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TheloniusMonk
Posts: 21470
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 7/15/2004
Member: #705
USA
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But then again, according to him, Czar was signed as our coach and ready to announce.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/323132p-276221c.html
Isiah eyes Jersey kid
Big on 7-foot Bynum
By FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
The longer Isiah Thomas' first big move of the offseason remains on hold, the chances increase that the Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas deal could fall apart.
The proposed trade has been delayed until the Knicks are guaranteed that Richardson's contract - he's had a prior back injury - is insured.
The Knicks are cautiously optimistic the deal will be completed, but Richardson's status will not have an impact on the way Thomas, the Knicks' president, uses his two first-round picks in tonight's draft at the Garden's Theater.
The Knicks have three picks - Nos. 8, 30 and 54 - and high school center Andrew Bynum is emerging as the player they likely will take first. Bynum, a 7-footer from St. Joseph's in Metuchen, N.J., would become the first prep player ever selected by the Knicks. But he wouldn't be Thomas' first prep phenom.
Thomas, a known risk taker, drafted Tracy McGrady with the ninth pick in 1997 and knows the risk/reward of drafting a teenage prospect.
Thomas coached Jermaine O'Neal in Indiana and watched him blossom into an All-Star. But O'Neal first experienced growing pains. He was 17 when he was drafted by Portland in 1996. In 211 games over four seasons with the Blazers, O'Neal averaged 3.9 points. In five years with Indiana, O'Neal has averaged 19 ppg.
The Knicks would have to exercise the same patience with Bynum, whom one magazine touted as having the potential to be "Shaq-like or Shaq-lite." The Knicks also are high on Arizona center Channing Frye and high school shooting guard Gerald Green, but they expect both players to be taken in the top seven. If Green falls to No. 8, the Knicks will select Green.
Monta Ellis, a high school guard from Mississippi, is a longshot but one who should not be discounted. After Paul, Ellis is a player whom many have compared to Thomas, who watched Ellis outplay UNC's Raymond Felton during a recent workout.
"I think it'll be a good draft," Thomas said recently. "I don't think there are any superstar players. I think there'll be one or two, but I think it will be a draft where a player you can get at eight might be the same player you can get at 22. I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between them. There's no Shaq in the draft. There's no Duncan in the draft. Although, (Andrew) Bogut has a chance to be one of those types of players, but outside of that I think it's going to be a pretty interesting draft."
If Bynum is selected eighth, Thomas still would use the Knicks' $5 million mid-level exception to sign a free agent center. Chicago's Eddy Curry, a center who jumped from high school to the NBA, would be his first choice. However, Chicago is expected to match any offer. Washington's Kwame Brown and Seattle's Jerome James are more realistic candidates.
If the Knicks go big with their first pick they likely would draft a point guard at No. 30 to back up Stephon Marbury.
'You can catch me in Hollis at the hero shop!'
-Tony Yayo
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key to our fate! GOD SPEED, GOD BLESS, AND GOD BE WITH YOU!