Yes, it was time for a change, but that change should have been trading Melo who is a pseudo-star.
Not saying Mike did a great job, but he IMHO he was never really dealt a fair hand. He did well post Stoudamire signing & pre-Anthony acquisition & also in the early days of Lin-sanity wo Carmelo around.
Carmelo was his downfall.
I do not believe the Knicks will ever be any good as long as melo is around. Trade Melo & get a couple of decent two way pieces back. Build around Chandler, Amare, Lin, & Shumpert. That should be a decent core. Don't get me wrong, I am not 100% sold on Amare, but he played very well pre-Melo & he is untradeable anyways w his uninsureable contract. I do think he can should be able to get back to last year's form w Melo out of the way.
I must admit that I have become disgusted with Melo. He is a player with all the talent in the world, but he simply doesn't want to pay the price to become a champion. Let him be a chumpion instead if he wants to play lazy, not get in top condition, & not work on D. I am not saying he is as good as Kobe or LeBron, but he should be at least 90% as good with his talent. The fact that he is not is on him & nobody else.