Daily News Article about the KT/Q trade.

[Djaughe]

Does anyone have any thoughts about the bolded part of the article? I don't blame Q for taking a stance with suns management...but it kinda sheds some light on why the suns threw in the 21st pick.

Knicks land Quentin and point guard too


BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

The Kurt Thomas-for-Quentin Richardson deal was finally completed last night when the Knicks agreed to take point guard Nate Robinson, the 21st selection in last night's draft, and drop their demand to have Richardson's contract insured.

"I'm excited that it's going to happen," Thomas said last night. "I was starting to think that it was over. Now, I'm looking forward to playing with Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire."

The Knicks and Suns began working on the trade last week, but the talks stalled when Isiah Thomas learned that the six-year, $44 million contract Richardson signed last summer was not insured. Richardson missed 17 games in the final month of the 2003-04 season because of a back injury. Richardson missed only three games this past season, none because of his back.

The deal appeared dead as late as 6 p.m., but with Richardson telling the Suns that he would not return to the team, Phoenix sweetened the deal by offering the 21st pick in exchange for the Knicks' second-round pick, No. 54. Phoenix used that selection to take Dijon Thompson, a 6-7 guard-forward from UCLA.

The deal for Robinson gave the Knicks three first-round picks for the first time since 1996, when Ernie Grunfeld drafted John Wallace, Walter McCarty and Dontae Jones.

Isiah Thomas went into the draft looking for a backup point guard, and there were four top players still available: Robinson, Jarrett Jack, Luther Head and high schooler Monta Ellis.

Thomas opted for Robinson, who is listed at 5-9 but looks even smaller on the court. Robinson averaged 16.4 points and four assists last season for Washington. Robinson played three seasons for the Huskies before declaring for the draft.

Robinson is a leader who is ideal for playing at a fast pace. Thomas wants to play a style similar to that of Phoenix and Seattle, by which the Knicks would spread the court with shooters - Jamal Crawford and Richardson - and take advantage of Stephon Marbury's and Robinson's ability to penetrate. Last week, Kurt Thomas received calls from several teammates to congratulate him on the trade. But over the previous two days, Thomas' phone stopped ringing. When asked about his future being in limbo two hours before the deal was announced, Thomas said: "I'm under contract, so that's the most important thing. I'm not worried about next season. It's summer time." The trade is the first of many moves Isiah Thomas is expected to make to clear out veterans with long-term contracts. Allan Houston is expected to be released and the Knicks want to trade Jerome Williams and Malik Rose.

 

[Griffin]

I don't blame Q neither, but doesn't this kind of imply that the Suns asked him if he wouldn't mind returning if the deal was called of? Did the Suns have second thoughts about the trade?

 

[Joe Mama]

I don't blame Q neither, but doesn't this kind of imply that the Suns asked him if he wouldn't mind returning if the deal was called of? Did the Suns have second thoughts about the trade?

It sounds that way to me. The mistake obviously was allowing the deal to get as far as it did before Isaiah Thomas was made aware of the insurance problem. Even before this whole mess I do not believe we could have found a better deal to unload Q. Since I believe that was something that needed to be done this summer for several reasons I think it was a good deal.

I still think Isaiah Thomas is the worst GM in the NBA. He's never going to have an offense like the Phoenix Suns because he doesn't have Steve Nash or Amare Stoudemire not to mention Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson. Marbury does not push the ball like Nash, and his outside shot is not nearly as consistent. They won't be able to duplicate the sonics because the New York Knicks outside shooters are extremely inconsistent, and they don't have the inside help that Seattle did. He's trying to duplicate the success of these teams with crappy parts. It's like Hyundai or Kia trying to make a high-end sports car except his imitation would cost twice as much as the original thing.

Joe Mama

 

[sunsfn]

The question is...............why the H......... did the suns sign Q without the insurance in the first place???

 

[Djaughe]

The question is...............why the H......... did the suns sign Q without the insurance in the first place???

I heared the insurance company wouldn't cover a pre-existing back condition...but insured everything else (i.e knees, etc).

 

[Yuma]

The question is...............why the H......... did the suns sign Q without the insurance in the first place???

Because we weren't P*ssies! Actually, if Isaih could get a first rounder from us using that excuse, good for him. He's finally growing a pair. Taking the smallest guard in the draft with that pick, Isaih is still stupid!

 

[sunsfn]

It sounds that way to me. The mistake obviously was allowing the deal to get as far as it did before Isaiah Thomas was made aware of the insurance problem. Even before this whole mess I do not believe we could have found a better deal to unload Q. Since I believe that was something that needed to be done this summer for several reasons I think it was a good deal.
Joe Mama

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I argued with you many times about trading Q...........you got on me bad!!! and saying that the suns will not trade Q this off season. And you used some strong quotes as, "no way the suns trade Q" "The suns will not trade Q they just got him" "you can not trade a player you just signed" Etc. Etc. Etc....................

Thanks a lot for ripping me JOE and then come back here like this and TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT and act like this is something you believed all the time...............you have just lost some respect from me BIG TIME!!!!

 

[fordronken]

When you read statements like that, especially from the Ny Daily News, assume that it's taken out of context and blown out of proportion. Can't you picture Richardson saying something like "After all that's gone on, it'd be a little too weird going back."?

 

[Joe Mama]

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I argued with you many times about trading Q...........you got on me bad!!! and saying that the suns will not trade Q this off season. And you used some strong quotes as, "no way the suns trade Q" "The suns will not trade Q they just got him" "you can not trade a player you just signed" Etc. Etc. Etc....................

Thanks a lot for ripping me JOE and then come back here like this and TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT and act like this is something you believed all the time...............you have just lost some respect from me BIG TIME!!!!

that's right. I did not think that the Phoenix Suns would have the balls/nerve to trade someone who just signed last year. I also didn't think it was good for future free-agent signings. I still don't. However I do now believe it was a necessary move. I already told coloradosun that he was right, and I was wrong. I'll do the same to you. You were right. They made the move and didn't wait long to do it. I was pretty surprised.

Nowhere in my posts did I say that I knew all along that Q had to be traded and would be traded. I'm saying I believe it now. Besides, in my arguing during the season I thought I made it clear that I didn't think Q could be traded or that it was a good idea to trade someone they just signed. I was also slightly easing on my stance that Q wouldn't be traded after the playoffs. Just a week or two ago I said I could see a slight chance he could be traded even though I stood firm on Shawn Marion.

Take it easy man. People are entitled to change their opinions. Besides, it was in my opinion that changed so much. I was just wrong about what the Phoenix Suns would do. If you remember, I was one of the biggest opponents to signing Q before free agency started last summer.

I'm not trying to take credit for anything, I said the Phoenix Suns would not trade Q, and I was wrong. There were several times where I told Colorado that it had nothing to do with whether I thought the team would be better moving Q. I just didn't think they would. I can see why they made the trade, and I believe they had to do it because they blew it by not re-signing JJ last summer (another move that I thought was the right one at the time, and now obviously it was a mistake). I think it's very possible that JJ was not that enthusiastic about re-signing to play alongside and fight for shots with Q for the next five years. I saw an interview with JJ a few days ago, and I don't remember him saying anything about losing Q. He just thought the acquisition of Kurt Thomas would help.


Joe

 

[Chainthroer]

Suns front office did not look good here, especially after giving away the #7 pick last year!
When you do a trade, make sure it's a done deal! Letting Isaih waffle, just put Brian in a cage.
Two thrown away first roung picks in a row. No wonder Chapman split!!

 

[elindholm]

Take it easy man. People are entitled to change their opinions.

What are you, one of them sissy liberals?

 

[Joe Mama]

Take it easy man. People are entitled to change their opinions.

What are you, one of them sissy liberals?

LOL - for the most part, yes.

I know it's hard to believe considering how well far right conservatism is working for us.

But alas... those are thoughts for another board.

Joe Mama

 

[TucsonDevil]

Hey Q, we saved you from Clipper H*** and the thanks we get is "I wouldn't go back there"?

Loser... Have fun in NY. When you take are shooting only 30% from 3-pt land while shooting twice as many as your teammates - the Press is going to burn you at the stake.

Oh, and tell Brandy that her music isn't very good, and I never did watch her show.

 

[sunsfn]

-----------------------------------------------------------
Take it easy man. People are entitled to change their opinions.
------------------------------------------------------------

Joe, you are right about the people are entitled to change their opinions.
But, I was just expressing my opinion on that the suns should think about trading Q to help this team in the long run, and you jumped all over me!!
Instead of just disagreeing with me, you made it sound like I was some dumb jerk that did not know what he was talking about.

-------------------------------------------------
I already told coloradosun that he was right, and I was wrong. I'll do the same to you. You were right.
------------------------------------------

Yes you did, but at the time you just diagreed with coloradosun, you jumped all over me with the guarantee that the suns would not trade Q now or anytime soon crap.............(and you did not apologize to me back then)

I do not axcept your apology.............period!

You an I go way back to arguing about Marion not worth his salary and then realizing that there are many others over paid more than him that are not as good etc.

I have stated many times that Sarver screwed up in not signing JJ and you have argued many times with me about that.

Now you conveniently change your mind about the Q trade and say you just did not think the suns had the balls to do that.

You have the right to change your mind as you say, and you have the right to argue about what I say on this board, but you do not have the right to act like I have no idea what I am talking about and try to make my posts seem idiotic.
I was right about Marion, I was right about JJ, and I was right about the Q trade.

And, I stated my thoughts on JJ & Q before the fact happened............

I want you to know that I did not come on this thread to argue with you or brag about what I have said in the past, but then I read your post where you say,
--------------------------------------------
Even before this whole mess I do not believe we could have found a better deal to unload Q. Since I believe that was something that needed to be done this summer for several reasons I think it was a good deal.
Joe Mama
-----------------------------------
That has got to be the biggest backtracking job that I have ever read on this site...........And I lost my cool.............

Sorry to the rest of you guys for ranting, but this needed to be said by me to Joe Mama..........

Now I am going to go and try to calm down.........

-

 

[Yuma]

Hey Q, we saved you from Clipper H*** and the thanks we get is "I wouldn't go back there"?

Loser... Have fun in NY. When you take are shooting only 30% from 3-pt land while shooting twice as many as your teammates - the Press is going to burn you at the stake.

Oh, and tell Brandy that her music isn't very good, and I never did watch her show.

What? No rip about him and his new pal Spike Lee hanging out together?

 

[Yuma]

-----------------------------------------------------------
Take it easy man. People are entitled to change their opinions.
------------------------------------------------------------

Joe, you are right about the people are entitled to change their opinions.
But, I was just expressing my opinion on that the suns should think about trading Q to help this team in the long run, and you jumped all over me!!
Instead of just disagreeing with me, you made it sound like I was some dumb jerk that did not know what he was talking about.

-------------------------------------------------
I already told coloradosun that he was right, and I was wrong. I'll do the same to you. You were right.
------------------------------------------

Yes you did, but at the time you just diagreed with coloradosun, you jumped all over me with the guarantee that the suns would not trade Q now or anytime soon crap.............(and you did not apologize to me back then)

I do not axcept your apology.............period!

You an I go way back to arguing about Marion not worth his salary and then realizing that there are many others over paid more than him that are not as good etc.

I have stated many times that Sarver screwed up in not signing JJ and you have argued many times with me about that.

Now you conveniently change your mind about the Q trade and say you just did not think the suns had the balls to do that.

You have the right to change your mind as you say, and you have the right to argue about what I say on this board, but you do not have the right to act like I have no idea what I am talking about and try to make my posts seem idiotic.
I was right about Marion, I was right about JJ, and I was right about the Q trade.

And, I stated my thoughts on JJ & Q before the fact happened............

I want you to know that I did not come on this thread to argue with you or brag about what I have said in the past, but then I read your post where you say,
--------------------------------------------
Even before this whole mess I do not believe we could have found a better deal to unload Q. Since I believe that was something that needed to be done this summer for several reasons I think it was a good deal.
Joe Mama
-----------------------------------
That has got to be the biggest backtracking job that I have ever read on this site...........And I lost my cool.............

Sorry to the rest of you guys for ranting, but this needed to be said by me to Joe Mama..........

Now I am going to go and try to calm down.........

-

there's another thread where Joe said he was wrong about resigning JJ. He also said he was wrong about us keeping Q. He admitted he was wrong, which is all anyone can really do.

I can't remember being wrong in here, but I'm sure someone can remember for me!

 

[sunsfn]

there's another thread where Joe said he was wrong about resigning JJ. He also said he was wrong about us keeping Q. He admitted he was wrong, which is all anyone can really do.

I can't remember being wrong in here, but I'm sure someone can remember for me!

Yuma, you missed the whole point of my rant.

Whenever I talked about those 3 players, Joe came on immediately to tell me how bad my suggestions were.

I will not respond anymore on this, and I will calm down soon..........

 

[newfan101]

That has got to be the biggest backtracking job that I have ever read on this site...........And I lost my cool.............

Sorry to the rest of you guys for ranting, but this needed to be said by me to Joe Mama..........

Now I am going to go and try to calm down.........

-

Wow. I think it's time for you to make the switch to Sanka.

I don't post often on this board, but I read it all the time. That said, I don't think there is a more reasonable, friendlier poster than Joe. I also don't think there is anyone more willing to accept getting something wrong. He made a prediction, got it wrong, and admitted it. Then you jumped on him. I don't think he owes you an apology for having a different opinion. But you sure should owe him one for your last two posts. But hey, that's just my opinion.

In the immortal words of Natan Thurm ... it's HIM, Joe.

 

[sunsfn]

Wow. I think it's time for you to make the switch to Sanka.

I don't post often on this board, but I read it all the time. That said, I don't think there is a more reasonable, friendlier poster than Joe. I also don't think there is anyone more willing to accept getting something wrong. He made a prediction, got it wrong, and admitted it. Then you jumped on him. I don't think he owes you an apology for having a different opinion. But you sure should owe him one for your last two posts. But hey, that's just my opinion.

In the immortal words of Natan Thurm ... it's HIM, Joe.

You very obviously do not read all the posts...........!

 

[Chaplin]

You very obviously do not read all the posts...........!

Dude, sunsfn, you've really got to chill out. There's disagreements all the time on this board, no need to freak out so much.

 

[sunsfn]

Dude, sunsfn, you've really got to chill out. There's disagreements all the time on this board, no need to freak out so much.

You obviously do not read all the posts either..........

 

[Yuma]

You very obviously do not read all the posts...........!

I know! I know! I've been hammered here on certain takes, and the FEW times I've been right, noone that hammered me ever came back and even admitted I was right. Not saying that's good. Just that this is the nature of this board. I know how you feel.

There's been guys here that we've po'd each other bad. Then two months later, we are getting each other's back in a thread!

I know this won't help. Sometimes ranting seems like it helps. Just wait and see. Sometime in the future you and Joe will be on the same page, if you haven't been on other threads before now!

 

[sunsfn]

I know! I know! I've been hammered here on certain takes, and the FEW times I've been right, noone that hammered me ever came back and even admitted I was right. Not saying that's good. Just that this is the nature of this board. I know how you feel.

There's been guys here that we've po'd each other bad. Then two months later, we are getting each other's back in a thread!

I know this won't help. Sometimes ranting seems like it helps. Just wait and see. Sometime in the future you and Joe will be on the same page, if you haven't been on other threads before now!

I agree, and I do not have any problems with people disagreeing with me at all, (that is what this site is all about) but my problem is somewhat different in that for some reason joe mama has really been a thorn in my side for some time, and then later he changes his mind about the subject completely. If he just disagreed with me that would be fine.

(Well chaplin has been a thorn in everyones side at one time or the other, but that is another story as they say)

I am sure that I will agree with joe and he will agree with me on something some day........well? maybe.

-

 

[Mainstreet]

Suns front office did not look good here, especially after giving away the #7 pick last year!
When you do a trade, make sure it's a done deal! Letting Isaih waffle, just put Brian in a cage.
Two thrown away first roung picks in a row. No wonder Chapman split!!

I nominate Isiah Thomas for Executive of the Year. He sure cleaned BC's clock.

 

[JPlay]

The Knicks raped us on this deal....for Kurt freekin Thomas. A guy who averaged 10+ rebounds for the first time in his career last year on a knicks team that had no other big men.

We should have kept Q and Nate Robinson.

I think the only reason this trade is happening is because we can't afford JJ and Amare down the line.