THERE'S AN INTEREST IN JEFFRIES


By MARC BERMAN

The Knicks plan to heed the advice of Ben Wallace and will try to add more role players to their roster during the offseason.

One free-agent small forward Larry Brown has his eye on is the Wizards' Jared Jeffries, a 6-11 player who doesn't need the ball to be effective.

"Larry's liked Jared for a long time," one person

Jeffries could be had for the $5 million mid-level exception. He averaged 6.4 points and 4.9 rebounds this season.

"He doesn't score a lot, but he does a little of everything," one team executive said. "He's a great team player, he gets hustle points, he can bring the ball up."

The Knicks inquired about Jeffries during the season. The Knicks have no legit small forward; Jalen Rose did not work out after they traded for him in January. Rose has an expiring contract Isiah Thomas would love to peddle after Rose missed nine of the season's final 10 games with plantar fasciitis and knee tendinitis.

Another small forward the Knicks like is free agent Al Harrington, but they would need a sign-and-trade with Atlanta. Andy Miller represents Jeffries and Harrington.

Brown has identified a classic point guard and a defensive center as other needs. Speedy Claxton and Chucky Atkins, both of whom played for Brown, are free agents.

An NBA source said the Blazers are still willing to talk trade with shot-blocking center Theo Ratliff.

Center Jackie Butler and Qyntel Woods are the Knicks' lone free agents.



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Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis and Rose last night sat out again. Marbury missed 22 games this season and still plans on giving a brutally honest appraisal of the way things shook down with Brown during today's locker clean-out. According to a source close to Marbury, he still believes he can work with Brown if the coach lets him run the offense like he did during a nine-game stretch that coincided with a six-game winning streak.

I like this move. Long athletic defensive minded lunch pail guy who can fill up a stat sheet at the 3.

more glue less And 1, Larry Brown

I'll take Jared Jefferies, no problem, but this is one of the reasons I can't stand Berman and Vescey. This article has no credibility:

"Larry's liked Jared for a long time," one person

I hate Jared Jefferies. David Lee is better than him. No way do the Knicks need to waste more money on a ****ing retard like him.

Posted by holfresh:

Posted by EnySpree:

I hate Jared Jefferies. David Lee is better than him. No way do the Knicks need to waste more money on a ****ing retard like him.

Just amazing that of all the talent out there they are talking about this guy...Just get ready for Larry to pursue all B players in the NBA so he can control them...Problem is we need B players to compliment A players....We don't have A players....

This is right here is the problem. It's not all about talent, it's about being able to have some talent and actually knowing how to play basketball. This isn't streetball where all you need is talent, this is the NBA where the objective is to come together and WIN. This is what makes Lebron James as good as he is. He is probably the most talented player in the NBA but at the same time he KNOWS how to play basketball the right way. The Knicks need players that know how to play basketball the right way, not just players that can score 20 meaningless points a game becuase the points came off 25 shots. Jared Jeffries KNOWS how to play basketball and this is why he'd be a very good player, if he played under Larry Brown.

Posted by holfresh:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by holfresh:

Posted by EnySpree:

I hate Jared Jefferies. David Lee is better than him. No way do the Knicks need to waste more money on a ****ing retard like him.

Just amazing that of all the talent out there they are talking about this guy...Just get ready for Larry to pursue all B players in the NBA so he can control them...Problem is we need B players to compliment A players....We don't have A players....

This is right here is the problem. It's not all about talent, it's about being able to have some talent and actually knowing how to play basketball. This isn't streetball where all you need is talent, this is the NBA where the objective is to come together and WIN. This is what makes Lebron James as good as he is. He is probably the most talented player in the NBA but at the same time he KNOWS how to play basketball the right way. The Knicks need players that know how to play basketball the right way, not just players that can score 20 meaningless points a game becuase the points came off 25 shots. Jared Jeffries KNOWS how to play basketball and this is why he'd be a very good player, if he played under Larry Brown.

Thats where you are wrong...The NBA is about talent...You don't win without talent...I don't see Jeffries leading Washington anywhere....What NBA team do you see winning without talent?...What team do you see with guys like Jeffries winning in this league??

Where did I say WITHOUT talent and where did I see Jared Jeffries was going to lead anyone anywhere? Read my post carefully. I said it takes TALENT combined with the ability to KNOW how to play the game to win basketball games. You guys are all blinded by talent. If all it took was talent then guys like Marbury and Francis would win every year, but you also have to know how to play the game which is why they are watching the playoffs every year.

I also said Jared Jeffries would be a great defensive addition, how that equates to you thinking I said he was leading the Knicks anywhere is beyond me.