The Knicks Fix

A lead note in my story today that might have gone unnoticed:

Zach Randolph is bracing himself for a second trade in as many years and a person close to the Knicks forward said he believes Memphis will be his destination. The Grizzlies and Knicks have had ongoing dialogue about Randolph over the summer and Walsh, who is still looking to add some shot-blocking to the roster, has interest in 7-foot center Darko Milicic.

We first reported that the Memphis Grizzlies were considering Zach Randolph on Aug. 30. As you might have seen today, the Daily News and NY Post have jumped into the pool as the waters start to warm.

Walsh would not confirm what Grizzlies beat writer Ronald Tillery reported on his blog last week, that the Grilzzlies want the Knicks to pick up the deferred portion of Randolph's contract. But where there's smoke, there's fire. And, as we reported today, Z-Bo is telling friends that he's expecting to be traded before training camp and the destination he believes it will be is Memphis.

Walsh likes the idea of getting Darko Milicic back in the trade because of Milicic's shot-blocking ability He has averaged 1.3 per game in the NBA and he does possess a good shooting touch. Could you play him at the four? Possibly. Could you play him with Eddy Curry? Here and there, maybe, but not often.

Randolph's departure could be a major bonus for David Lee, who could move into the starting position at the four. Lee and Curry aren't going to dominate anyone on the defensive end, but Lee's rebounding ability makes up for Randolph's departure. He's not nearly the scorer that Z-Bo is so Lee is aware he has to prove he can make that mid-range, baseline and elbow jumper consistently to be effective.

Another option is if Danilo Gallinari proves himself capable, the spot could be his with Wilson Chandler at the three. But that's why we have training camp, kids. Bottom line, Randolph's departure will open up the low blocks for Curry and, whether it's Lee or Gallinari, add another player on the floor who can move the ball on offense.

Milicic would likely come in and play the role Jerome James was supposed to play: shot-blocking big who can give you decent minutes and a different look (and not order fried fast food in the locker room before games). Marko Jaric is a big guard who is good in the open floor, has decent fundamentals (which means he'd fit in the D'Antoni system, too) and is a willing defender. Jaric would mostly play a reserve roll, but, again, it adds more of what D'Antoni wants.

The Milicic contract works with the 2010 plan because it expires after next season. But Jaric has one more year -- $7,625,000 in 2010-11 -- which the Knicks could try to trade.

But, if anything, the trade for Milicic and Jaric at least gives them almost a $10 million savings from the Randolph contract ($17.3 million) on the ledger in 2010-11.

As we told here before the weekend, the Knicks didn't want the Randolph trade talk to dominate during Patrick Ewing's Hall of Fame induction. Now that the Hall of Fame ceremonies are over, getting this deal done takes center stage.

Stay tuned.

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We also reported today that Allan Houston has talked to Donnie Walsh about making a second comeback attempt with the Knicks. All signs point to Houston being in training camp in Saratoga Springs to give it one more try at the age of 37.

We had some technical difficulties with the blog today so unfortunately I couldn't post some vignettes like I wanted to from the day at the Hall of Fame in Springfield until now....

Pat Riley told a great story about one of his first meetings after he arrived as coach of the Knicks. He made it clear he planned to leave his "Showtime" days in LA.

Riles met with the marketing department who wanted to ask him for ideas for that season's campaign.

"We had Patrick. We had Oak. We had Mase, Xavier McDaniel, John Starks, Mark Jackson," Riley recalled. "These guys are tough guys, they're mentally tough, physically tough, that's who they were."

So when the staff asked Riley for a theme, here's what he suggested:

"Take a camera. Put it at the top of the Garden. Shoot it down at the key. And put the chalk line of a dead person there and say, 'Just stay out of the paint.' "

"I think that's the kind of team we had," Riley said. "Maybe if I gave them a little bit more finesse, we would have won a title."

Actually, Riles did admit that the 1994 series still haunts him to this day.

"I always think I could have done something just a little more," he said. "I don't know what it was, but . . .

[Bloghost note: Um, maybe chain No. 3 to the bench in the fourth quarter (0-for-11) of Game 7??!!]

"We jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first quarter of Game 6 and I thought our guys were ready," he said. "But, I go back and I always second-guess myself on that series. When you get there, you gotta win it."

I wandered over to chat with Hakeem Olajuwon (who looks like he could still step on the court and play today...tremendous shape) and we got to talking about that '94 series. Remember he helped off Patrick on the pick-and-roll with Starks and tipped Starks' three-point attempt that would have won it. Olajuwon's block gave the Rockets an 86-84 win and forced a Game 7.

“It was a pick-and-roll and the way he had been shooting throughout the whole game, he was unconscious. I mean, he was shooting it!" Hakeem said. "So I didn’t want to take a chance of going with Patrick and letting him shoot the ball. I had to make a decision.”

Starks had 27 points in that game. His hand went infamously ice cold in the next one.

So I asked "Dream"...what if Starks had made the pass to Ewing, who rolled to the basket?

“I gambled," he said with a smile, "and it worked.”

For those who haven't seen it by now, Memphis Grizzlies beat writer Ronald Tillery posted a blog yesterday in which he said talks between the Griz and Knicks regarding Zach Randolph have reached a point where Memphis is trying to get the Knicks to take some of the deferred money in the contract (recall that Portland had a chunk of Zach's contract deferred when they signed him to it).

A person I generally trust when it comes to these matters suddenly clammed up when I asked about this most recent, quite detailed report from the Memphis side.

With Patrick Ewing's induction into the Hall of Fame tonight, I doubt the Knicks would want any news, especially a trade rumor, to overshadow Ewing's day. So stay tuned on this one . . .

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This won't exactly overshadow Ewing today, but there was some other Knicks-related news to come out. According to the Daily News, Stephon Marbury's cousin, Jamel Thomas, has a book ready to release and apparently Stephon is a target once again.

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I spoke with Charles Oakley earlier this week to get some stuff about Ewing. Oak is funny and sometimes he's unintentionally funny. It might be unintentionally funny, but Oak still has that cooking show, "Cafe Oakley", that he's hoping will get picked up for the fall. Right now SNY and the Food Network are considering it. MSG Network passed.

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I'm heading over to the Hall of Fame press conference in a few. I'll try to post more items throughout the day.

Knicks guard Jamal Crawford has agreed to write a blog for Newsday.com this year, updating us on everything from the Knicks' shot at getting back to the playoffs, to his favorite music, movies, style and even his perceptions on fans and the media.

Check out Jamal's blog, "Crawful to Crawsome" here: newsday.com/jamalblog

Sicne some of you asked, the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be broadcast on NBAtv and ESPN Classic.

The Knicks Fix will be there and we'll blog after the press conference on Friday morning.

In the meanwhile, have a listen to Patrick as a guest on the Michael Kay show yesterday on ESPN Radio.

There are times here in Fixer Nation I have to pass the mic. Willis, it was your turn. The best writing is the kind that comes straight from the heart and unfiltered. Here is Willis' post from the previous blog, which I am honored to give it's own entry on this blog.

Only wish Don LaFontaine was still around to read it out loud.

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Ultimate Warrior.

The Knicks Franchise ate lunch out on Patrick from the moment the envelope opened. Revolving Door at GM, Revolving Door at Coach, Revolving Door at Point Guard. And every year he made it work. All the while suffering the back stabbing pygmy hordes of the New York media. Quick fix after quick fix, over the hill star after over the hill star (if only Rolondo had gotten burn in that game!!!!) always "better do something now, because Patrick's knees are gonna go." Mountains of ice, oceans of sweat, and he was still there, waiting for a Pippen, his ill-fated boon companion, Bernard King, never to be by his side. Had Bernard not fallen - who would have stood in their way?

(Bloghost note: I've talked to enough people who agree that BK and Ewing would have never worked. The King wasn't about to give up shots and the post-up was his place for the most part. On paper, yes, Ewing as the shot-blocker, mid-range shooter and King as the No. 1 option would be a good 1-2 combo...as long as they had a decent guard. But where they were as players at the time, doubtful their games would have meshed. All hypothetical tho, so I'll let you carry on from here...)

Then more ruinous fate - Stu Jackson defends the honor of the league when PJ Brown tries to plant Charlie Ward headfirst and Patrick never gets to play out the string, and the Heat embarrass themselves against the Bulls. And then the year they go to the finals again, his achilles goes, and instead of Camby and Ewing against Duncan and Robinson, its LJ on a bum knee with Camby caddying the boards.

The True Warrior - the one who drawing his sword, throws the scabbard away, because there will be no other battle than this battle, the total commitment of self. He is the guarantor of his own word, winning and losing are already the same, because he will never, ever, give less than everything. No whining, no triangulation, no excuses - we will win - and he fought on carrying that whole organization on his back. That he didn't win doesn't make him a liar, doesn't make him less of a player, it is only that fate decided otherwise.

There is a reason Hector is lauded as a great hero - he took the field against the divine-born Achilles knowing he would not see the sun fall that day. There is a reason the story of 47 Ronin is still told, a story that begins AFTER the defeat of their Daimyo and their cause. Front running is easy, the other side takes more guts and heart, and truly tests the character of the man. I'm proud to have fallen with Patrick instead of winning with Michael - that was our fate, I wouldn't trade it for another.

Excellent reference, Willis. Well done.

I'll be there Friday for Patrick Ewing's induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Got this Foo Fighters song stuck in my head. Fitting, though....

There goes my hero
watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
he's ordinary.....

Not like I'm into Kleenex-sponsored nostalgia, but below is the best tribute video I could find on YouTube. If you shut off the sound (the music is a bit weepy) the highlights are a fun walk down memory lane....if you can try to ignore that none of these memories resulted in a championship.

If you loved him, you loved him for coming back every year trying again. The hard-luck fate that made him so human as opposed to Michael Jordan's aura of invincibility that made him so maddening. How could anyone be so perfect?

If you hated him, it was for his inability to be the indomitable stud he was in college (and that he was friends with Jordan, who walked into Patrick's house and ate his dinner whenever the hell he wanted to.)

Without further ado....there goes my hero, he's ordinary....