Sucks for Sessions, Sucks for the Knicks

I'm not really sure what the New York Knicks are going for here. Do they really want to win? I grew up in upstate New York so I'm something of a closet Knicks fan, there's still a little hometown loyalty left in me, but because I started following basketball seriously during the end of the Isaiah Thomas-running-the-show era it was something of a fairly difficult pill to swallow. Since then, Donnie Walsh has successfully removed most everyone Isaiah Thomas had brought in (see: Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Stephon Marbury, Jerome James, Renaldo Balkman, Zach Randolph, Malik Rose, and Isaiah Thomas) with few exceptions (see: Wilson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Jarred Jeffries) with a couple of the fan favorites in limbo (see: Nate Robinson and David Lee). From how I see it right now, the only guaranteed contracts come 2010 are Danilo Gallinari, Eddy Curry, and Jared Jeffries, the latter two of which Walsh is working furiously to get off the books. While Walsh has made strides to rectify the debacle that Dolan and Thomas had brought upon themselves and the once respectable Knicks organization, he's done little else to make the team better, to make the team something to believe in, heck, even something that makes the playoffs in a mediocre (but improving) Eastern Conference. While I understand the concept of saving for a big name star in 2010 (one that might not even show up), does surrounding said star (see: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire) with a slapdash collection of random talent really help? I mean, I like Wilson Chandler, and Danilo Gallinaro is supposed to be a stud, but are we really going to try to play them at the SG and PF spots respectively if the Knicks do land LeBron? Is that enough?

The big free agent name of the 2009 offseason for the Knicks has been Ramon Sessions, and if the reports are to be trusted, then Sessions will not be signing with the Knicks, ouch. I can't say I know enough about Sessions save except some numbers to say that I have a fair grasp of what Sessions can do. I mean, I know that he dropped 20 assists in a meaningless game at the end of another losing Bucks season in 2007. I know that Scott Skiles ended up playing him next to Ridnour as an off guard and his production suffered. I know that he's still young, and has tons of potential and everybody likes him, and I know that he's no longer welcome in Milwaukee, and the only other team courting him, the Clippers, would make him the backup failsafe plan of a questionably motivated Baron Davis. I also know that he has holes in his game, he can't hit an outside shot to save his life, but you know what? Neither can Rajon Rondo, nor Andre Miller, Tony Parker had a questionable jumper until recently, Jason Kidd's jumper's not exactly stellar either. My point is simple, certainly Ramon Sessions is by no means a finished product, I mean, he's only 24, he's not been in the league that long, so he has room to grow, but I think that Sessions is exactly the kind of player that the Knicks needs, and the Knicks are exactly the kind of team that Sessions needs.

Sessions is a young explosive player who has the potential to be an exciting draw for Knicks fans and basketball fans for Donnie Walsh. Paired with the freedom that Mike D'Antoni gives to PGs in his 7-second-or-less offense, Sessions has the potential to really grow into his own. I mean, just look at what D'Antoni was able to do with Chris Duhon, a prototypical NBA backup point guard. Just look at Leandro Barbosa and Steve Nash with and without D'Antoni's offense. Yet Donnie Walsh seems allergic to Sessions based entirely on the fact that he wants years, and Jared Jeffries and Eddy Curry are still on the books. It'll be a pity if Sessions is still a free agent come trade deadline, but it'll be a steal for the Knicks if he is and they can jettison one of Curry's or Jeffries's contract if not both, though I don't know why a talent like Sessions would fall to that far. Some might find it hard to fault Walsh because of the 2010 jackpot in free agency, I mean there's LeBron, Bosh, Wade, Amar'e, Kobe, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, just to name a few. Honestly though, for those teams that haven't made it, does moving from one mediocre team to another mediocre team that pays more really make it worth it to them? If it does, does New York really want that kind of a player? It really depends on what New York wants to do, and I personally want New York to win, it's pointless if you don't play to win. New York is already still one of the most profitable franchises in the league and they're probably at best the second or third worst team in the Eastern Conference. How long will "At least we're better than the Nets and the Grizzlies" really last you? Will Dwayne Wade find the combination of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari that much better than one of Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley? Will Chris Bosh really think that it'll be better there than with Calderon and Turkoglu? Really? If they're winners why not go play in Cleveland (taking Shaq's paycheck) with LeBron? Or maybe some Western Conference team that's more competitive? Certainly there is the implication of being a marquee player for a larger market, and while Amar'e might want to play once again with D'Antoni, his competitiveness has been questioned and he's now widely regarded as someone who can't take a team the distance.

So save for the future? What's Donnie Walsh going to do if all of the big names balk at playing at New York with a bunch of misfits? Is there anything even moderately appealing to some combination of Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries, and possibly David Lee and Nate Robinson? Of which only 4 of whom will be around and only 2 of which will likely play in the 2010-2011 season if all 4 are still around. Knicks need direction, and they have none, "waiting for the 2010 free agency" isn't any more direction than "waiting for a multi-million dollar inheritance/lottery" is a career path. Sessions needs the Knicks, the Knicks need Sessions, do the right thing.