10 Biggest offseason blunders in New York Knicks history
By Tyler Watts
3. Trade for Antonio McDyess
The Knicks had a streak of 14 straight years in the playoffs snapped in 2002 after head coach Jeff Van Gundy resigned midseason. The second-winningest coach in franchise history was gone and the team quickly slipped into turmoil. They won just 20 of their final 63 games to finish with the seventh-worst record in the NBA.
On draft night, the Knicks tried to stay in contention by trading the seventh overall pick Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson for Antonio McDyess, Frank Williams, and a 2003 second-round pick. It was a massive gamble as McDyess was recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon that limited him to just ten games in the 2001-02 season. He was an All-Star in 2001, but it was not like the Knicks were buying him at a discount, despite the injury.
McDyess played in the preseason where he re-injured his knee and the subsequent surgery forced him to miss the entire 2002-03 season. He played just 18 games the following season but was not the same player before being traded to the Suns in a deal that brought back Stephon Marbury.
The New York Knicks gave up a prime center that won Defensive Player of the Year in Denver, the seventh overall draft pick, and a veteran point guard for 18 games of McDyess, Williams (who played just 77 games with the Knicks), and one second-round pick. It was a disastrous trade that will go down as one of the worst in team history.