Thomas’ decisions could hurt Knicks in the long run

It is a wonderful time to be a New York Knicks fan.

Just two months ago, the… It is a wonderful time to be a New York Knicks fan.

Just two months ago, the Knickerbockers were a punch line to a bad joke, wallowing in the muck of a double-digits-under-.500 record despite being in one of the largest media markets in the NBA. Latrell Sprewell, who had been arguably the Knicks’ best and most popular player before being dealt by then-team president Scott Layden, was having a career season over in Minnesota, and angry Knicks fans were calling for the heads of both Layden and head coach Don Chaney.

And then, just in time for Christmas, Santa brought the Knicks the bad boy with the big smile.

Since taking over for Layden as Knicks team president in late December, Isiah Thomas has dealt or cut eight of the players that were on the Knicks’ opening-day roster in October. He has also fired Chaney and replaced him with the NBA’s all-time wins leader, Lenny Wilkens. And in the process, he has re-kindled the love affair between New York City and its beloved Knicks.

Seeing Coney Island native Stephon Marbury in the orange and blue is like seeing Andy Taylor back in Duran Duran; it just feels right. Thomas’ recent acquisition of Tim Thomas will help the Knicks run the floor more effectively, and Nazr Mohammad will relieve Dikembe Mutombo of some of the pressure in the paint, as well as provide an insurance policy in case Kurt Thomas decides to test the free agent market. After starting off the year so poorly, the Knicks are right back in the midst of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, and I can once again wear my old Anthony Mason jersey in public without feeling completely humiliated.

No, things haven’t been this good for the Knicks since their unlikely run to the NBA Finals in 1999. So if you’re a Knicks fan like me, enjoy the excitement while it lasts.

Because in two years, the Knicks are going to be even worse than they were before Isiah came on the scene.

Thomas obviously had goals of completely overhauling the Knicks’ assets, winning immediately in a weakened Atlantic division, and making the Knicks important in New York again. And to his credit, he was successful on all three fronts. But in improving the Knicks’ immediate fortunes, Thomas has unabashedly traded away the future of the franchise.

The Knicks have dealt two future first-round draft picks and their 2005 second-round draft pick in their three trades under Thomas’ tutelage. What they have acquired in exchange are two maximum-salary players, under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, in Marbury and Penny Hardaway. This only exacerbates the salary cap problems for a team that already has a maximum-salary player in Allan Houston and just bought Mutombo out of his maximum-salary deal.

Hardaway and Mutombo are in the twilights of their respective careers, and the Knicks have ensured that they will not be able to bring any young blood to the Big Apple by taking themselves completely out of the draft for the next two to three years. Much like the New York Rangers, the Knicks seem intent on picking up the mammoth contracts of players that were signed by other teams based on potential and either suffered career-altering injuries or never lived up to the hype, and I can’t help but look at this squad that Thomas has assembled and think that, if this were 1998, the Knicks would be a powerhouse.

What’s even more upsetting about Thomas’ personnel moves is that no one in the Eastern Conference has any chance of competing for the NBA title with any of the top five teams out West for at least the next three years. So essentially, Thomas is gambling away his future to compete for the Eastern Conference title. By the time some of the great Western Conference teams start to disband, the Knicks’ window of opportunity for winning it all will have slammed shut, and New York will be left with a glorified Big East All-Star team, much like it suffered under with Layden at the helm.

So thanks for making this year interesting, Zeke. I will enjoy watching the Knicks once again compete in the playoffs come spring. But enjoy your applause while it lasts, because unless you prove to be the shrewdest front office manager in the history of professional sports, Knicks fans will be calling for your head in 2006 the way that they called for Layden’s head in 2003.