These are the kind of cheap players the knicks needed to complete their roster instead of our expensive vets.

All-undrafted team

• First team

Pos. Player Team

F Bruce Bowen San Antonio

F Udonis Haslem Miami

C Ben Wallace Chicago

G Mike James Minnesota

G Raja Bell Phoenix

• Second team

Pos. Player Team

F Andres Nocioni Chicago

F Reggie Evans Denver

C Fabricio Oberto San Antonio

G Chucky Atkins Memphis

G Earl Boykins Denver

• All-undrafted coach: Avery Johnson, Dallas. He played 16 NBA seasons after going undrafted in 1988.

Reggie Evans was so upset he cried. Then he walked 45 minutes from his grandmother's to his mom's house in Pensacola, Fla., because, like Greta Garbo, he wanted to be alone.
Carlos Arroyo was at the beach in his native Puerto Rico. He told his wife to call him only if he was drafted, but he couldn't resist dialing her up two hours after the draft ended.

"It was a tough moment," Arroyo said of learning the 2001 NBA draft had passed without his name being called.

Being shunned in the draft initially can be a shock for a top college player. But there are plenty of examples of it working out in the end.

Despite being passed over in 2001, Evans is a rugged power forward with the Nuggets and armed with a five-year, $23 million contract. Arroyo is a capable point guard for Orlando.

Chicago center Ben Wallace wasn't drafted, but he's a four-time All-Star and has won four of the past five Defensive Player of the Year trophies. San Antonio forward Bruce Bowen never heard his phone ring on draft day but has become perhaps the NBA's top perimeter defender.

With the draft being reduced to its current format of two rounds in 1989 after once lasting 10 rounds or longer, plenty of players are making it after being passed over.

There also are more players available, with the NBA having truly become an international game.

Of the 442 players on NBA opening-night rosters, 71 weren't drafted (16.1 percent). One already has been cut and at least a half-dozen more figure to be let go before contracts become fully guaranteed in January, but it's still an impressive number.

"There's always 10 to 15 players a year that come into the league (undrafted)," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "I tell people between getting drafted in the second round and not being drafted, it might be better to not be drafted because you can pick your team."

Karl said undrafted players often come in "hungrier" because they're "more appreciative." Karl should know considering the Nuggets have three undrafted players, with Evans, guard Earl Boykins and rookie guard Yakhouba Diawara. All three are regarded as among the more hard-working players on the team.

Only two other teams can claim to have three or more undrafted players in the rotation. They are Chicago, with Wallace, Andres Nocioni, Adrian Griffin and Malik Allen; and Indiana, with Darrell Armstrong, Marquis Daniels, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Rawle Marshall.

Wallace, Daniels, Nocioni and Bowen are among seven undrafted players listed on the All-Star Game ballot. The others are Phoenix's Raja Bell, Minnesota's Mike James and Miami's Udonis Haslem.

"Everything happens for a reason," Haslem said. "I don't feel I was ready (for the NBA coming out of Florida in 2002). Then I went overseas (to play in France) and got in better shape."

Nevertheless, Haslem said he was disappointed when he watched the draft at his mother's house in Miami and his name was not called. But he wasn't as hurt as Evans.

"That was my first time shedding tears," said Evans, who had averaged 15.4 points and 11.1 rebounds as a senior with the University of Iowa. "I walked 45 minutes from my grandmother's house to my mom's house because I didn't want to be bothered. . . . But it (eventually) worked out real good."

Evans hooked on with Seattle and became a key player. He was traded to Denver in February.

The 5-foot-5 Boykins faced a tougher road. He played for four teams during his first three seasons, several times signing 10-day contracts. He finally got security when the Nuggets signed him to a five- year, $13.7 million deal in 2003.

"I felt I had done everything at the collegiate level to show I was capable of playing at this level, so draft night was very disappointing," said Boykins, who averaged 25.7 points as an Eastern Michigan senior in 1997-98. "You don't get as many opportunities coming into this league as opposed to had you been drafted. . . . I made it to this level, but I still stay humble."

Boykins feels a bond with Evans and Diawara, who received little interest coming out of Pepperdine in 2005 before impressing the Nuggets with a strong season in Europe. There is a fraternity among those who weren't drafted.

"You could say that," said Arroyo, who played for the Nuggets in 2001-02. "I truly respect guys that have had to go through such a hard journey to become an NBA player."

The journey might start with a trail of tears. But there sometimes is joy at the end of the road.

those are the types of players almost every NBA team looks to get to fill holes on their roster... the problem is finding them... for every 1 of those guys, there's countless more that don't ever pan out.