http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/story/238133p-204325c.html

Kurt set to get started



BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

As long as Isiah Thomas' cell phone is working, the clock on Kurt Thomas' career in New York will continue ticking.
Thomas, the Knicks' incumbent power forward, defied the odds over the summer by not being traded to Dallas, Golden State, New Jersey, Toronto or Minnesota. His status could change at any minute, but until that day, Thomas wants everyone to remember that he still sees himself as a starter.

"Without a doubt, that's a given," he said. "I think everyone knows that. Nothing has changed."

Change is always imminent around the Knicks and the team is hoping it can revive trade talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves and bring Long Island product Wally Szczerbiak back to New York. The Knicks' interest in Szczerbiak, a small forward/shooting guard, is another indication they are extremely concerned about Allan Houston's health.

That the deal would include Kurt Thomas shows that the team is confident that Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, Jerome Williams and Vin Baker are more than adequate replacements at power forward. Lenny Wilkens even said that every starting job is available for the taking (with the notable exception of point guard, of course.)

Some NBA scouts believe the Knicks would be sacrificing much-needed low-post defense for scoring if they made the deal. Others suggest that Thomas is still the team's best big man.

"I don't really worry about trade rumors because it seems like every summer I'm going to get traded," Thomas said. "It comes with the territory."

Thomas signed a four-year, $30 million contract extension last March and two months later he had surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right pinkie. Thomas' shooting hand has healed and he will be available for the Knicks' first practice on Tuesday in Charleston, S.C.

Thomas reiterated that he is not upset that the Knicks have tried on several occasions to trade him. He is, however, still stung by comments made by Wilkens last May that the Knicks needed a more physical power forward, one that would give the team a "real low-post presence."

Thomas responded by saying that Wilkens had stopped running plays for him. The forward's numbers were down after he signed his extension, but according to him, his lack of production had nothing to with his injured hand or his fat wallet.

"Look at my shot attempts," he said. "That's what went down. I never stopped playing hard."

Originally published on October 3, 2004

It's definitely interesting to see these Kurt for Wally rumors continue to pop up in the media. As I have said before, this would be a great trade for us. Yes, we might have to be last year's Dallas Mavericks for a season. But then we would have so many assets to adress our needs just like the Mavs did this offseason with the Dampier, Terry, and Stackhouse trades.

Plus, if we do trade Kurt, we can throw Sweets in there and give him minutes to develop. With JYD as a backup, we should still be ok at the position. Another thing I love about this Wally trade is of course that Wally has always wanted to be a Knick. If H20 misses some time we would still be able to put out a very potent starting 5.

Getting a all-star SF like Wally for Kurt is the most you will ever get for KT. If we can somehow find a way to make this deal happen, it will definitely benefit us for the future.

what bothers me about KT is his feelings of entitlement that he deserves to be the starting PF...how about just going out & playing hard & letting everything else take care of itself? if you're asked to be a backup, accept it & do your best in that role...if you show that you deserve to be the starter, you will be, case closed.

as for his comment about his shot attempts going down, you would think that if he was playing hard down low & getting position like he said, he would get more plays run for him & his shot attempts would have gone UP...but the way he resorted to playing towards the end of last season, he became predominantly a midrange, pick & roll PF, only putting up shots from the outside & hardly ever working for position down low & getting easy layups on offense...it almost seemed that everytime he attempted a layup down low he would get rejected by a more athletic defender, or just plain missed it...if he were able to DUNK the damn ball in traffic, he'd get more shot attempts because the G's would have more faith in him to finish or get fouled.

if he goes out & shows that he's reverted into a physical, aggressive player in the low post on offense, then i have no problem w/keeping him on the roster...but if he's going to be a midrange player for the rest of his career, then he needs to accept whatever role the team asks of him & not complain about it, because this team is starved for a consistent low post presence first & foremost...if that turns out to be Mike Sweetney, then KT needs to understand that he'll be seeing less & less playing time...i don't know if he's ready to accept a backup role judging by his comments.

Why shouldn't KT want to be the starting PF though? What gives him the right to not say "I deserve to be the starting PF, and I will show all of you why." and then he plays hard in training camp and earns it. I certainly wouldn't get on KTs back for something like that. Complaining about not being in the starting lineup (Which I can see happening, again) and playing stupid as hell is what starts me up in an angry way, about Kurt Thomas.

With that being said, I like Kurt Thomas very much. Always have. But it's time to move on, and find a taker for him, who will give us something of some decent value, in return. Maybe a mid to late first rounder?

We beating down any knick that Isiah is not hyping?

Is Isiah going to start beating on KT in the papers?

I would not want to be a soon to be ex mrs. Isiah! That would be ugly. He can go out on Letterman and next day she can watch replays on sports center. Then Isiah will tell her not to come home! Ouch!

Isiah the emperor!

For me, it's not about trashing anyone who Isiah didn't bring in. In that case I would like Moochie Norris. I despise Moochie's game. Always have, always will. Just like Anderson....GET THEM OUTTA HERE!!! As for Kurt, I like his toughness and his willingness to do the dirty work. Plus he doesn't back down from anyone. But my concern is the way a lot of these young guys in the new school (KG, Okafur etc.) are too quick for Kurt most times. I'd rather see Kurt come off the bench. And if he does get traded, make sure it's for someone who fite our style. We need guys who don't back down like Kurt. So if we trade him make sure it's for a guy who we NEED in order to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish. This has nothing to do with Isiah as far as I'm concerned.

Posted by Rich:

What would you expect Kurt to say, that he shouldn't start?

i expect him to say, "I'm going to play hard in training camp & i look forward to the challenge of earning a starting spot on this team. I'm confident i'll show that i deserve the spot, but i'll do my best in whatever role the team asks of me."

not "I see myself as the starter. That's a given & everyone knows it" when training camp is just getting started...it's not like he's some star player that can go into camp EXPECTING to be the starter...we got a young lottery pick who worked his butt off all summer long to come into training camp in the best shape of his life & is going to be competing w/him for the starting role...if KT outplays Sweetney & wins the starting role after training camp, that's fine, i have no problem with that.

They didn't put Sweetney's picture on the "ALL BALL" homepage for his health.

It's a clear indication that Sweetney will be the starting 4 this yr and If they can't unload Kurt, he'll more likely be coming off the bench...

I don't really know if a banner on the team website indicates Sweets starting, but I think it's clear he will be a significant part of the Knicks future. I'm actually surprised they didn't put Craw on the banner instead of Houston.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Rich:

What would you expect Kurt to say, that he shouldn't start?

i expect him to say, "I'm going to play hard in training camp & i look forward to the challenge of earning a starting spot on this team. I'm confident i'll show that i deserve the spot, but i'll do my best in whatever role the team asks of me."

not "I see myself as the starter. That's a given & everyone knows it" when training camp is just getting started...it's not like he's some star player that can go into camp EXPECTING to be the starter...we got a young lottery pick who worked his butt off all summer long to come into training camp in the best shape of his life & is going to be competing w/him for the starting role...if KT outplays Sweetney & wins the starting role after training camp, that's fine, i have no problem with that.

completely disagree.

If I am on a team or a coach of a team, I want all of my players as hungry as can be. I want them all to think and act like they want to start and calmly claim it too, where appropriate. It's not like Kurt is an awful player who has some weird misconceptions about his play. There is no gross negligence by Kurt here. He is confident and he has layed down his opinion, nothing wrong with that. It's not like he is calling his own press conferences to promote himself. Reporter probably ask Kurt what he thought his roll on the team would be, and Kurt gave a straight answer.

Posted by martin:

... I want all of my players as hungry as can be.

Posted by TMS:

...i want players to go into training camp expecting & wanting to compete for the starting role...

Can't we just agree to disagree?

TMSs point is basically that he wants Kurt to let his game do his talking, and he doesn't want him to talk like a baby, which is fine. But KT does play his hardest all the time, unless if his foul woes completely take him out of the game, so I don't have a problem with what KT said. If he isn't a starter though, and he starts yapping, I'll have a problem with that. That's how this whole Shandon Anderson war began.