Thomas a draft-day magician

I don't know what New York Knicks GM/Coach Isiah Thomas eats for breakfast on draft day, but whatever it is he should do it more often.

Thomas might be a bumbling, directionless GM 364 days a year. On draft day, however, the guy turns into a magician.

The Knicks seemed like they would be spectators in last night's draft, having dealt their lottery pick to Chicago a couple of years back for Eddy Curry. Yet, seemingly out of left field, Thomas was able to engineer a trade for Zach Randolph, a dominant low-post player who averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds a game for Portland last season.

On top of that, he did it at hardly any cost to the Knicks. True, he gave up young F/C Channing Frye, but Frye will never be more than a decent complementary player. He won't be a star. And, Thomas actually got the Blazers to take the unwanted and incredibly expensive Steve Francis off the Knicks' hands.

Thomas has not been able to turn the Knicks back into contenders, and I've often questioned whether he can ever lead this team out of mediocrity. You can't argue with his work on draft day, however.

Last year he took Renaldo Balkman, a high energy guy who nobody thought was a first-round pick. Balkman turned into a valuable reserve. He has also drafted rebounding machine David Lee, Frye and Nate Robinson while with the Knicks. Last night, Thomas also drafted another unheralded player, DePaul's Wilson Chandler. Let's see if his magic touch continues with that move.

Back to the Randolph trade, though. Is there a better front line in the Eastern Conference now than Randolph, Curry and Lee? I can't think of one. There certainly isn't another team with two low-post scoring threats like Randolph and Curry, who just went from being the centerpiece of the Knicks offense to their second option.

There is one huge question, though, and that is whether Randolph can stay out of trouble in the bright lights of New York City.

Newsday summarizes the risk, and Randolph's checkered past, this way.

There will be heavy scrutiny of his behavior off the court. The 25-year-old Randolph's career has been littered with trouble, generally involving guns and violence. In 2004, he was arrested for driving under the influence and also was accused by police of lying in an investigation involving his brother, who allegedly shot three men at an Indiana nightclub. In 2002, Randolph was suspended after he punched former teammate Ruben Patterson during practice and broke his eye socket.

This past season, Randolph requested a three-game bereavement leave to attend the funeral of his girlfriend's cousin in his home state of Indiana, but it later was discovered he was at a strip club in Portland. And last fall he was sued for assault and also was sued for sexual assault, though no charges were filed.

Fact is, though, before this move the Knicks were a moribund team that was going nowhere and generating no buzz in the city.

That's not the case now. You could tell by the jubilant reaction of Spike Lee and the pro-Knicks crowd in attendance at last night's draft that the deal energized Knicks fans.

So, Thomas likely filled some seats in Madison Square Garden, which will make ownership happy. And, provided Randolph behaves himself, he probably just put the Knicks in the playoffs -- which will keep him employed.

The guy knows how to work draft day. Give him credit for that.

technorati tags: Isiah Thomas, Zach Randolph, Channing Frye, New York Knicks, Portland TrailBlazers