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martin
Posts: 68993
Alba Posts: 108
Joined: 7/24/2001
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Isiah On Verge Of Impressive Overhaul
by chad
What Isiah Thomas wants ... Isiah Thomas gets.
With his owner writing blank checks and his town seemingly the No. 1 free-agent destination in the NBA, Knicks president Isiah Thomas seems to be on the verge of doing the impossible – completely rebuilding the cellar-dwelling New York Knicks in less than a year. Thomas has actively pursued free agents Jamal Crawford and Erick Dampier all summer and appeared to be close to signing both players on Wednesday evening.
Sources told Insider late Wednesday night that the long-rumored Crawford-to-the-Knicks trade is finally going to happen. On Tuesday night, both Thomas and Paxson agreed to six-player trade that would send Crawford and Jerome Williams to the Bulls for Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski.
The trade was held up on Wednesday by Crawford's final realization (first reported in this space on Tuesday) that there was no way he could get the six-year, $55 million deal he was hoping for if the trade went down with those six players. Instead, Crawford had to agree to either a six-year, $45 million pact or a seven-year, $56 million deal. It's the only way the numbers would work under the CBA.
According to sources, Crawford and agent Aaron Goodwin infuriated the Knicks when they took a step back Tuesday evening after seeing the actual numbers. Goodwin has been pushing non-stop to make this trade happen for six weeks and has repeatedly badgered both GMs (including setting up a face-to-face meeting near O'Hare airport last week) to make something happen.
His last-second cold feet (he was really shopping Crawford one last time to see if he could do better) almost killed the deal. However, Goodwin claims that Crawford just wanted to "sleep on it" Tuesday evening and had verbally agreed to accept the Knicks' seven-year offer on Wednesday. According to Goodwin, the trade should happen either today or Friday once all the paperwork is signed and the league officially approves the deal.
The Knicks, however, aren't done. Sources in New York were confident on Wednesday evening that the Knicks were close to locking up free-agent center Erick Dampier. Dampier visited the Knicks on Wednesday and seemed resigned to the fact that he may have to accept the mid-level exception for one year to play in New York.
He also downplayed his interest in joining the Hawks, who have reportedly offered him a six-year, $50 million deal.
"You get to a certain point in your life where the money's not a factor; you just want to win," Dampier told reporters after his visit. "I think I'm at that point. I'm not getting any younger, and I want to be in the playoffs and have a chance for a world championship."
The move is a risky one for Dampier, who just turned 30. He's coming off the most productive season of his career, but he's had a history of injuries that make signing a one-year contract a huge gamble. Dampier opted out of a contract with the Warriors that paid $18 million over the next two years.
Although Dampier would be an unrestricted free agent next year by agreeing to a one-year deal with the Knicks, the team would still not be in a position to offer him anymore than the mid-level exception next year. With the collective bargaining agreement expected to chance substantially this year, he may be unable to garner the same sort of deal next year.
The Knicks are still talking sign-and-trade with the Warriors, but once the Crawford trade goes down, it's unlikely Isiah can pull it off. The Knicks have been dangling Kurt Thomas and Nazr Mohammed to Golden State, but Warriors GM Chris Mullin hasn't been inclined on taking back the five years left on Thomas' contract.
The Hawks' deal, on the other hand, could be completed without a sign-and-trade and would give the Hawks a pretty decent front line of Al Harrington, Antoine Walker and Dampier. Forty-five million is an awful lot to leave on the table.
"Atlanta's in the rebuilding stage," Dampier said. "I've been at that stage for the last six years. I don't want to be in that position any longer. But I'll consider all options."
If Dampier agrees to accept the Knicks' mid-level contract, the Knicks should be in pretty good shape this year. The team is also on the verge of signing veteran forward Vin Baker with its $1.6 million exception and recently signed promising second-round forward Trevor Ariza to a multiyear deal.
Their lineup could end up looking like this:
PG: Stephon Marbury, Moochie Norris
SG: Allan Houston, Jamal Crawford, Penny Hardaway
SF: Tim Thomas, Shandon Anderson, Trevor Ariza
PF: Kurt Thomas, Jerome Williams, Mike Sweetney
C: Erick Dampier, Nazr Mohammed, Vin Baker
That's a major upgrade from the roster Isiah inherited from Scott Layden that included Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley and Frank Williams at the point; Houston and Anderson at the two; Keith Van Horn and Clarence Weatherspoon at the three; Antonio McDyess, Travis Knight and Sweetney at the four and Kurt Thomas, Dikembe Mutombo, Michael Doleac, Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes at the five.
The often-maligned Isiah Thomas deserves high marks for the work he's done this summer.
For someone who's been very critical of Thomas in the past, I have to admit that, on paper at least, that's a very impressive upgrade. The Knicks' front line and backcourt are both rock solid. They have great depth. And, for the first time ever, the Knicks actually have several promising young players in Crawford, Sweetney and Ariza who they can develop.
In the East, I think that's good enough to get them a three or four seed (behind only Detroit, Indiana and possibly Miami) and make them a very dangerous playoff team. There will be issues with Houston's health and some serious chemistry problems to solve. But, if they pull all of this off and are successful on the court, Isiah will get some votes for executive of the year.
The knock on Isiah will be that he's now traded away all of his cap flexibility for the next century. The team's payroll next season will be a mind-boggling $103 million. Marbury, Houston, Crawford, Anderson, Kurt Thomas and Williams are all locked into huge long-term deals. However, Isiah still retains some flexibility. Next season, Hardaway, Norris, Tim Thomas and Mohammed are all in the last year of their contracts, giving him more attractive trading pieces if things don't work out this year.
And believe it or not, Isiah might not be done. While the Knicks will end up using all of their money this summer if they sign Damp to the mid-level, trades aren't out of the question. Thomas also has his eye on Vince Carter and has been trying to work out something with the Raptors.
Now that Crawford is in the fold and more than capable of being the team's starting point guard, would he consider moving Marbury to Toronto (wouldn't Stephon love that?) for Carter? It's the only trade the Raptors would even consider with the Knicks. There's also significant interest in Kurt Thomas throughout the league, though it's lessened somewhat by that huge extension he signed last year.
Around the League
# Could Kidd end up on the Lakers? Don't count the Mavericks out of the Jason Kidd sweepstakes just yet. In 60 days, the team will be allowed to trade Jason Terry again and sources claim that they made the trade with Atlanta with an eye toward landing Kidd down the road if he proves to be healthy.
A Terry and Alan Henderson or Christian Laettner trade for Kidd works under the cap and gives the Nets back a starting point guard as well as significant cap relief.
However, league sources claim that the Lakers, not the Mavericks, are the team Kidd really wants to play for. Look for the Kidd camp to keep pushing the Lakers to send the expiring contracts of Gary Payton, Rick Fox along with a young player like Caron Butler or Kareem Rush to the Nets in return for Kidd. The deal would give the Nets lots of cap relief along with a promising young player and give the Lakers the best backcourt in the NBA. A combo of Kidd, Kobe, Odom, Grant and Divac would immediately catapult the Lakers into the favorites in the West.
Why wouldn't the Lakers just pull the trigger now? Because owner Jerry Buss is worried about the five years, $90 million left on Kidd's contract as well as the long term health of Kidd. The Lakers would essentially have four players making the max next year -- and two of them have chronic knee problems.
If the Lakers and Mavs don't come through, however, Kidd might not be going anywhere. Other teams with interest include the Sonics and Blazers, but sources claim he doesn't want to play for either.
# Reef for Wally talk back on The Blazers and Timberwolves continue to talk about a Shareef Abdur Rahim for Wally Szczerbiak swap. Insider first reported on Monday that the two teams were talking about a swap for Szczerbiak. The issue right now is the other player the Wolves are willing to include in the deal to make the numbers work. Abdur Rahim makes $14.6 million this season. Szczerbiak is due $9 million.
The Wolves really only have two options. They can either send center Michael Olowokandi or back-up center Ervin Johnson back in the deal. The team is reluctant to part with either. Despite a slew of injuries, the team believes Olowokandi could be a force for them next season. Johnson is more expendable, but given Olowokandi's injury history they team is worried about giving away Kandi's only back-up. The Blazers could include Vladimir Stepania in the deal to help the Wolves absorb the loss of Johnson and still make the numbers work.
Reports out of the Oregonian over the past few days that Trenton Hassel might be included in the deal are inaccurate. Once he signed an offer sheet with the Blazers, Hassell was ineligible to be included in a sign-and-trade with the Blazers. Now that the Wolves have matched the offer sheet, he can't be traded to the Blazers for one full year. Don't be surprised if the Blazers also make an offer to Wesley Person now that that Hassell is out of the mix.
# Hawks cap space
The fact that the Hawks also had to take back Tony Delk's two year, $5.6 million contract means that the team has roughly $9.5 million left in cap room to pursue free agents. They are reportedly offering Dampier most of that money to sign. If he picks the Knicks instead, they could turn their attention to Stromile Swift -- one of the last two top tier free agents left on the market. The Hawks, as do several other Eastern Conference executives, believe Swift can play 30 minutes a night at center in the East.
# Pistons cap space Why did the Pistons essentially give away one of their best low post scoring options to the Sixers on Wednesday. The trade that sent Corliss Williamson to the Sixers for Derrick Coleman gives the Pistons significant cap relief down the road. The Pistons clear an extra $3.5 million in cap next season if they buyout the last year of Coleman's deal. Then the team gets an additional $6.5 million in relief in 2006-07.
It's less clear why the Sixers did it given that they have another player, Kenny Thomas, who does much of the same thing Williamson does. However, coach Jim O'Brien has long been a fan of Williamson and thinks he'll add more depth and scoring punch to his club.
# The rest Loren Woods is expected to sign a contract with the Raptors either today or tomorrow. The Wizards added depth to their front court by signing Michael Ruffin and Samaki Walker on Wednesday.
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