After reading this article, you will see why most players want to play for him. Read the portion about Dampier.



Welcome to the fold



By MIKE DOUGHERTY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 7, 2004)


GREENBURGH — Jamal Crawford was relieved to finally be part of this experience, and Jerome Williams happily flew coach to join the show.

New York is a sought-after destination once again.

The latest additions were introduced yesterday evening at the MSG Training Facility and raised expectations for a Knicks team undergoing drastic changes. Over the last eight months, team president Isiah Thomas has made this team younger. He's brought in more athletic players. And there's more work to be done.

Whether these modifications actually change the standings remains to be seen. Nobody knows for certain if this group can win.

"It's like a dream come true for me to be here," Crawford, 24, said. "It was a long process, frustrating. It probably took a toll on everybody, but I'm happy to be here. I think for the fans, we're going to be a very exciting team. It doesn't matter to Jerome or I if we start or come off the bench. We're here to win."

At this point, the plan is to use Crawford as part of a three-guard rotation with Allan Houston and Stephon Marbury. It's a system that worked to perfection for the Detroit Pistons, who got a lot of mileage from Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson and Thomas.

It will be an upset if minutes don't become a sticking point.

"The most difficult thing is you know every time you walk on the court you've got to perform at a high level because the guy coming in behind you, he's coming in to perform at a high level," Thomas said. "I can remember a lot of nights, I would get off to a good start in the first quarter, and Vinnie would come in and just go crazy, and I wouldn't play again until like the third quarter."

Crawford has a few habits that need to change.

"Jamal is just finding out what he's got to do," coach Lenny Wilkens said. "That's a great time to catch him, I think. He knows he can score against anybody. That's good. I think shot selection, he'll get better at it. He can distribute the ball, and hopefully he'll become a lot more aggressive in that area. I don't want him to defend some nights, I want him to defend every night."

The versatile guard admitted he's open to learning from the Hall of Famers present.

"Every kid that plays basketball or in the NBA, would love to be here," Crawford said. "(Thomas and Wilkens) proved themselves night in and night out. I'll pick their brains on game situations. Anything I have questions about, I'll definitely ask."

Potential is something that intrigues Thomas, and he's certain there's All-Star talent somewhere in this acquisition. That seems to be the general consensus, but some guidance is necessary. John Paxson and the Chicago Bulls reluctantly agreed to the sign-and-trade because of financial realities. It had nothing to do with ability or attitude.

"They are getting an up-and-coming raw talent," Williams said. "Jamal can't be guarded when he's on a run."

Obviously, the Knicks need to be careful in their pursuit of potential. It's very difficult to improve a roster while getting younger.

"It's always difficult because you still gotta teach guys," Wilkens said. "They're still learning. If you get too young, the focus is how do I make this team make it at this level. Somebody was talking about Chicago, well, they had all those young guys at the same time. How do you expect continuity? If I'm one of those young guys, then I want to show you that I can play, and the next young guy thinks the same thing."

Williams, 31, brings amazing enthusiasm.

He's the guy whose pogo-stick rebounding helped Toronto send the Knicks home in the first round of the 2001 playoffs. And the Junk Yard Dog persona is going to play well here.

"The Dog is built for New York," he said. "Boos. Cheers. The whole thing."


Note: Thomas appears to be juggling some numbers, hoping to sign Vin Baker while keeping his entire mid-level exception available in case Erick Dampier gets desperate. Aaron Goodwin represents Baker and said last night that a deal is in place, starting in the neighborhood of $3.5 million a year.

If that's accurate, the Knicks would be using part of their mid-level exception. They'd be forced to work out a sign-and-trade with Golden State to land Dampier.

Across the gym, Thomas claimed the Knicks had all $4.9 million of their mid-level to spend. "We want both players and I've got to figure out a way to get that done," he said.

"Our first objective with Dampier is to try to do a sign-and-trade with Golden State or try to get a third team involved. I know Dampier is being talked about at the mid-level, but he's much better than a mid-level player. We want to try to do a sign-and-trade to make sure he's compensated the way he should be."

But just in case, it sounds as though Thomas might be momentarily holding off on Baker, who a team source indicated earlier this week was being offered the $1.6 veterans exception.

If I am Dampier, that statement alone would make me want to play for this guy.




"Our first objective with Dampier is to try to do a sign-and-trade with Golden State or try to get a third team involved. I know Dampier is being talked about at the mid-level, but he's much better than a mid-level player. We want to try to do a sign-and-trade to make sure he's compensated the way he should be."

But just in case, it sounds as though Thomas might be momentarily holding off on Baker, who a team source indicated earlier this week was being offered the $1.6 veterans exception.

Mullin is an idiot cuz he signed Fisher, and Foyle for a crazy amount of money and traded NVE for Dale when he could have signed and traded with the Knicks for similiar talent and saved money.

Now he's probably being a real shanker about signing and trading Dampier.

Isiah will drag this out just as he did with this Crawford trade.....

Meanwhile....players like Swift, Keon....they are still unsigned.

Posted by EnySpree:

Mullin is an idiot cuz he signed Fisher, and Foyle for a crazy amount of money and traded NVE for Dale when he could have signed and traded with the Knicks for similiar talent and saved money.

Now he's probably being a real shanker about signing and trading Dampier.

Isiah will drag this out just as he did with this Crawford trade.....

Meanwhile....players like Swift, Keon....they are still unsigned.

There's no way we can get Swift. West would immediately match an offer from the Knicks at the MLE. Atlanta is probably waiting to see if they can get Dampier or if they will make an offer to Swift slightly above the MLE (which I think Jerry will still match.

Also, nice article. I think Isiah is playing the Dampier/Baker situation very well. He knows that Damps MAY take the MLE, so he's not signing Baker first. But he knows Damps probably WON'T take it, so he's not saying anything that would prevent him from offering it to Baker. I'm honestly not sure how important Baker is. We have a crowded front court, I guess Baker would be a solid backup center. I'd rather have Keon Clark as a backup center, frankly.

Also, Phil, I would hope Mullin would be smart enough to accept a sign and trade that gives him Nazr for two years. Maybe if we gave him $3 million in cash? I still think that Moochie and Evan Eschymeyer will be included, IF anything happens. But I think Mullin is being stubborn and doesn't want to appear to be used by Isiah and also doesn't want to help Damps.

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Nazy's not worth $10 mil over 2 years when they have tons of PF/Cs. I don't see us having any players they would want. Maybe Mullin will be dumb enough to do a sign and trade though
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If we threw in $3 million, they'd get Nazr for $7 million over 2 years. That's practically a bargain. If we took Eschymeyer, They end up only paying out $5 million more than if they let Damps walk and they get Nazr and they get rid of Evan's contract which a year longer than Moochie's or Nazr. That could be worth it. I feel the real thing holding the deal back will be Mullin's reluctance to deal with Zeke and more importantly his reluctance to help Damps. If we could get Fegan to act like it would screw up Mullin's chances with Dunleavy and JRich, it MIGHT help. But I doubt it.

if we could get GS to take one player, we might be able to get Utah to take Nazr and a #2.

Send Nazr and a #2 to Utah (still under the cap enough to make that work), send Moochie and $3mm to GS for Dampier and a sign and trade deal starting at $7mm a year. Something like that.

I dont know... it will have to be creative.

If we can get Dampier I would love to move KT, and just go with Sweetney and JYD at the 4. We will see... Im trusting ISiah for now.

Posted by crzymdups:

I think the best way to get Damps will actually be to find a third team that REALLY wants Kurt.

You won't find any NBA team that really wants Kurt

you have to be kidding me. id wager many clubs would be happy with Kurt Thomas. I think his natural position is a third wheel playing 30 minutes off the bench as a combo C/PF. Look around th league at teams thrid frontcourt player--what they cost and what they contribute and KT will be up in the top tier. He's NOT a starter or atleast shouldnt be.

The payroll is not too different from when Layden was here; the only difference is that the money is being spent on good players now.

Posted by HARDCOREKNICKSFAN:

Posted by Bonn1997:

The payroll is not too different from when Layden was here; the only difference is that the money is being spent on good players now.

That was right on the money.

It almost reminds me of the Yankees' strategy.
Maybe we can win a title or three doing things that way too.

Make way for the big dogs that roll. HARD CORE IS BACK!!!