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djsunyc
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KOBE TO KNICKS UNLIKELY
By MARC BERMAN
May 31, 2007 -- ORLANDO, Fla. - The only development that could make Isiah Thomas happier than last week's NBA Draft lottery results is Kobe Bryant in a Knicks' uniform.
The chance of that happening is slimmer than the 1.9 percent chance the Bulls had of winning the Greg Oden/Kevin Durant lottery with the Knicks' pick. Bryant emphatically demanded a trade yesterday before backtracking hours later.
Thomas, who considers Bryant the best talent in basketball, will participate in The Kobe Lottery, if there is one. An insider said Thomas, here at the pre-draft camp at Walt Disney World's Milkhouse Gym, will monitor the situation.
However, Thomas' best hope is signing Bryant as a free agent if he opts out after the 2008-09 season, with Thomas alluding to that scenario yesterday.
With at least $46.6 million coming off the Knicks' books after the 2008-09 season - Stephon Marbury ($21.9 million), Steve Francis ($17.1 million) and Malik Rose ($7.6 million) - the Knicks may get under the salary cap for the first time to sign a free agent outright without needing a sign-and-trade.
"We're in a comfortable position in terms of our base and cap," Thomas said in his first public remarks since the regular season ended six weeks ago. "The next two years our numbers really look good. You got players two years from now, the free-agency crop looks good, and we want to be in a position to play in that, and we are in one. We don't need to do anything to set ourselves back."
Nevertheless, Thomas has told confidants the Knicks need one more star and will look to trade for Jermaine O'Neal, Pau Gasol or Garnett.
But the Knicks believe they'll have more leverage with their top free-agent priority, Seattle's Rashard Lewis, in a sign-and-trade. Thomas said yesterday he couldn't talk about Lewis, an entering-his-prime stud, until July 1. Lewis has said he'd be interested in the Knicks because of the big-market allure, but the Sonics, who turned down Knicks overtures at last season's trade deadline, declared this week they will re-sign him.
"I'll listen; if there's a way we can upgrade our team, we will," Thomas said. "But we're not in a hurry to do anything. The waters are still in Knicks camp. Slow and steady wins the race."
Aside from avoiding the humiliation of the Bulls winning the lottery, the second-best news from last week was Oden and Durant likely will play outside the Eastern Conference in the Pacific Northwest, with Portland or Seattle.
Thomas candidly expressed gigantic relief the ping-pong balls kept the Bulls at No. 9.
"I was really happy," Thomas said. "We were at our scouting meeting. My heart definitely was beating fast. The way the balls came out, particularly those guys going out West, I liked how it played out."
Thomas, who said Durant is the next Kevin Garnett, said he has no regrets about the Eddy Curry trade that included two lottery picks.
"After I got up off the floor, we all clapped," Thomas said. "There's no lying or denying that. We gambled and it paid off for us big-time. Had we not taken the gamble we took with Eddy, we would be sitting here in a very difficult spot. But the future is very bright for us now."
Any Bryant deal would have to include David Lee, Channing Frye and Jamal Crawford.
Two summers ago, Bryant, then a free agent, invited Thomas and James Dolan into his Newport Beach, Calif., home. Bryant is on record saying he's always been intrigued playing in New York.
Stephen Jackson has claimed his buddy O'Neal wants a trade to the Knicks to reunite with Thomas, who coached him with the Pacers.
"I don't know how to answer that without getting in trouble," Thomas said. "When I coached in Indiana, I thought we had a group, had we kept it together, could've been a very special group."
The Knicks own Chicago's 23rd pick and Thomas said he'll be "riskier," feeling he already has a first-rounder from this draft in Randolph Morris. That seemed another hint Thomas has Boston College center Sean Williams, suspended for marijuana smoking, on his radar.
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5/31/2007 11:55 AM