This is the second part of a three-part installment about the “Big Three.” It will cover how the Knicks got to where they are today, going from draft day until right now. Part three will go over whether these three players (Houston, McDyess, Sprewell) are enough to qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

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June 26th, 2002, was a big day for the New York Knicks. For those readers who have lived in complete seclusion for the last 3 months, June 26th was the day of the 2002 NBA Draft, live from New York City. Yours truly attended the Theatre at Madison Square Garden to witness the event and the fate of the Knicks in person.

For weeks leading up to the event, message boards, websites, news broadcasts, pretty much everything about the Knicks centered on who would get picked at the number 7 spot. It seemed like the “Big Three” era would finally be over.

Most wondered how the pick would be handled. Would upper management go with a crowd favorite and draft a young power player like Chris Wilcox of Maryland? Would General Manager Scott Layden take the best player available, which turned out to be Caron Butler, and officially start the rebuilding process, building the team around him?

Would the Knickerbockers draft a player like “Nene” Hilario, a player who never played in the United States yet had the potential of a Hakeem Olajuwon, but also the ability to be Frederic Weis, 2002.

The Knicks, however, decided to select the good old “none of the above” choice, and decided that the best path for the team was to trade the pick (which turned out to be choice c, “Nene” Hilario), fragile center Marcus Camby, and the ageless wonder Mark Jackson for former All-Star Antonio McDyess and the 25th pick in the draft (used to draft point guard Frank Williams of Illinois). The “Big Three” was back in town.

Then came the boos. The fans were incensed. The Theatre at MSG erupted. When it didn’t seem like it could get any louder, Scott Layden appeared via satellite to tell the Knicks fan nation why exactly he pulled the trigger.

Nobody cared to listen, this was the fans chance for getting back at the man who had self-destructed the Knicks. “Lay-den-SUCKS!” and “FIRE-LAYDEN!” chants rang throughout the building.

Did Layden deserve the boos? Of course. Did Allan Houston deserve to be placed on the same plateau as players like Chris Webber and Gary Payton when he received his $100 million contract? No way.

Did Clarence Weatherspoon deserve the full mid-level exception last offseason? Don’t think so.

Did the Knicks really need to send the franchise icon in Patrick Ewing to Seattle for Glen Rice, who in turn was sent to Houston for the great Howard Eisley (complete with a new multi-million dollar contract) and the invincible Shandon Anderson (also complete with a new-multi million dollar contract)? Definitely not.

But, did the Knicks need a change after last year’s horrid 30-52 season? Yes, they did.

Did the Knicks need to acquire a player who could dominate the blocks down low? Yes.

Had everyone, players, coaches, management, and most importantly, fans, run out of patience for Marcus Camby? Yes.

Was everyone tired of seeing Mark Jackson get burned on defense? Yes. Are the Knicks in win now mode? Yup.

Even if the Knicks went into rebuilding, wouldn’t it take a while with the enormous contracts of Houston, Sprewell, Anderson, Weatherspoon, Knight and Eisley? Indeed.

So, the Knicks needed a big move. Scott Layden gave them one.

Layden had finally added a low post player, and some height, to the “Big Three.” He added someone capable of taking over the games. He added someone who would open up the outside for Allan Houston, and take potential double teams off Latrell Sprewell.

It was Scott Layden’s one stroke of brilliance. His bold move. He traded a huge question mark (“Nene” Hilario), damaged goods (Marcus Camby), and an old point guard (Mark Jackson) for Antonio McDyess and a point guard for the future (Frank Williams). Say what you will about McDyess’s injury last year that kept him out of over 70 games, but Antonio has said “I’m jumping a lot quicker and jumping a lot higher, so I have no doubts in my jumping ability right now.”

So chalk up one point under the “Good transactions for the Scott Layden regime”, opposite to the many points under the “Why in the world did he do that?” column.

Tomorrow will feature the last installment in this three part series about the New York Knicks. Was the McDyess move enough to get them into the playoffs? Where it this team weak; where is it strong?

Timothy Kelly is a staff writer for NYKBasketball.com .