Should New York Be Happy They Got Jeffries?
Before reading what I have to say, it’s best that you read this article by Chris Mannix entitled “A Perfect Fit”. So yeah the Knicks got Jared Jeffries from the Wizards and gave him a 30 million dollar contract over five years. Yes he is a very good defensive player which gives him value inspite of the unimpressive numbers. Defense seems to be something quite absent in the Knicks roster so Jeffries and Renaldo Balkman are nice additions to the roster.
So to answer the question, “should New York be happy with Jeffries?” The answer is yes, but only because he does fit into the character of the Knicks roster. You need role players to do the dirty work. My only concern is that Knicks roster is still pretty much the same one as last year. The same one that got the worst record in franchise history. You can’t blame this all on Larry Brown. The roster is flawed! Too many name players to juggle around in so little minutes: Steve Francis, Jalen Rose, Stephon Marbury, Quentin Richardson, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford. How do you make room for them while making room for Channing Frye, Nate Robinson, David lee, Mardy Collins, Renaldo Balkman and now Jared Jeffries? That still doesn’t count Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose. The answer: you can’t! Why do you think Jalen Rose and Steve Francis rode the bench last season? In other words you have the most expensive team in the league with essentially overpaid bench warmers since Isiah won’t be able to use them all to ther full potential. And Jeffries is no different.
The Knicks need to clean up their roster by getting rid of those players with bad contracts - easier said than done. The Knicks need more role players which is why I really despised the Steve Francis trade because they got rid of a very promising young role player in Trevor Ariza and I despised the Jalen Rose trade even more because it was absolutely unnecessary. They could have taken the huge expiring contract of Antonio Davis off their books if only they waited.
Believe me, the Knicks are going to suffer from their contract situations year in and year out for a loooong time. The signing of Jeffries only adds to that problem. Don’t get me wrong. Jeffries is the type of guy they need. His contract isn’t.
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1 opinion for Should New York Be Happy They Got Jeffries?
NBA Obsessed » Dolan: Don’t Add To The Payroll!
Jan 1, 2007 at 1:00 pm
[...] Remember when I said the Knicks are going to have a hard time dealing with that financial mess of a payroll called their team roster? Looks like it’s sooner more than later. James Dolan, owner of the Knicks, advised Isiah Thomas to not add to the payroll significantly. The Knicks recently added a heaping $30 million contract from the Jared Jeffries deal and that was enough for Dolan to say “enough already!” [...]
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