Isiah’s saga segues into Knicks camp

Link:Three days before training camp opened in 2006, Thomas and Dolan both testified before NBA commissioner David Stern in Larry Brown’s arbitration hearing. Dolan had fired Brown for violating terms of his contract by trying to make unauthorized trades and criticizing players in the media.

Thomas played the good solider last season while the team wanted to prove that they were better than the 23 wins they posted under Brown. The 10-game improvement was a step in the right direction, but whether the Knicks can reach 41-plus wins remains to be seen.

Boston, the only team to finish behind the Knicks in the Atlantic Division in 2006-07, added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen during the offseason. Detroit, Miami, Chicago and Cleveland appear to be the class of the Eastern Conference with the Nets and Toronto close behind. That could the leave the Knicks fighting for one of the last two playoff spots with Boston, Orlando, Washington and Milwaukee.

The pairing of Randolph and Curry will make for an interesting dynamic. Curry emerged as a consistent low post scorer last season and was starting to feel comfortable in the role. And yet Thomas decided to trade for Randolph, a legitimate 20-10 power forward whose career has been sidetrack by several infamous off-the court-issues.

How Curry adjusts to sharing ball and minutes with Randolph figures to be an on-going issues. Also, Randolph’s presence could impact Lee, who says he could start at either forward position. Jared Jeffries and Richardson are also fighting for time at small forward while first round pick Wilson Chandler will get a look as Renaldo Balkman recovers from an ankle injury. Balkman may be out as long as six weeks. Second round pick Demetrius Nichols, perhaps the team’s best outside shooter, will likely stick around. Assuming Crawford is healthy he will be the starting shooting guard with Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson serving as back-ups to Marbury.

Each season, Thomas usually eats at least one veteran contract, and with the Knicks needing to release two players, Jerome James could be receiving a hefty severance package. Veteran Malik Rose is another possibility, but Rose can still play and he provides something the Knicks sorely lack - leadership.

Who knows, maybe Rose can coach the team while Thomas is on trial. With the Knicks, anything is possible.

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Submitted by ClubKnicks to News on September 30th, 2007