It's never too early to start bashing Isiah Thomas

Which NBA GM wants to sign an underachieving big man and a health problem so serious that he can't be insured? Isiah Thomas, of course.

Meanwhile, NY Times charts the Knicks' glorious path since the departure of Patrick Ewing. Towards the end of the article, Isiah makes a distinction between the mistakes of his predecessors and his spending habits, and you know what? He has a point. Almost.

Check the list of NBA contracts, scroll down to the Knicks and you'll see that the majority of the salaries have '06 and '07 next to them. It helps that the team is considerably younger and balanced than it was two seasons ago.

Now, let's accept that they had to get Stephon Marbury to fill the seats in the Garden. You still have to be bothered that the bulk of the money due goes beyond '07, including the player option that Malik Rose will surely take to '09. And how does Q-Rich fit into this scheme, bad back and all? They'll probably have to overpay to keep Trevor Ariza, about the only Knick who earned his pay and I haven't even mentioned Jerome James and his $30 million yet.

BTW, what's with Portland's fascination with 6-3ish guards? Sebastian Telfair is clearly their point guard of the future but they draft Jarret Jack, signed Juan Dixon and now they have Steve Blake signed to an offer sheet.