Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
This is the Post of course, and I classify this more as rampant speculation than anything hard, but nonetheless...:
DEAL MAY OPEN DOOR FOR ISIAH TO MAKE A RUN AT ARTEST
By MARC BERMAN
July 3, 2007
Armed with two new trade pawns in the expiring contracts of Dan Dickau and Fred Jones, the advent of free agency and a new edict that character no longer matters, Isiah Thomas wants to swing another deal or two this month.
While free-agent Rashard Lewis is their pipe dream, on-the-block Ron Artest is more attainable. Thomas had stayed clear of his former player because of his list of violent transgressions that soured owner James Dolan. With the acquisitions of troubled Zach Randolph, the character issue is dead.
Artest, whose fallen out of favor in Sacramento, makes sense. Small forward is the hole in the lineup, and Artest would make the Knicks a solid perimeter defensive team that would cover up their shot-blocking woes. Jared Jeffries was such a disappointment that Quentin Richardson is slated to start there next season.
Thomas has 17 players on the roster - two above the max, so another trade is coming - even if it's lateral. The new players can't be dealt for 30 days, so Jared Jeffries, Nate Robinson and Randolph Morris are being shopped.
While he promised he wouldn't use his $5 million mid-level exception this summer, indications are he could back off that stance following the Randolph trade. He would prefer to add a free agent via a 3-for-1 sign-and-trade.
"I've been active and we'll continue to be active," said Thomas, who broke a 16-month trade drought with the Randolph deal. "If there's someone we identify fitting the team we're building, we'll go after them like we went after others. I don't consider this a finished product by any stretch."
Thomas confirmed he spoke to free-agent Rashard Lewis when free agency opened Sunday. Lewis could make a recruiting visit, but the Knicks' chances of doing a sign-and-trade with the Sonics are small. They'll be competing with a number of teams, including under-the-cap Orlando. Lewis made a recruiting visit to Orlando yesterday.
"He's a person of interest," Thomas said. "Anytime you can get a good player, you get him."
*
Thomas went out of his way to make cap throw-ins Dickau and Jones feel as if they will stick with the team, perhaps trying to pump their trade value. Thomas presented them with white Knicks jerseys and Isiah told anecdotes about the two players. Dickau and Jones were stung by the deal as they had local connections - Jones is a Portland native and Dickau played at Gonzaga. When Randolph posed with Rangers signees Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, it should be noted Dickau and Jones were asked to leave the frame. Asked if this trade made them a playoff team, Thomas said, "I think it should." . . . Randolph said he will be in Las Vegas to participate in the Knicks' voluntary big-man camp beginning July 9.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0703200...o_make_a_run_at_artest_knicks_marc_berman.htm
DEAL MAY OPEN DOOR FOR ISIAH TO MAKE A RUN AT ARTEST
By MARC BERMAN
July 3, 2007
Armed with two new trade pawns in the expiring contracts of Dan Dickau and Fred Jones, the advent of free agency and a new edict that character no longer matters, Isiah Thomas wants to swing another deal or two this month.
While free-agent Rashard Lewis is their pipe dream, on-the-block Ron Artest is more attainable. Thomas had stayed clear of his former player because of his list of violent transgressions that soured owner James Dolan. With the acquisitions of troubled Zach Randolph, the character issue is dead.
Artest, whose fallen out of favor in Sacramento, makes sense. Small forward is the hole in the lineup, and Artest would make the Knicks a solid perimeter defensive team that would cover up their shot-blocking woes. Jared Jeffries was such a disappointment that Quentin Richardson is slated to start there next season.
Thomas has 17 players on the roster - two above the max, so another trade is coming - even if it's lateral. The new players can't be dealt for 30 days, so Jared Jeffries, Nate Robinson and Randolph Morris are being shopped.
While he promised he wouldn't use his $5 million mid-level exception this summer, indications are he could back off that stance following the Randolph trade. He would prefer to add a free agent via a 3-for-1 sign-and-trade.
"I've been active and we'll continue to be active," said Thomas, who broke a 16-month trade drought with the Randolph deal. "If there's someone we identify fitting the team we're building, we'll go after them like we went after others. I don't consider this a finished product by any stretch."
Thomas confirmed he spoke to free-agent Rashard Lewis when free agency opened Sunday. Lewis could make a recruiting visit, but the Knicks' chances of doing a sign-and-trade with the Sonics are small. They'll be competing with a number of teams, including under-the-cap Orlando. Lewis made a recruiting visit to Orlando yesterday.
"He's a person of interest," Thomas said. "Anytime you can get a good player, you get him."
*
Thomas went out of his way to make cap throw-ins Dickau and Jones feel as if they will stick with the team, perhaps trying to pump their trade value. Thomas presented them with white Knicks jerseys and Isiah told anecdotes about the two players. Dickau and Jones were stung by the deal as they had local connections - Jones is a Portland native and Dickau played at Gonzaga. When Randolph posed with Rangers signees Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, it should be noted Dickau and Jones were asked to leave the frame. Asked if this trade made them a playoff team, Thomas said, "I think it should." . . . Randolph said he will be in Las Vegas to participate in the Knicks' voluntary big-man camp beginning July 9.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/0703200...o_make_a_run_at_artest_knicks_marc_berman.htm
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i'd love to have a non lotto protected pick like they gave away in the curry deal 
