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MaTT4281
Posts: 33762
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Joined: 1/16/2004
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Isiah's Knicks better, but have a way to go
Saturday, August 21, 2004
By AL IANNAZZONE
STAFF WRITER
Isiah Thomas didn't have the assets to achieve all of his off-season goals, but the summer has not been a waste for the Knicks' aggressive president.
After an early summer meeting with Kobe Bryant in California - at Bryant's behest when he was a free agent - Thomas set his more realistic sights on obtaining Jamal Crawford and Erick Dampier.
Dampier will be traded to Dallas in a five-player deal, but Thomas landed Crawford, shoring up what could be the best backcourt in the Eastern Conference, if not the whole NBA, provided Allan Houston is healthy.
The athletic and versatile Crawford gives the Knicks insurance at shooting guard if Houston's troublesome knees act up. Crawford, 24, adds another scorer to help Olympian Stephon Marbury, who needed an assist offensively in the playoffs against the Nets, and allows the Knicks to play a three-guard lineup.
So essentially, Thomas is shooting 50 percent this summer. We must exclude Bryant because he was staying with the Lakers all along. Either way, Thomas is having a better off-season than Rod Thorn and the Nets.
"The Knicks still aren't very good," one Eastern Conference executive said, "but they could be one of the top four or five teams in the conference."
That might be a little overzealous since the Shaquille O'Neal-led Heat, the Pistons, and the Pacers are the East's elite. The Knicks, despite a $102 million payroll, aren't close to that class yet. But they may have surpassed the Nets, who lost Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles. And Thomas isn't done dealing.
He would love to get Vince Carter, but a package including Kurt Thomas or Tim Thomas won't get it done right now. Still, Isiah wants to get younger and more athletic. He would trade Kurt Thomas, Shandon Anderson, and Moochie Norris in a heartbeat.
Kurt Thomas, a power forward, has value around the league. He just doesn't seem to have much on his own team.
Isiah Thomas and coach Lenny Wilkens said the Knicks want to get more athletic at power forward. Thomas even said he would consider playing Tim Thomas at power forward.
Picture Marbury, Crawford, Houston, Tim Thomas, and Nazr Mohammed on the floor at the same time, or replace Mohammed with newly re-signed Vin Baker. The Knicks also could use Jerome Williams, who came from Chicago with Crawford, at power forward.
"The more athleticism we could add to our team the better we'll be, particularly out on the perimeter," Isiah Thomas said. "We see [power forward] being an athletic position also.
"We want to have the ability to play big, and also small and be quick. I'd like to see a team at the Garden where we have the kind of athleticism and quick point guards and [shooters] that can shoot the ball and everything else. It would be an exciting style."
There aren't many free agents left. Rodney White, who Thomas had interest in, reportedly will re-sign with Denver. Marcus Fizer and Keon Clark, who met with Knick officials in New York, remain possibilities.
Thomas' best bet to improve seems to be more trades, but he gave up valuable assets for Crawford and Williams. Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams, and Cezary Trybanski were entering the final years of their contracts. Teams want players with short-term contracts because they provide salary-cap relief when they expire.
That should make Mohammed, Tim Thomas, and Penny Hardaway more valuable next summer, as they will be going into the last year of the deals.
"We'll always continue to try and upgrade our team," Isiah Thomas said. "The difficult process that we're trying to do is restructure our team and not necessarily lose for three years while trying to do it."
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY1NzI0ODQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
From yesturday.
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