You weren’t signed to be the New York Knicks GM

Did I get your attention?  Are you aware of how the NY Knicks front office is structured?  Yes – sounds like Matrix management 101. Correct?  If not, let’s talk about it – after “CEO” James Dolan forced the “GREAT” Donnie Walsh out the door – the organizational chart morphed to GM by committee.  Please note that James Dolan has ALL the say and listens to his own advisor.

• Glen Grunwald – Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations
• Allan Houston – Assistant General Manager / GM, Erie BayHawks *HEIR APPARENT GM*
• John Gabriel – Director, Pro Scouting, Free Agency
• Mark Warkentien – Director, Player and Pro Player Personnel
• Isiah Thomas – FIU Coach, Un-Official Advisor to James Dolan *HONORABLE MENTION*

OK, so in my opinion, the un-official – NY Knicks GM is none other than Small Forward – Carmelo Anthony.  Last season, Carmelo Anthony held the Denver Nuggets hostage – the 24 hour news cycle replayed audio of Melo refusing to be a rental player and solely focusing on getting to New York and executing his max contract prior to the lockout.  The hell with that fact the NY Knicks had to gut the team for their superstar small forward.  It’s still a mystery – who was working with James Dolan  and why Amare’ Stoudemire was more informed than former-GM-Donnie Walsh and Head Coach Mike D’Antoni.   Now, you possess the best front court in basketball – but, you’re missing the key piece – an awesome point guard to quarterback the offense.

Now, there’s talk of Carmelo requesting the Knicks to pick up Kenyon Martin with the remainder of their mid-level player exception – a player that won’t be available until March 2012, due to his contract.  Not discounting Martin, but he’s never been healthy for an extended period of time.  Not a fan of this idea – but where would you play him?  Who loses out on minutes?  Carmelo must have a master plan!

Shouldn’t we focus on playing DEFENSE and SACK the Point Forward experiment.  You have to find out a way for Amare’ and Carmelo to co-exist (not sure if this can happen) until wildcard – Baron Davis is healthy enough to play point guard.  Mike D’Antoni (the offensive guru) isn’t the answer and is on borrowed time and Melo taking 31 shots to get 35 points is a recipe for destruction.  Mike Woodson & Tyson Chandler – please enforce your will.  If not, then I’m sure Phil Jackson is sitting in Montana somewhere awaiting Melo’s phone call.  I’m un-sure of the chatter of Amare’ being dangled as trade bait for Dwight Howard – because you still need someone to distribute the ball.

My thoughts are Glen Grunwald continues as the person on the books handling the bulk of the duties.  Behind the scenes – Melo is by proxy the De-facto GM through Mark Warkentien for the immediate future.  Warkentien is a former Denver Nuggets senior executive that was hired by the NY Knicks prior to the Melo acquisition.  Warkentien has the chops and experience to deal with Isiah whispering in Dolan’s ear and ability to be a puppet for pupper master – Carmelo Anthony.

The 2013 NY Knicks starting five could look like:

• Carmelo Anthony – Small Forward
• Tyson Chandler – Power Forward
• Dwight Howard – Center
• Iman Shumpert – Shooting Guard
• Deron Williams – Point Guard

Now, this lineup allows Melo to hold the ball at the top of the key – drop step – and jack up 15 foot jump shots – 30 Xs a night.