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As is my regularity, I'm going to stomp on the New York Knicks; more specifically, Isiah Thomas. After all the moves Thomas made last off season to "improve" the team while making the NBA salary cap a joke, you would think he would smarten up sometime and become more focused on putting together some character on the Knicks, not try to merge his own version of an All Star team. It's baffling to me that he hasn't figured this out yet, after all, during his successful NBA career with the Pistons, it was the team's character that made them the success they were and it was for that reason that you could never count them out of a game.

Thomas' version of an All-Star team has done nothing but disappoint, despite the incredible cost of the team.

The trade story today is that Kurt Thomas will be traded to the Phoenix Suns for Quentin Richardson. This will give the Suns a rugged player to go next to Amare Stoudemire, allowing Shawn Marion to go back to his more natural position at small forward. Marion is an amazing rebounder, so overall this move makes the frontcourt even more scary.

But here is the kicker. The Suns signed Richardson to a lucrative contract last season which the Knicks are now going to take on for the $37.62 million over the next five seasons. Compare that to the $22.07 million Kurt Thomas is going to make over the next three seasons and that spells "cap relief."

You can't blame the Suns for eagerly picking up the phone when Isiah calls. They were able to unload their most expensive problem on the Knicks when they traded Stephon Marbury and his incredible contract, which helped them build a team that finished with the best regular season record this season.

The Phoenix Suns' motto should be: "With enemies like that, who needs friends?"

Contributor Nuno Cardoso is from Toronto, Ontario.