...is that Randolph, unless he’s been running sprints every second since the end of last year, is massively overweight. I remember seeing a Knicks game last year and being unable to believe how heavy both he and Curry were. They were almost spilling out of the armpits of their jerseys. It doesn’t strike me as a good fit in that regard, and that’s without considering the drawbacks you yourself pointed out. When you consider that Randolph’s prime years would likely block Brandan Wright, who I suspect has a much higher ceiling than Randolph had/will continue to have… mark me down as skeptical. In all honesty, I might even rather see Richard Hendrix crashing around down low. Granted, you of all people know a hell of a lot more about the game than a fan like I might ever, but from an outsider’s perspective, a Randolph acquisition would force me to consider rescinding what I’ve maintained for a couple years now; that Mullin knows what he’s doing.

The Rasheed thing is an interesting thought (and I’m sure while he’s much older than Randolph, he’d be infinitely more useful). God knows I’m no number cruncher, but there are some interesting ways I think you could make a deal without stripping the team bare. I don’t have their salaries in front of me, but wouldn’t it seem reasonable that you might snag Rasheed for Harrington, Azubuike/Belinelli (whichever they prefer, though I don’t know if you’re allowed to trade Azubuike so soon after resigning) and CJ Watson? Azubuike can back up both at the 2 and the 3, playing behind Prince and coming in whenever Hamilton/Stuckey are off or injured. Harrington is basically a wash when it comes to three point shooting with Rasheed, albeit he’s a far less skilled player, he’s also younger on a team that’s getting long in the tooth. Watson probably won’t see minutes with us, even though I’d rather have him than Marcus Williams, and he might be able to vie for backup minutes against the jurassic Lindsay Hunter.

In return we’d get Sheed, which would leave us with this (let’s assume we have to give up Kelenna).

PG Ellis/Williams
SG Jackson/Belinelli (Morrow?)
SF Maggette/Randolph (Morrow?)
PF Wallace/Wright/Hendrix
C Biedrins/Turiaf

That’s eleven players, ten if we don’t resign Morrow, but our starting lineup begins to look like one that could actually play some defense. Depending on Rasheed’s conditioning and how many minutes he’d play, I think he could be a 15/8 guy on this team, getting open threes and working the post occasionally. That may sound a lot like what Al did, but Sheed’s got the D.

And then I stopped asking questions and starting to just take it for what it is. Zach Randolph had a really bad year with the Knicks, but he’s talented, versatile, productive and should be entering his prime ..

as for your description of his good qualities… how do you get “versatile”?

i dont think post makes you lose credibility or whatever. if anything, it shows how even in your more off-the-wall ideas, you present a well thought out and modest view.

a two way guy at the 4 would be great to have and maybe help hide some deficiencies that mags and monta have on d. but Zach Freaking Randolph NO thanks. i think there is one more deal left to be made and it should be made at this position but again Zach Freaking Randolph NO. i dont think that we are that desparate for a 4. it would be nice to get a more proven player but not Zach Freaking Randolph.

i would rather have AK47. i know this would never happen but he would be better hit for our style of play. so would amare or jsmith.

if it werent by pree….

but anyway, zach randolph has a rediculous contract. so i dont get why we would give anything up for a more expensive version of harrington

harrington had a bad year last year but the dude is not a good center. shit, hes only 6’9! now that we have turiaf, he should be able to primarily be a forward

can’t compare with the misunderstood raps against Baron or Stack. Talent aside, and his ain’t so great anyway, I’d take Artest’s craziness over Randolph’s ANY DAY. We don’t need him.

enough said…

I think our squad is going to be full of hungry, young, talented guys who are going to grow close as the year goes on. Watching all that joy and the potential for running other squads off the floor is going to be fun. Honestly, I am a bit nervous that unless maggette drinks the Nelson koolaid he may dampen the potential for this entertainment.
Randolph would seriously slow this down as well as have the “collect my paycheck journeyman” mentality. I worry about how it impacts the chemistry and how much it limits the growth of our younger players.

I am not sure of the logistics but he would be the player I would rather have and Utah would trade him.

I agree with the majority on this post. I don’t even think Zach Randolph can dunk a basketball! Our team is known for exciting basketball and we wouldn’t want a PF that can’t dunk! LOL. If I were to trade for a Knicks forward, I would much rather have David Lee at a lower salary. Or might as well sign and trade for Josh Smith if we’re gonna take on Randolph’s salary.

than you guys are giving credit for.

Zach Randolph is a much better player than Al Harrington. Zach is also very available because of his bad contract so he wouldn't cost very much. The Knicks would love to get rid of the 17 million they owe Randolph in 2010-2011 - meaning they would clear his salary for the infamous summer of 2010. 
   If we didn't have Don Nelson as coach I'd say no, because getting Zach, Jax, Maggette, and Monta to coexist would be no small task. But because we have the luxury of the Don, I would really be for any move that improves our team's talent level with little cost, and this move fits that description.

1. Marginal talent increase (no D, kills our style of play, not a likeable player, bad attitude)
2. Adds 2010 Salary. The whole reason the Knicks want to get rid of him is to make a FA run in 2010. Why would we give up our cap space in 2010? Adding a true superstar (IE NOT Randolph) in 2010 would make us legitimate contenders with a core of Player X, Monta, Maggette, and Beans. Throw in one of Wright and Anthony Randolph, and you’re seriously a contender.

2010:
Scenario A:
Stud PG
Monta
Maggette
Wright/Randolph
Beans

Scenario B:
Monta
Maggette
STUD signing
Wright/Randolph
Beans

Either way, Zach Randolph is not the solution, and would just be a problem.

I think Pree’s credibility is why people aren’t bashing this, which is fine, since he’s earned it.

im all in for artest, jsmith, or even prince…......but randolph….gimme a break

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lvYf08X6tc

Championships don’t happen right away…the Celtics are the exception, not the rule (they were aided by an idiot former Celtic who screwed his own team by accepting a subpar offer for his superstar)...McHale if you’re slow

If you are a serious fan, and want a championship. The most logical road is this-

2008-2009 and 2009-2010- Fringe playoffs, build experience, develop Monta, Beans, Wright, Randolph, further. Losing a first round series or two is GOOD experience.

2010 Summer- Sign a big free agent. We’re not probably not going to get LeBron or Wade, but Amare, Bosh, Nowitski, or even Yao is possible. We’d be an attractive destination compared to other teams with similar space (Miami, New Jersey, the Cavs, all would have less talent on their roster)

2010-2013
Compete. When Maggette is your 3rd or 4th option, Monta in his prime is your #2, and Players like Beans and Wright or Randolph are your role players, you’re in GREAT shape. There’s no guarantees in Basketball, but this is a nice position to be in.

BE PATIENT. Randolph and similar junk isn’t worth it.

Do you think it’s just a coincidence that the Blazers dump Randolph on the Knicks, and the Blazers go from being arguably one of the worst teams in the league two years ago to respectable last year, even without their #1 pick (Oden). I mean, they got rid of this supposed “star” coming off a career year for the amazing Channing Frye and the right to have to pay Steve Francis a butt load of money to never set foot in their gym.

Randolph, who pretty much was one of the main reasons why the Knicks were perhaps one of the worst teams in NBA history, if not th worst considering their ridiculous payroll, lack of draft picks that would have been top 5 (thanks Eddy Curry trade).

Randolph is a career loser in the NBA, and will always be a loser

im sure Pree knows alot more about these players than we all think we do… Zach Randolph is a 20-10 guy, is a beast in the post and is definitely better way more than a slight edge over Harrington. its just a matter of whether hes worth paying the money and hed fit in our system.

I dont see how people can hate on Zach because of his bad attitude when we had baron and jax. If you want someone with a good attitude, pick up mark madsen or dan dickau. By taking a gamble, thats how u get the steals on guys like artest, zach or rasheed.

The Trail Blazers traded Randolph (plus a couple other minor players) for Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and a 2008 2nd round pick. Frye is coming off the bench, and is decent for them, I guess. They immediately bought out Francis’ contract, with two years left, for a reported $31 million.

Yes, that’s right, the Blazers paid $31 million to get rid of Zach Randolph.

I don’t want to take on Z-bo’s contract on the off chance Nellie gets through to him. Nellie might, but he is probably only going to be here one more year and there is no way Keith Smart or whoever the coach is next can get through to him.

I don’t understand why everyone is so eager to dump Harrington in a trade. He’s 40% from 3-point! Now with Turiaf and Hendrix and Biedrins there should be less focus of trying to get him to rebound and he can focus on being a sharpshooter.

I like him as a 6th man

Randolph got fat last season playing under Isiah Thomas. I think it’s easy to lose all motivation to succeed when you play for a coach that you’re convinced isn’t going to be able to make things happen in a positive direction.

In any case, I don’t know if I’m convinced either way just yet. Yes, he’s fat and expensive, but this notion that he effs up the Warriors’ plans for 2010 needs to be visited.

By my calculation, the Warriors are going to have somewhere in the neighborahood of $49-million committed in 2010 with Monta, Biedrins, Maggette, Turiaf, Azubuike (PO), Wright (TO), Randolph (TO), and Belinelli (TO). Marcus Williams is an RFA that year. This is assuming that Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, and Kosta Perovic aren’t brought back.

OK, so that ~$50-million means that the Warriors will likely have about $8-9-million in cap space, depending on where it stands. When you factor in two first round picks that will go into that, your number falls about $2-million, so now you’re looking at about $6-7 million in cap space, provided the team does nothing else.

Is that the kind of money that will bring in a superstar to Golden State?

So I’m not sure the argument that Randolph’s contract will mess up future potential free-agent signings is the best argument against him. If you feel that $16-million is too much for him as it is, that I can understand, but don’t cloud that with this notion that the Warriors will be able to do so many things if they don’t get him. The reality is that they won’t be able to with or without him.

Now, as far as him being fat, I can argue that Zeke had a role to play in that, but there’s no way I can deny that this is an issue. He’ll have to get in shape and recommit himself to the Randolph that had ridiculously quick feet for those spin moves. I like that he is able to both take opponents off the dribble and knock down outside shots and grab rebounds, but we haven’t seen it in a year and a half.

I’ll admit that. But I’m not willing to admit he’s complete trash. I have a soft spot for guys that have to endure the punishment that was Isiah Thomas as a coach and I’m willing to give him a second chance ONLY because the Warriors are giving up almost nothing for him. Belinelli is a nice player, but won’t ever be a starter on this team and Kosta is a prime buyout candidate.

is the WORST defensive power forward in the nba. easily.

He’s making 17mil in a couple of years. There are far better ways to spend that money.

that zach randolph is a big upgrade over al harrington?? and we’d be throwing away bellinelli, losing depth, paying randolphs discuting contract. personally i think this is horrible.