Even though Randolph has a ton of upside, snagging big Al Jefferson from Minnesota, a feat since accomplished by Utah, would have given Gotham City a possible Eastern Conference All Star as early as next season. Although only 25 years old, Jefferson has already established himself os one of the game’s best low post players by nearly averaging a double-double every year since becoming an NBA starter in ‘06-’07 with Boston. He also recovered nicely last season(17.1 ppg, 9.3 rebs, 1.3 blk) from a debilitating ACL injury suffered in ‘09. Playing Jefferson at center and Amare Stoudemire at power forward surely would have given the Knicks one of the more dominating front-lines in all of the league. The only plus side to getting Randolph instead of Al appears to be purely financial, since Jefferson is owed more than $12 million for next season while Randolph is an absolute bargain at only $1.8 mil in ‘10-’11. Surely either Randolph or Jefferson will make Knicks fans all but forget about the uninspiring play(or lack there of) of oft injured Eddy Curry and his whopping $10+ million owed for next season.
