http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/knicks/post/_/id/35334/opening-tip-possibly-add-amundson

Every weekday throughout the season, ESPNNewYork.com will tackle a burning question about the Knicks in our "Opening Tip" segment.

Today's Burning Question: If Louis Amundson becomes available, should the Knicks explore the possibility of picking him up?

Last summer, the Knicks expressed interest in Amundson, who was a free agent at the time, but he went on to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But this weekend, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound defensive-and-rebounding-focused forward could be available on the waiver wire. That's if the Timberwolves decide to sign Chris Johnson and Mickael Gelabale, who are both currently on 10-day contracts, for the rest of the season.

Still, the main personnel issue involving the Knicks is their frontcourt defensive depth without Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace; not to mention, Kurt Thomas is 40 years old. While Camby appears to be making progress, the overall concern is their age and durability behind Tyson Chandler, and Wallace remains a big question mark.

"Personally, I think Sheed is done for the year," one league source said.

But according to the same source, the Knicks -- specifically Mike Woodson -- are not rushing to bring in a new face.

"Woody doesn't want to add anyone," the source said. "He was buying more time for Sheed. The Knicks are letting him do it his way."

Another source said the Knicks will likely wait until after the All-Star break to make a decision on Wallace. But it doesn't mean they shouldn't monitor the Amundson situation. While he's fallen on the depth chart, fighting for minutes among a young and talented Minnesota frontcourt, the 30-year-old is healthy and capable of becoming an integral role player like he was with the playoff-bound Pacers in 2011-12.

"He's a nice body," one veteran NBA scout said. "He's strong, brings intensity and energy."

Waiting until after the All-Star break might be too late to sign Amundson, but the Knicks still have Henry Sims in their backyard. He's been tearing it up on the Knicks' D-League team, the Erie BayHawks, with high double-doubles on a consistent basis. While the Knicks are currently settled on their 15-man roster, Sims is definitely on the team's radar.

"They want to see if Henry is a young big they could add to their core group," a source close to Sims said. "I think if Henry keeps playing as he is, they would need to look now."

The Knicks have some decisions to make and potentially a few guys to look at. Even Kenyon Martin is still available.

smackeddog wrote:I wish they'd just tell us what's going on with Sheeds foot, what do they really think we're going to do with such information? It sounds like he is done for the year, but Woody is just trying to buy him some time out of loyalty- likely they both think that even if he's not 100% he can still contribute in some playoff games. A real shame, I was against his signing but he proved me wrong.

As for Lou Amundson- unfortunately there is no way he clears waivers.

heres an update on both sheed and camby.. sounds like they are just going to hold sheed out until after the all-star break and he'll return after.

Mike Woodson expects Rasheed Wallace to start practicing after the All-Star break.

Wallace, 38, has been out since Dec. 15 with a stress reaction in his left foot. The team has listed him as day to day.

Woodson also hopes that Marcus Camby, out since Jan. 10 with a left plantar fascia injury, returns to practice after the break. But he is less certain about Camby than he is Wallace.

"I don't know about Camby," Woodson said before Monday's game against Detroit. "They'll continue to do their therapy work through the break. I'm hoping to have one of them back. Hopefully Rasheed will be back on the floor."

Woodson isn't sure if Wallace will ever be 100 percent healthy this season.

"I think he'll be good enough to give us some productive minutes but he'll never play real big minutes," the coach said. "Thats the beauty of having he and Camby. You can play him 9, 10 minutes and as long as they're productive, that helps us."

Chris Johnson and Mickael Gelabale were signed to multiple 10 day contracts to the T-Wolves form D League and I like both players
Chris Johnson is a real shot blocking presence and runs the court well, while Amundson is a solid 6'9 and is a hustle/role player close to PF

Mickael Gelabale is a SF that can shoot, is much quicker than Novak, can handle the ball a bit, and is more skilled than Novak
While Novak is probably the much better shooter, Gelable is a true SF that doesn't have the weakness's that Novak has on both ends due to his lack of speed/quickness/skills
With Novak/Copeland they are unable to both play together and are closer to PF's, neither can play SF due to their lack of speed/quickness, and Copeland is closer to a Center than SF

This article confirms Woody unwillingness to not want to cut ANYONE on the Knick's roster, regardless of our injuries, and the loyalty/trust/chemistry he has with our group
While I think we could use Kenyon Martin and another PG like Pargo during our losing streak due to injuries