Knicks owner James Dolan said last summer that Isiah Thomas was on notice and that he wanted to see considerable improvement this season or changes would be made. Apparently, a 29-34 record – currently good enough for the #8 seed in the lowly East – represents enough progress, so much so that Dolan decided to extend Thomas to a non-disclosed, multi-year deal.
More than the record, Dolan praised Thomas for getting the team to play together and for the improvement in the Knicks’ young players. Second-year forward David Lee has become one of the NBA’s best sixth men, and Eddy Curry has turned into one of the top centers in the East.
“I think every player has done well under Isiah,” Dolan said. “I think we have a great future.”
Thomas is certainly a better coach than he is a GM, but since he’s been scientifically proven to be the worst GM in the NBA, that isn’t saying a whole hell of a lot. Virtually every trade he has made has backfired in one way or another, and the team is in horrible shape in relation to the salary cap. But after this season, an astounding $52 M will come off the payroll, as the salaries of Allan Houston, Jalen Rose, Maurice Taylor, Shandon Anderson and Jerome Williams will be erased from the books. To put that $52 M into perspective, it’s more than the total payroll of the Hawks and the Bobcats.
This extension brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “rewarding mediocrity.”
