Whats this i hear about us possibly signing this guy? He's a 6-7 ultra athletic small forward. We haven't had someone like that come off the bench for awhile. Do we really need him? We've got Postell and Anderson but we don't know how he compares to them yet. Thoughts?

Thursday, September 26

McDyess deal cost Knicks Camby, Jackson and Hilario

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Associated Press


GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Without a true center or a top-level point guard after a slow summer, Knicks president Scott Layden said Thursday he was glad to be able to make the one deal he did.


"We have no regrets about that trade,'' Layden said of the draft-night deal that brought Antonio McDyess from Denver. "We feel that trade makes us a better team.''


Layden acquired McDyess from the Nuggets for Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the rights to draft pick Nene Hilario of Brazil.


The deal cost the Knicks their starting center, their starting point guard and their lottery pick, and no one new has been brought in to fill the void at the playmaker or pivot positions.


When training camp opens next Tuesday, the Knicks plan to use Kurt Thomas as their starting center and Michael Doleac as his backup.


The point guard duties will be shared by Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley, both of whom are coming off sub-par seasons while sharing time in 2001-02 behind Jackson.


He said McDyess has been using the team's new practice facility -- which is loaded with high-tech locking devices including a hand-recognition automatic door opener -- for the past week and has recovered fully from injuries to both knees that limited him to 10 games last season.


He repeatedly spoke of McDyess and Thomas as a "tandem'' that should work well together. Both players, however, are no bigger than 6-foot-9 and will be matched against taller opponents on a nightly basis.


The Knicks finished 30-52 last season, were last in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Layden, meeting with reporters, refused to set any goals or benchmarks for the upcoming season. He said one big difference will be the team having a full training camp to work with coach Don Chaney, who took over five weeks into last season after Jeff Van Gundy quit.


"At each start of a new year there's always different expectations. Certainly this summer was longer, which was something we're not used to,'' Layden said.


The Knicks have reached agreement with forwards Tim James and Todd Lindeman to beef up the training camp roster, but both are longshots to stick.


First-round draft pick Frank Williams, a point guard from Illinois who was injured during the Boston summer league, only recently had a cast removed from his broken wrist and is not expected to make an immediate impact.


Layden was pleased with what he saw during the World Championships from the team's second-round pick, Yugoslavian point guard Milos Vujanic, who will spend this season with Partizan Belgrade.


Layden, who learned over the summer that there is very little interest around the league in most of his players, gave no indication that any more moves are in the works.


"We'd look at anything that would improve the team. Having said that, we clearly feel good about the additions we've made and how those players will work with the players already here,'' Layden said.


"We look at this team and feel it will be competitive, but the competition is good. There's a lot of good teams right up and down the conference.''