NEW YORK -- At long last, Isiah Thomas is out as head coach of the New York Knicks.
But he's not totally gone.
In one of the most anticlimactic firings in NBA history, incoming Knicks president Donnie Walsh announced late Friday afternoon he was relieving Thomas of his coaching duties. But Thomas, still owed $18 million after receiving a long-term contract extension 13 months ago, will remain in the organization with no official title.
"I think Isiah remaining part of the franchise is good for the organization," Walsh said on a conference call with reporters. "I value Isiah's knowledge of the game and his opinions, so I will use him as a resource. Isiah will be reporting to me. There will be nobody reporting to Isiah."
He's still owed money and the franchise is left in shambles, but maybe now the healing can begin. We all know it doesn't take long to go from an Eastern Conference cellar dwellar to a legit contender (ex: Boston Celtics).
If Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph can be turned into something I will be happy. Even if it's midlevel scrappers who play team defense. The Curry trade was awful, the Randolph trade was bad because you already had Curry. It's the Jerome James type of deals I cannot get over.
I do think Isiah has an eye for talent. Not as a GM handing out contracts, but I think he's a good guy to have around to bounce ideas off of. For that kind of money? Hell no, but if you are paying him you might as well keep him around a bit longer in a spot with no final say.
I like Marc Jackson, as the next coach. This team has a long way to go and I don't even know where they should start.
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This entire weekend has been The Blake Griffin Show. The dunk contest was great, but that alley-oop bounce pass from John Wall during the Rookie/Sophomore game is still the highlight of the weekend for me.