Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly wrote the foreword to a new book, “The Perfect Team.” If the Knicks wrote a book for this season, it would be called “The Imperfect Team.”
Daly, who coached Isiah Thomas in Detroit, believes his former superstar point guard knows what it takes to build a perfect team, even giving him credit for helping Detroit construct its two championship teams in the late 1980’s. The new book has some of the legends constructing their “perfect team.”
Daly, 75, retired in Jupiter, Fla., said Thomas is “collecting assets” to make the key trade that will turn around the franchise.
“Isiah got thrust into it,” Daly told The Post in a phone interview. “The spiral started long before that. Isiah was being very pro-active. They are garnering talent. They have multiple talents like point guards. They’re evaluating and collecting assets.
“There is no question Isiah Thomas has a great eye for talent,” Daly added. “Check his picks in Toronto. No question Larry Brown is a great coach. Those circumstances have to come together with the talent. The talent doesn’t mesh.”
Most New Yorkers would not agree with Daly. White T-shirts with black lettering, “Fire Isiah” are already being peddled on a Web site http://www.sadknicks.com.
Daly believes Thomas knows what a perfect team looks like, and it’s known he pushed Piston management to make the Mark Aguirre trade.
“He had a lot to do with building that team,” Daly said. “He knows what it takes to win. He’s a very, very bright guy. This kills him more than any person in New York, and you can write that. He was very involved in that franchise’s decisions with [former GM] Jack McClosky.
Daly selected Thomas on his perfect team as a reserve, behind Magic Johnson. “He is one of a handful of guys who can get other people to follow,” Daly wrote of Thomas.
“If he was a few inches taller, he would’ve been the best player ever,” Daly said yesterday.
When Daly was a consultant with the Grizzlies, he was in on what he believed was the key trade that turned that franchise around, when they acquired Pau Gasol in the draft, giving up Mike Bibby and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
“People thought we were crazy,” Daly said. “That’s the kind of move the Knicks have to make. And they need players who don’t need the ball. In one draft we got [in Detroit] John Salley and Dennis Rodman, two guys who can rebound, block shots and play defense. They didn’t need the ball. It changed the whole future of that franchise. You
get in those spiraling situations, you need to get lucky.”
Unfortunately, Thomas does not have his own lottery pick, instead owning two late first-rounders. As The Post has reported, Brown had told confidents he’s in love with LSU freshman Tyrus Thomas and would consider him for the No. 1 pick overall. He uses his athleticism for defensive purposes, rebounding, blocking shots – stuff the Knicks don’t have.
After Daly resigned from the Nets in the mid-1990’s and Pat Riley faxed in his resignation, the Knicks offered the job to Daly. He said even then, he saw the franchise on the decline.
“I thought they had another two good years, then I started looking at the circumstances, the contracts, even starting then I saw they were on the edge,” Daly said.