing with your initial comment. Yet you still found a way to take it as challenging your assertion, then you throw out a completely irrelevant example to evidence a rebuttal. Don't be so defensive.



Phoenix was known for shopping their 1st rounders and Balkman was considered a late 1st/2nd round gamble. Even if that completely untrue Phoenix rumor came to fruition then worst case scenario the Knicks could have bought him if they really wanted. Yeah Isiah got his guy; only problem was the guy had no business ever going that high to begin with it. Everybody knew it as well.

Francis/Marbury were well known headcases in 06 that no team particularly wanted to deal with in a serious capacity and their careers were heading in a downward spiral at the time. Another costly miss by the great Piston Isiah Thomas.

If you go back to the 2006 NBA Draft, Balkman has had as good a career or better than most of the picks that went after him in the first round except for Rajon Rondo. You could argue Kyle Lowry and Shannon Brown, but those two are also low level rotation players and possibly fringe NBA players as well. And again, Isiah didn't target a point guard.

Marbury had $57 million still owed to him over three years in the summer of 2006. Francis had two more years of $30 million still owed to him that same summer. It's easy to say in retrospect they were known headcases in 2006. Both were still younger than 30 years old. The Knicks were stuck with those two and Isiah knew he had to try to make things work or he was out. He wasn't going to draft a PG in 2006 when he had two huge contract players who played PG who were basically untradeable until their expiring years. Whatever you want to say about Marbury and Francis, in 2006, the Knicks didn't have point guard as a priority need. They just didn't.

Rondo was a costly miss for a lot of teams in the 2006 NBA draft, including the team that originally drafted him, the Phoenix Suns.




Anyway at this point Isiah is done and Knicks continue prove why their franchise is a joke if they're actually giving this guy another job. If killing the CBA wasn't enough to run this guy out of the league. Christ.

Isiah should never be a GM for an NBA team again. He shouldn't really have anything to do with the NBA. James Dolan obviously has a great affinity towards Isiah. And Donnie Walsh has always been fond of Isiah as well. While he shouldn't be involved with any GM responsibilities, I don't see how it's a big deal for him to be a consultant. If Dolan and Walsh want that, so what? It's not like Isiah has any decision making power, which is ultimately the important thing.
lotr1trekkie
08-06-2010, 07:31 PM
Thomas is as stupid as dirt. So is Bird, McHail, and MJ. The best GM's in the league are role players who understand team chemistry. Elgin Baylor might be up there with MJ as the greatest #2 guard in history. He was awesome. It didn't translate into GM material.
Koolaid_Man
08-06-2010, 07:51 PM
He could be there Consultant for how not to suck


all the negro has to do is holla at me and my Hoops Crew and problems are solved...

D8N6BAxLSyw
texas_gator
08-06-2010, 08:10 PM
all the negro has to do is holla at me and my Hoops Crew and problems are solved...

D8N6BAxLSyw

that's what the nba needs, live mc ON the court rapping the play by play...imagine Marv Albert or even Kevin Harlan or Craig Sager and his damn suits...
toki9
08-07-2010, 12:19 AM
Mind boggling...after all Isiah has done for/to the Knicks, they bring him back (even as a consultant)?!?