The Best $187 Million Ever Spent

As Isiah Thomas and the Knicks attempt to finish up their disastrous season and wait to find out what new GM Donnie Walsh will do to rejuvenate the team, it'd probably be a good idea to make sure he doesn't read this Portfolio.com article on how much Isiah has cost the Knicks. The magazine estimates that since Isiah took over in 2003, he's cost the franchise $187 million. Here's where some of the damage came from:

Thomas' poor trades and personnel moves alone have caused the Knicks to get hit with $137 million in luxury taxes during the last four years (the N.B.A. calculates the threshold for the tax every season based on a complicated formula). In 2007, the team paid $45 million in luxury taxes; to put that in perspective, only four other teams incurred the luxury tax at all last season, for a total of $10.3 million, meaning that the Knicks paid four-and-a-half times more than every other team combined.

Thomas has expressed his desire to "still be a part of the organization" in some capacity after this season, but that decision is entirely up to Walsh. Even an unpaid internship seems like a reach at this point. (Ed. Note: Yeah, because then he'd have to sleep with Stephon.)

The Isiah Thomas Tax [Portfolio]