Bill Walker considered to be a part of Knicks "team foundation" for the future

[openairmovie]

pretty high praise for a guy you all felt was on Gerald Greens level... and he was just a throw in for a guy that we cut and a guy that A. wont resign here and B.  wont play much in the playoffs......keep defending Ainge on this move guys  say  what you want about the guy when he was here  I know alot of you say "oh if he was good he would have played" but the coach has to let him play regardless of how good he is. Doc rarely gave him the chance to prove himself in games and this WILL come back to bite them. Stupid move to give away Walker in this deal, real stupid


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/D-Antoni-Knicks-record-won-t-scare-free-agents;_ylt=AsgElEUgDevQz29qKineCwA5nYcB?urn=nba,233835

Link to the quote and story

[Fafnir]

Isn't D'Antoni supposed to hype his current team to try and sell New York to LeBron and other big time free agents?

What's next a link to a statement from Bill Walker's agent declaring him: "awesome"?

[nickagneta]

While I'll give him props that he has put up some good offensive numbers on a horrible team that plays an exceedingly fast pace while they played out the string, I'll be interested in seeing how he reacts to people actually playing defense on him next year to stop him when the games count. And by that I mean when it isn't already crystal clear that New York is a horrible team that you can just out score and not have to try hard against because they obviously suck.

Bill also has to improve what is the absolute worst part of his game and probably one of the reasons he is still not here, his defense.

But so far, in New York, he has shown he can play offense, though I will preface that with saying, he is playing in a D'Antoni offense at the end of a season when teams aren't really taking the Knicks very seriously.

[PosImpos]

Billy's been pretty good for them so far, and just going by his numbers you'd definitely think the Celtics missed out on something.  But his numbers haven't been put up in too many winning efforts.  

There are a lot of players who can't make it on most teams in this league who can put up good numbers on teams that don't care about defense - just take a look at all those D-League "scrubs" suddenly putting up stats on the Warriors.  Only time will tell if Walker can remain a productive member of a team that's actually fighting to win games.

I really like Skywalker, but in some ways I'm really hoping he doesn't turn out to be the next Chauncey or Joe Johnson...that would be painful.  I doubt it, though.

[Lucky17]

D'Antoni suggested that the team's foundation consists of Danilo Gallinari(notes), Wilson Chandler(notes), Toney Douglas(notes) and Bill Walker(notes). "We're in a position to add two superstars or a lot of good players. We have to have a great summer.

Of course these four guys are part of the Knicks "foundation". Gallinari, Chandler, and Douglas are the only fully guaranteed contracts on their roster for next year, and Walker is a minimum-level contract. (Eddy Curry is under a player option, and likely will be back; while Sergio Rodriguez is an RFA.)

If Walker were making more than peanuts, I guarantee he'd be cut to free up even more cap space to land a free agent.

[incoherent]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

[LB3533]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

I think Eddie is hurt, so no I wouldn't make that trade right now.

The thing with Bill Walker for me right now is he is essentially a glorified version of Ricky Davis, until he can prove to help a winning ball club.

[Fafnir]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

I think Eddie is hurt, so no I wouldn't make that trade right now.

The thing with Bill Walker for me right now is he is essentially a glorified version of Ricky Davis, until he can prove to help a winning ball club.

Ricky Davis was a much better player than Bill Walker has ever been at this point.

I do think that Ricky Davis could be Walker's ceiling, but I think he's not a headcase.

[CbrewEra]

Nice job seing the talent Danny, terrible job not giving a shot at developing it Doc.

[Roy Hobbs]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

Since it doesn't look like Nate will be in the playoff rotation according to Doc, I'd say you almost have to.

I'm not as harsh on Walker as others, and I wish he'd gotten a chance here.  I understand why the trade was made, but I really wish Doc had force-fed Walker some minutes over the last two years (especially when Paul was talking about being tired to the media).

That being said, I doubt very much that Walker turns into a star.  However, I do think he can have a long career in the league as a Ron Mercer type guy (with more range), basically providing instant offense.

[guava_wrench]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

Wasn't Robinson also producing much more for NY?

Also, we need Robinson more than Walker. We have Finley, Quis, and TA to backup the 2/3. Robinson is our only real backup 1.

I suppose an argument could be made that we would not have picked up Finley if we were playing Walker, so we might have picked up a backup 1 -- but we didn't have the roster spot. So we would have had to cut JR.

[Roy Hobbs]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

I think Eddie is hurt, so no I wouldn't make that trade right now.

The thing with Bill Walker for me right now is he is essentially a glorified version of Ricky Davis, until he can prove to help a winning ball club.

Ricky Davis was a much better player than Bill Walker has ever been at this point.

I do think that Ricky Davis could be Walker's ceiling, but I think he's not a headcase.

I'd take a non-headcase Ricky Davis on my team any day (not that I'm saying that you're disagreeing).

[footey]

Despite Doc's proclamation on the rotation, I have a strong feeling that Nate will win at least one play-off game for us.

[Fafnir]

If the Knicks offered us Bill Walker and House for Nate Robinson right now, do we do it?

I think Eddie is hurt, so no I wouldn't make that trade right now.

The thing with Bill Walker for me right now is he is essentially a glorified version of Ricky Davis, until he can prove to help a winning ball club.

Ricky Davis was a much better player than Bill Walker has ever been at this point.

I do think that Ricky Davis could be Walker's ceiling, but I think he's not a headcase.

I'd take a non-headcase Ricky Davis on my team any day (not that I'm saying that you're disagreeing).

Oh I would too, he was a major talent.

I suppose I should say I think Bill Walker's overall ceiling is the same as Davis's ended up being. Walker isn't a headcase like Ricky, but he isn't as talented either. Especially not after so many knee issues.

[Roy Hobbs]

Despite Doc's proclamation on the rotation, I have a strong feeling that Nate will win at least one play-off game for us.

In terms of evaluating the trade, though, the question has got to be will Nate win more playoff games for us than Eddie would have, right?

Because if Eddie and Nate are even, that means we threw in Walker for free, which doesn't seem to be great value.