Looking Back at the Zach Randolph Trade

Well, here we are getting ready to enjoy the 2008-2009 NBA season and if Knick fans aren't talking about how they should be cutting ties with Marbury, they seem to be devising plans to run Zach Randolph out of town. That being said, this is the perfect opportunity to look back at the trade that brought Z-Bo to New York and put things in perspective.

Randolph came to town on draft night 2007 along with Dan Dickau and Fred Jones from the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Knick fans were mystified from the beginning as to how Randolph and Eddy Curry would co-exist, while also being shocked by the fact that IsiahThomas traded away the once untouchable rising talent that they had in Frye. One year later, here's what we've seen.

What They Gave Up-

Channing Frye- Frye was a very effective player in college and must have been thrilled to be drafted by his hometown New York Knicks. He came out of the blocks with a great start, averaging over ten points per game in his rookie season and making the All-Rookie Team. Every season since, however, has been a disappointment as his numbers have steadily declined. While Portland fans are comparing him to Robert Horry, if he were still in New York, Knick fans would be calling him a bust. Having said that, he is a free agent at the end of the season and his contract obviously wouldn't be killing the team's payroll. He may have flourished in D'Antoni's system, but with the glut the Knicks have at the forward position, he may not have found the minutes either.

Steve Francis- A shadow of his former self, the Blazers only took Francis to make the deal work, and then they waived him. The Blazers are still responsible for his guaranteed contract, but it comes off the books at the end of the season. Francis played a reduced role for Houston last season which suggests that his lack of playing time in New York was not truly a cause of discontent. Perhaps he wanted to spend the final years of his career playing for a contender or perhaps Thomas fabricated Francis' unhappiness in order to have an excuse to trade him. Without Marbury's services last year, Francis may have had an opportunity to be a real contributor for the Knicks, and he may have actually helped them attain more than 23 victories. That, of course, may not have been a good thing as it would have given the Knicks a worse chance at a good draft pick, but look where they ended up picking anyway. The Knicks may have been better off giving up Marbury instead of Francis, but it's probably six in one a half dozen in the other. They're both overpaid shooting guards who play the one, run their mouths, and have contracts that expire at the end of this season.

What They Got-

Dan Dickau- Dickau was nothing more than a negligible contributor who was waived by the Knicks before ever playing a game for the team.

Fred Jones- Thomas had been enthralled with Jones since he first acquired him during his days in Indiana. Jones is a fine role player, but guys who average seven points a game come a dime a dozen in this league. Having Dichau and Jones come back to the Knicks in this trade put the Knicks over the roster limit and forced them to waive Demitris Nichols. Nichols had a fairly unproductive rookie season splitting time between the Cavs and Bulls, but did show some promise in college. He's also a player that the Knicks were willing to give up a 2008 second round draft pick for. By the way, Fred Jones is no longer a member of the Knicks.

Zach Randolph- Randolph put up All-Star caliber numbers of 17 and 10 last season, but his reputation proceeds him. He'll have to have another trouble-free season off the court before fans and other GM's look at him as a low-risk proposition. Also, as predicted, he and Curry seem to have formed some sort of logjam in the middle, and Curry's production dropped off last season with the acquisition of Randolph catching most of the blame. Randolph's production was also down when compared to the prior season, but in all fairness to both players, they were riding a ship with Isiah Thomas at the helm. Perhaps under D'Antoni, both players can find success, but that may be a long shot. Knick fans are also down on Randolph because he doesn't play defense, but neither do the rest of his teammates. The only Knicks who played defense last year were Lee and Balkman (and after the arrival of D'Antoni, Balkman was traded and Lee was put on the block). The true drawback to Randolph is that his high salary is on the books through 2010-2011. That could pose a major problem for the Knicks in regard to landing a major free agent in the summer of 2010, but there is a possibility that some players might not opt out in 2010 and Randolph's contract could be a non-issue.

Overall, the Knicks didn't really give up much to get Randolph, so they shouldn't feel like they need to get much in return if they're looking to dump his salary. He's a talented ball player and probably has more value to the Knicks than Eddy Curry, as he has already proven himself at the NBA level, but he's also overpaid. Dealing for Randolph definitely hurt the flexibility of the Knicks' future, but seeing as how the Knicks don't really have a shot at landing LeBron James in 2010, it was not as bad a move of most fans like to believe it was.