then traded their leading scorer Zach Randolph along with Mardy Collins to the Los Angeles Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, with the intention of freeing cap space for the 2010 offseason, when top-flight players such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amar'e Stoudemire may be available. In 2009 the Knicks traded Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson to the Chicago Bulls for Larry Hughes [24], in addition to sending Malik Rose to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Chris Wilcox.[25] Additionally, the long standing controversy with Stephon Marbury ended when the two sides agreed to a buy-out of Marbury's contract, which allowed him to sign with any team he wishes when he cleared waivers on February 27. Marbury ended up signing with the Celtics.[26] In spite of a volatile roster, the Knicks improved by nine wins from the previous season, coinciding with the emergence of forward/center David Lee, who led the league with 65 double-doubles, and the continued development of guard Nate Robinson and swingman Wilson Chandler.[27][28][29]
In the 2009 NBA Draft, the Knicks chose forward Jordan Hill and guard Toney Douglas with the eight and 29th picks, the latter of which was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers.[30][31] Shortly afterwards, New York executed a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies in which the Knicks acquired Darko Miličić in exchange for Quentin Richardson.[32]
The Knicks got off to their worst 10 game start in franchise history, producing 9 losses, with just one win against the New Orleans Hornets. The Knicks responded by winning 9 games and losing 6 in December.
On January 24, 2010 the Knicks suffered their worst home loss in Madison Square Garden history against the Dallas Mavericks in front of a sellout crowd. The 50-point loss was also the second-worst in Knicks franchise history. The worst was a 62-point loss to the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers) on Christmas Day 1960. [33]
Nearly a month after their worst home loss in MSG history the Knicks shook up their roster by making some surprising moves. On February 17th, the Knicks traded Darko Miličić to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Brian Cardinal and cash considerations. [34] On February 18th, the Knicks and Boston Celtics swapped guard Nate Robinson for shooting guard Eddie House. The deal also included forward Marcus Landry going to the Celtics and the Knicks acquiring bench players J. R. Giddens and Bill Walker.[35] The Knicks also acquired forward Tracy McGrady from the Houston Rockets and point guard Sergio Rodriguez from the Sacramento Kings in a three-way trade. The deal sent the Knicks shooting guard Larry Hughes to Sacramento and forward Jordan Hill and power forward Jared Jeffries to Houston. About 3 weeks after these team-changing trades, the Knicks played the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center and blew them out by a score of 128–94 for the largest win of the season. [36]