Scott Layden

22:23, 6 February 2007 (UTC)22:23, 6 February 2007 (UTC)~~ Scott Layden is the former general manager of the New York Knicks from 1999-2003, and currently an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz. He is known to be responsible for the draft picks of John Stockton and Karl Malone, for he was the one who convinced his father to choose them. [1]

Criticism & Legacy in New York

The Beginning - Team Record: 50-32

Layden took over as general manager of the Knicks after the strike-shortened, cinderella-story season of 1998-99 that saw the team make history by becoming the first #8 seed in a conference to reach the NBA Finals[2]. Prior to the beginning of the season, Layden was not with the Knicks at the time of the 1999 draft. Interim GM Ed Tapscott was the person responsible for making that draft selection PRIOR to Layden joining New York.New York selected Frédéric Weis of France with their pick in the first round. Weis never signed with the knicks. The following is from an interview conducted with the Frenchman:

"They selected me at No. 15, but I had a back injury and I couldn't go there. I would have had a good opportunity to make it without the injury, but time passed... And there was no longer an obligation for me to go there."[3]

With the injury to Weis well known during the time of the draft, many have criticized the organization for allowing such a blunder to occur (Ron Artest, Andrei Kirilenko, & Manu Ginobili were all still available).

The knicks GM made his first notable transaction when he signed controversial shooting guard Latrell Sprewell to a five-year, $61.9 million dollar contract extension that would keep him in a knick uniform through the 2003-04 season, although he would later be traded [4]. Sprewell was a highly touted basketball talent, but he ran into off court issues with his former organization the Golden State Warriors when he was accused of strangeling then head coach P. J. Carlesimo during a practice[5]. Soon after becoming a member of the knicks, Sprewell was involved in a motor vechicle accident that saw him, "drive his Mercedes-Benz on a freeway from an exit lane"[6].

The Second Season - Team Record: 48-34

August 01, 2000 saw Layden make his second big move when he re-signed free agent power forward Kurt Thomas to a 3-year, $13M contract extension with a 1-year team option.

On September 20, the knick GM shocked fans by trading veteran, all-star, and team captain center Patrick Ewing to the Seattle Supersonics in a three-team deal that saw back-up center Chris Dudley go to the Phoenix Suns, in return for forwards Glen Rice & Lazaro Borrell, guard Vernon Maxwell, centers Luc Longley, Travis Knight, Vladimir Stepania, two 2001 first-round draft picks and two 2001 second-round draft picks. Rice played in 75 games, averaging 12 points-per-game for New York before being traded to Houston. Knight appeared in 126 games over three seasons, averaging less than 9 minutes per-game. Longley played in 25 games for the knicks averaging 2 points and 2.6 rebounds, while Borrell, Maxwell, & Stepania never saw action for the team. Although Ewing's production had decreased due to age and chronic injury over the past few seasons, fans viewed his presence as a leader of the organization was reason enough to grant the former #1 draft pick the right to retire in a knick uniform.

On January 30, 2001, guard Erick Strickland and a first and second-round draft pick from the Ewing trade was sent to the Vancouver Grizzlies for back-up forward/center Othella Harrington. Harrington would go to play in 237 games for New York while only starting in 77[7]. Vancouver would take Jamaal Tinsley with the 27th-pick in the draft.

February 22 saw guard Chris Childs and the other first-round pick sent to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for aging guards Mark Jackson and Muggsy Bogues. Bogues would never appear in a game for the knicks, while Jackson would play less than two full seasons for the team that originally made him the 18th pick in the 1987 draft.

2001-02 Season - Team Record: 30-52

With the knicks no longer having a first round draft pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Michael Wright of Arizona 9th-pick-second-round (39th overall) and center Eric Chenowith of Kansas 13th-pick-second-round (43rd overall) were selected. Neither player ever saw action in the NBA[8]. This was the year that saw Gilbert Arenas, Mehmet Okur, Zach Randolph, Joe Johnson, and Pau Gasol enter the draft, among others.

Layden's next transaction is considered by fans and basketball analysts as one of the most frivolous contracts in league history. On July 23 knicks shooting guard Allan Houston re-signed as a free agent to a 6-year, $100M guaranteed contract that would keep him in New York until the 2006-07 season, when he would be 35. The signing made Houston, who had never averaged 20-points-per-game in a season at that time, the highest-paid player in franchise history[9]. Houston retired after the 2004-05 season with chronic knee complications; there was roughly $40,000,000 left on his contract[10].

Less than a month later, on August 10, Glen Rice was traded to the Houston Rockets and guard Muggsy Bogues to the Dallas Mavericks as part of a three-team deal in exchange for guard Howard Eisley from the Mavericks and forward Shandon Anderson from the Rockets. On paper this trade looks merely like a swap of average NBA players, but this was not the case. Eisley would end up playing in 154 games for knicks, providing adequate numbers at the point guard position, but he was currently in the second year of a 7-year, $41 Million contract bestowed upon him by Layden's former organization, the Utah Jazz. At the same time, Anderson, another former member of the Jazz was in the first year of a 6-year, $42 Million contract that he signed with the Rockets which extended through the 2006-07 season. Anderson played in 245 games for the knicks over four seasons before being waived due to poor performance; he averaged less than 3 rebounds and 8 points-per-game during his stay. In comparison to the contracts New York gave up, Bogues was in the second year of a 4-year $8 Million contract with the fourth year being a team option, and Rice was under contract for three more years and $27 Million.

Layden's next major move came after the unexpected resignation of head coach Jeff Van Gundy on December 8. Don Chaney was selected as an intrim coach for the remainder of the 2001-02 season. After the team went 20-43 .317% under his command, he was given a contract extension for the following season.

2002-03 The Beginning of the End - Team Record: 37-45

The biggest move that the knicks general manager made during the 2002-03 season was completed on draft night. After selecting Nenê with the 7th pick in the 2002 NBA draft, he was immediately traded along with Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson to the Denver Nuggets in return for power forward Antonio McDyess, the draft rights to guard Frank Williams and a 2003 second-round draft pick. McDyess, a former #2 draft pick, was already limited to role-player status due to chronic injury; He played only 18 games for the knicks. Williams was a dissapointment from the beginning, his knick career lasted 65 games with only three starts. On the other end of this transaction, Denver received a solid NBA player in power forward/center Marcus Camby. Camby had averaged a double-double (at least 10 rebounds and 10 points per-game) over his last two seasons as a knick and nearly 2 blocked shots, along with being an integral part of New York's eastern conference title in 1999.

The Final Season - Team Record: 10-18

Layden's last season as the GM for the knicks started off with the selections of Mike Sweetney from Georgetown with the 9th-pick in the draft, Maciej Lampe of Poland with the 30th-pick, and Slavko Vraneš of Serbia and Montenegro with the 39th-pick. Sweetney was later traded by Layden's successor Isiah Thomas as part of the deal with the Chicago Bulls that saw the knicks acquire center Eddy Curry. Lampe never played in a game for New York as he was later traded to the Phoenix Suns, also by Thomas as part of the deal that saw Stephon Marbury come to the Knicks. Vraneš also never saw NBA action with New York, he was waived by the team after being tendered a 1-year minimum contract; currently his career spans one game with the Portland Trail Blazers.

On July 23, 2003 Layden traded guard Latrell Sprewell with two years remaining on his contract to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a four-team trade that also included interactions with the 76ers and Hawks. In return, the Knicks acquired veteran forward Keith Van Horn. Van Horn, an integral part of the New Jersey Nets 2002 eastern conference title, played in only 47 games for New York in just one season, averaging 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds-per-game[11]. Van Horn's bloated salary of 3-years still remaining on a 6-year $73 Million contract that he signed as a member of the Nets, put the Knicks once again in danger of going over the salary cap.

The last transaction of notable implications that Layden made as general manager came on October 9, when he signed the 37 year old center Dikembe Mutombo to a 2-year, $8.5 Million contract.

Scott Layden was fired on December 22, 2003 by owner of the New York Knicks James Dolan; he is now an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz.