New York Knicks: A look back at the beginning of the fall from grace

Traded draft picks come back to haunt the Knicks

In the 2000- 01 season, the Knicks were able to make it into the playoffs with a regular-season record of 48-34 but were swept by the Raptors in the first round. It wouldn’t be until the 2003-04 season that the Knicks would again see the floor outside of the regular season.

With the season over and the draft approaching, Knicks fans could at least look forward to the possibility of getting, new talent via the draft. They did have two first-round picks from the Ewing trade after all.

Oh, wait. No, they didn’t. Because by that time, Layden had traded away all of his first-round picks in an attempt to do something the Knicks have repeatedly tried and failed to do since then. Make one move to bring the team back into contention rather than simply biting the bullet and deciding it was time to rebuild.

For the first of what would be several times in the future, traded draft picks would cause the Knicks to miss out on guys who went on to have NBA careers that ranged from good to all-time great. This time around, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Jamaal Tinsley, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas were all picked in the neighborhood of the picks that had been traded away.

Instead, Layden decided to spend $100 million on a six-year deal with Allan Houston. This was, at the time, the largest contract in Knicks’ history. Houston had averaged 18.7 points in the 2000-01 season and two seasons later in 2002-03 would have the best scoring season of his career averaging 22.5.

But during the following two years, the unwieldy length of the contract would come into play as Houston would miss a total of 94 games. Since Houston was already 30 when the deal was made, even without the benefit of hindsight, it seems like a two or three-year agreement would have been more prudent.

Layden also moved Rice after only one season to bring in Howard Eisley who was already 29 and had never been particularly productive, and Shandon Anderson who was also in his late 20s and whose career had been so-so at best.

In the time they spent in New York, they combined to average only 6.9 points. Both also came with long-term deals. The Knicks’ front-office had backed themselves into a corner with aging, minimally productive veterans on too long contracts and no salary room or draft picks to bring in new blood.