Isiah likes Quentin, really

By MARC BERMAN and BRIAN LEWIS

There was a perception last week Isiah Thomas was looking to up Quentin Richardson’s trade value when he went out of his way to praise the guy after not singling out a player all camp. The question posed to Thomas was about Jared Jeffries, before Jeffries got hurt.
There seemed definitely an agenda in his statement.

But with Jeffries out for possibly two months, trading Richardson, his best perimeter defender now, is not happening. And Thomas said his words were misconstrued by The Post.

“He had a really good camp,’’ Thomas said. “I wasn't saying that to try and trade him. When a guy’s playing well, that's when you want to keep him. I thought the camp he had was good, having him that you can plug in a lot of different places. He's the Quentin Richardson we thought we were getting when we made the trade.’’

And perhaps he will start at small forward on opening night in Memphis Nov. 1. Plagued by a chronic disk problem and the shooting death of his brother in Chicago, Richardson was miserable last season.

You could tell the confidence is back. Besides making all the hustle plays, getting to loose balls, getting offensive rebounds (he had 8 boards total vs. Boston Tuesday), he seems much surer of his shot. There’s no hesitation when he gets the ball and has space. He launches it confidently, not laboriously.

“I'm cool,’’ Richardson said of his health at today’s practice. “I know my body and when I feel good. I know I'm capable of doing the things I'm good at.’’

Richardson perhaps was unable to adjust to the losing culture in New York after coming from the high-flying Suns in the Draft-Night trade in 2005. “Coming off a team that’d won 62 games, when he and Jerome (James) both those guys were coming from teams that had pretty good success. When they got here, our situation just wasn’t there. I think his overall attitude is better. They said it really does take a year to adjust to New York. Very few guys jump right in.’’

But who knows. IT still never goes out there and says directly "we're not looking to trade him." Just a generic comment about how when somebody is playing well you want them on your team (which required very deep thinking on his part I'm sure). He's probably at least safe until Jeffries returns and gets used to the system though.

Posted by mythfaze:

But who knows. IT still never goes out there and says directly "we're not looking to trade him." Just a generic comment about how when somebody is playing well you want them on your team (which required very deep thinking on his part I'm sure). He's probably at least safe until Jeffries returns and gets used to the system though.

as a GM, he can't be expected to say anything else but what he's saying now... you can't come out & say that you're looking to trade a guy on your team... the papers are overanalyzing & making presumptions about comments cuz they have nothing else to write about... we shouldn't take these things seriously until we hear some legitimate news about teams talking trades that involve a certain player... as we've all seen before, the most talked about rumors & trades are usually the ones that never happen.

He is a good character guy and a good all around player when he is healthy. He also has an untradeable contract. He is a player the Knicks need to keep and would struggle to get rid of anyway.

He certainly could be traded. When you have a player with a significant contract who has chronic back problems - to the point that his contract is uninsurable - and if you get a decent offer, you take it.

The guy has very little value. With that said, it is hard for Isiah to admit he made a mistake in trading for this guy.

Posted by rojasmas:

The guy has very little value. With that said, it is hard for Isiah to admit he made a mistake in trading for this guy.

Maybe Isiah could have gotten a *better* deal on draft night knowing what we know now about Q, but I'd still take Q and Nate over Kurt (especially with Lee and Frye here).