Marbury trade triggers thoughts of past deals.
By: Hank Kalet
This week’s Tuesday Top Ten commemorates what I think is a great trade by the Knicks to acquire Brooklyn-native Stephon Marbury. I’m hoping this deal will eventually rank among the best in franchise history, but we’ll have to wait to know.
Here are the top 10 from my era (I can’t speak of the trades made before the mid-1960s, though I’d appreciate any thoughts anyone might offer).
1. 1968: sent Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives to the Detroit Pistons for Dave DeBusschere, the final piece of the 1969-1970 championship team. This deal stands on its own, way above the rest in terms of its impact.
2. 1971: sent Mike Riordan and Dave Stallworth to Baltimore for Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, creating the greatest backcourt in NBA history.
3. 1988: sent Bill Cartwright to Chicago for Charles Oakley, a trade that gave the Knicks a ferocious rebounder and gutter defender to watch Patrick Ewing’s back. He earned the love and admiration of Knick fans and his never-ending effort made him one of the greatest Knicks of all time.
4. 1971: sent Cazzie Russell for Jerry Lucas. Lucas helped solidify a Knick frontline given Will Reed’s bum knee.
5. 1983: sent Michael Ray Richardson to Golden State for Bernard King, who went on to score 26.3 points a game including back-to-back 50-point efforts.
6. 1965: sent Bob Boozer to Los Angeles for guard Dick Barnett, who paired with a young Walt Frazier and helped with the first title in franchise history.
7 and 8. 1998: sent John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings to Golden State for Latrell Sprewell and sent Charles Oakley to Toronto for Marcus Camby. These deals helped the Knicks get back to the finals. Both trades were a little painful, given the contributions of Starks and Oak, but necessary.
9 and 10. 1996: sent Charles Smith and Monty Williams to San Antonio for J.R. Reid and Brad Lohaus and Herb Williams and Doug Christie to Toronto for Willie Anderson and Victor Alexander. The trades, taken together, cleared enough salary-cap space to allow Knicks to go out and sign Allan Houston and Chris Childs in offseason. (Christie, however, eventually turned into a defensive stopper. He had never been given the opportunity to play by defensive-minded coach Pat Riley, one of Riley’s truly big mistakes as Knicks coach.)
Offer some comments by clicking below or e-mailing me here.