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Knight
Posts: 22775
Alba Posts: 2
Joined: 7/21/2005
Member: #968
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By HOWARD BECK
Published: December 15, 2005
Isiah Thomas made a perfunctory inquiry about Ron Artest yesterday, but the Knicks are not aggressively pursuing a trade and, for that matter, will not make any deal that costs them any of their promising young players.
Artest has demanded a trade from the Indiana Pacers, and the team has been fielding offers since the weekend. Thomas said he called the Pacers yesterday, but he did not elaborate. But two Eastern Conference officials briefed on the matter said the Knicks were not in the running for Artest. The officials were granted anonymity because of the nature of the talks.
Although the Knicks admire Artest's talent - he is among the fiercest defenders in the league and a potent scorer - they are wary of his checkered past, what Artest himself has referred to as his baggage. The Knicks also have doubts that the Pacers would send Artest to New York.
The bottom line, however, is that the Knicks will not part with any of their top young players, Channing Frye in particular. Thomas, the team president, extended the untouchable label to his other recent draft picks - Nate Robinson, David Lee and Trevor Ariza.
"I wouldn't part with any of them," Thomas said, using variations of that phrase four times.
"I like where we are," Thomas added. "We haven't had these kind of young players here in a long time. Now that we've got them, we might as well keep them."
The Knicks envision Frye and Eddy Curry, both 22, as their starting big-man tandem for years to come. They view Artest, a 26-year-old Queens native who played at St. John's, as a risk.
"He's a great player, and yes that is a concern," Thomas said of Artest's sometimes erratic behavior. "I think anyone who trades for him or who gets him, they understand exactly what they're getting."
Trade discussions should pick up across the league, now that players who were signed last summer are eligible to be dealt. The Knicks, still in need of a backup point guard and a starting small forward, are certain to be active. They have the expiring contracts of Antonio Davis and Penny Hardaway to offer teams looking to dump salary. They also may try to move their spare big men - Malik Rose, Maurice Taylor and Jerome James - although their contracts make them unattractive.
"We've been on the phones, other teams have called us, we've called them," Thomas said, adding that nothing was imminent. "We'll continue to try to better our team."
The Knicks lost 14 of their first 20 games, but Thomas said he was "not at all" disappointed, adding, "It's a work in progress, we're rebuilding." Coach Larry Brown took six weeks to settle on his preferred starting lineup and rotation, and the Knicks have weathered injuries to several key players.
"There have been some very positive moments, some positive quarters where you see glimpses and you say, 'Wow, we've got a chance to be pretty decent,' " Thomas said. "But you've just got to be patient and stick to your plan. And if you get knocked around a little bit, that's just how it goes. But you've got to have the stubbornness to kind of stick to your plan."
Thomas said he was not worried about Stephon Marbury, who has struggled to adapt to Brown's demands and last month requested to be moved to shooting guard. Marbury's scoring average (17.9) and assists a game (6.6) are well below his career averages.
"He was in a rut, then he came out of it, then he went in another rut," Thomas said. "I'm at practice every day and have intimate dealings with the players, and I can say to you that every single player in that locker room is doing whatever he can to try to please the coach. And Stephon is no different."
"He only went to Georgia Tech for one year, and that's an engineering school." -LB
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12/15/2005 12:13 AM
