Updated October 26th

 "Another day, another resource squandered"…

…And so begins John Hollinger’s column on the financial affairs of The New York Knicks. Hollinger is not some resident hack who works for the New York Daily News or New York Post. Hollinger, usually a more responsible writer, works for the far lesser known “New York Sun”, but you probably know him because he also writes for some website called ESPN. For that, Hollinger might be NBA journalism’s most well-known authority on a wing of NBA "Moneyballers” (see  Wages of Wins and Sabernomics). If stats like points, assists, and rebounds bore you, and you are in the mood to learn more about a player’s “usage rate”, “offensive rebound rate”, or your favorite team’s “defensive efficiency”, then John Hollinger is your man. His “Hollinger Stats” of NBA players are routinely cited by fellow ESPN staffers as the ultimate standard of a player’s net-worth. (note: this author does find them valuable, but not biblical[1]). Hollinger loves to talk about: numbers, percentages, and rankings. He loves to talk about expiring contracts, player salaries, and “risk vs. reward ratio”. And all of these loves coalesce when addressing one of his favorite subjects: Isiah Thomas and his fiscal handling of the New York Knicks[2]. Since some of his recent columns seem to have more to do with being a CPA instead of NBA analyst, it should be stated up front that John Hollinger is not James Dolan’s personal accountant. Here is his latest article “Knick’s Ill Decisions Lead to Waste” (Hat Tip: Knicks Defense) Hollinger writes:


“One of the ongoing themes of the Knicks under Isiah Thomas is how badly they manage their assets — overpaying their players, giving up too many considerations in trades, and cutting loose talents that could prove useful in future deals. The shining example remains the Jalen Rose deal, in which the Knicks effectively paid $30 million to get a late first-round pick, when other teams routinely pay $3 million for the same privilege.”


"The Shining Example": Firstly, this is ONLY an “on-going theme” because too many writers simply cannot stop writing about it.  In “The Salary Cap Myth: Pure Media Madness” COSELLOUT has explained in detail why “getting under the salary cap” is extremely overrated for ANY team, and is nothing more than "a lotto strategy" for rebuiding the New York Knicks. But a shining example of this remains – you guessed it – “the Jalen Rose deal”. Hollinger believes this was an “ill decision” that “leads to waste”. And for 29 other teams Hollinger might even be correct on this point. But while 30 million might sound like a lot to you, me, and your next door neighbor, it is really chump change for the NBA’s wealthiest franchise. What John Hollinger keeps calling “wasted resources”, Knicks’James Dolan keeps calling “petty cash”. Isiah Thomas, unlike those who write about him, has been well aware of this distinction while rebuilding a Knick’s 2003 roster that was one of the worst rebuilding projects in NBA history.


“The REAL Jalen Rose Deal”: The Knicks sent now-retired Antonio Davis and his expiring contract for Jalen Rose and the pick that became RENALDO BALKMAN. Hollinger goes through the entire article without citing Balkman once by name. In fact, almost all journalists who keep readers misinformed on anything about Isiah Thomas simply refuse to call this “the Renaldo Balkman deal” or not even mention his name. Such terminology might actually remind fans about how GOOD the trade was. But here is simple question that should be posed to any fan in judging this transaction by Isiah: “Is there anyone who would like to give Balkman back for Antonio Davis and his rocking chair? 


"Trade Naming": Media members often misinform readers through their “naming of trades”.  Even after a full year after the draft pick became Renaldo Balkman, Hollinger and others still call it “the Jalen Rose trade”. The media has done this to Isiah before as he was universally lambasted by media for “the Malik Rose trade” that also netted two first round draft picks in exchange for Nazr Mohammed. To this day no one ever refers to it as “the David Lee and Mardy Collins trade”. To do so is to make plain that Isiah was a landslide winner over RC Buford, a GM that many consider to be the best in basketball. To illustrate exactly how misleading the continued misnaming of either of the Rose trades is, one would have to examine Portland’s big “Raef Lafrentz trade”. What? You never heard of that one? That was the trade last year where Portland sent Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff to Boston for Raef Lafrentz’s big contract, and, of course, the draft pick that was used to select… Brandon Roy — the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2007. In Portland this is simply known as the grand larceny that is “the Brandon Roy trade”. But Isiah Thomas plays by a different set of media rules.  Hollinger continues:


1) “The likely result is that second-round draft choice Demetris Nichols will be shown the door…. But out he will go, sending the 2009 second-rounder down the toilet with him. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a disaster — certainly not compared to some of Thomas’s other blunders.”

2) “Wait, there’s more. If the Knicks fail to make a move, the Nichols pick won’t be their only needlessly expended resource. They’ll also have to waive Jared Jordan, who is scoreless so far in 12 preseason minutes. That’s also a little odd, since the Knicks bought his rights from the Clippers before training camp.”

3) “And I haven’t even started on the folly of the Allan Houston situation. … Dolan welcomed Houston to make his comeback. Then, Thomas basically spent two weeks ignoring him before Houston saw the handwriting on the wall and pulled the plug on his return last week. I have no idea if Houston could have helped — I suspect the answer is a no — but it would have been nice if Thomas had at least considered the possibility while he owned Houston’s rights. Consider that another resource wasted, then.”


Nitpicking 101 - Let’s split some hairs: 1) It is not uncommon at all for second-round picks to get cut from NBA rosters; 2) The Knicks bought Jared Jordan’s rights knowing full well there was a good chance that he would not make the roster. This is completely unworthy of citation, but wait there’s more; 3) Alan Houston, who has had chronic knee problems, made a comeback attempt, and at least for the time being, it has failed. Like Jared Jordan’s roster attempt, isn’t that the very reason why training camp exists?


More Hollinger on Jerome James:


“For the league’s other 29 teams, the decision to cut their losses and move on would be an obvious one. But these are the Knicks, who operate in a state of denial. James Dolan and Thomas have yet to acknowledge a single error in their serial mishandling of the franchise over the past half-decade, and in continuing with this trend they’re not about to admit that signing [Jerome] James was a colossal blunder — even if every fan over the age of four knows it.”

 

"Colossal" Blunder: The James signing was certainly an error on Isiah’s part, and we might even agree that Jerome be cut in favor of Nichols, but as we have already explained in “Isiah’s Mistakes: The Last Word on Jerome James”, there is absolutely nothing “colossal” or even major about the James signing. He was signed as a FREE agent, and the Knicks gave up not one player to acquire him. In NBA terms, trading a 1st round pick for Marco Jaric (see Kevin McHale) or that previously-mentioned “Raef Lafrentz trade” was more of a “colossal blunder”.  In journalistic terms, calling a trade of a now-retired guy for Renaldo Balkman an “ill decision” could be considered a “colossal blunder”.  But ultimately what has been most dissapointing is that Hollinger, often an astute and insightful journalist, has never taken time to inform his readers that the normal salary rules simply do not apply to the deep pockets that are James Dolan’s New York Knicks. And this becomes even more glaring when expressing his contempt about how Thomas "has not acknowledged a single error".  

Finally, after an array of penalty flags for unnecessary roughness, Hollinger ends with this: 

 

 “But as usual, nowhere is the mismanagement more egregious than in New York. The Knicks acquired two second-round draft picks — knowing full well they’d almost certainly cut both of them — while continuing to cover their eyes and pretend James might wake up and imitate a basketball player someday. In listing the blunders of the Thomas era, the Nichols case won’t even crack the top 20. But that doesn’t make it any less indicative of the ongoing wasteful ways at the Garden.”


In this statement Hollinger shows that he simultaneously gets it, but doesn’t get it at all. He states “knowing full well they’d almost certainly cut both of them”. Yes, EXACTLY. The Knicks know FULL WELL that this is a likely possibility. But they invite Nichols, Jordan, and Houston anyway. Why? Because the Knicks can afford it.  It is Hollinger’s duty to inform readers that the Knicks can afford: training camp cuts, underachieving mid-level free agents, assuming larger contracts in trades, and millions in the luxury tax. They are not the Memphis Grizzlies where an ill-advised Brian Cardinal signing will actually impact their franchise. Isiah Thomas knows exactly the advantages the Knicks have, wields them unapologetically, and seeks absolutely no approval from the journalistic community (which, let’s face it, has always been Isiah’s biggest offense in the eyes of the media). 

Finally, COSELLOUT would request that in future columns John Hollinger: write more responsibly as he has done in the past, not write Lupicaesque phrases like “top 20 blunders”, explain to his readers how only ONE all-star caliber player changes hands per year via free agency (again, see “Salary Cap Myth”); and educate his audience on the Knicks UNIQUE financial advantages. This author has gone in great detail in a multi-part series “The Book of Isiah: Unraveling the Greatest Myth in Sports” to dispel all of the lies, omissions, distortions, and half-truths that have been perpetuated by a short-sighted media throng.

 

[1] “Hollinger stats” can be a great resource, but has many flaws when adhered to too rigidly – a mistake that Hollinger often makes. One good example is: “Isiah’s Folly: Why Curry Trade Makes Little Sense”, where Hollinger tells us that the previous year “[Eddy] Curry and [Mike] Sweetney were virtually identical last season” when evaluated on a per minute basis.

[2] Hollinger has been a frequent contributor to the body literature on the spending of Isiah Thomas. His Knicks focused “the 25 Worst Contracts in the NBA” never once mentioned the Knick’s unique situation; he recently described the Knicks’ Zach Randolph trade as “a big risk” , and had more fun mocking Isiah’s contract extension while picking them to miss the playoffs this year.