Link:Six Knicks prospects will be on display in the Las Vegas summer league beginning Monday, in what could be an audition for Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie.
If the Knicks are to land forward Ron Artest in a trade this summer - one of their remaining summer goals - they will have to package a couple of prospects.
The one young Knick who could seal the deal is David Lee, as Isiah Thomas ponders whether to make him available for the former Defensive Player of the Year who carries lots of baggage. Lee could be packaged with either Jared Jeffries or Malik Rose to make the deal work under collective bargaining agreement mathematics.
The Knicks announced their summer-league roster yesterday. The lone surprise was Nate Robinson, who likely is being showcased. The club opens Monday vs. Kevin Durant's Sonics and begins a mini-camp this morning at Valley High in Vegas.
Artest brushed up on his game for the Kings' summer-league team last July after being suspended most of the season for his role in the Pacers-Pistons brawl in Auburn Hills, Mich. Nov. 19, 2004 as a member of the Pacers. There's speculation the often-suspended Artest could face another 2-to-5 game ban from the NBA to start next season for pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge.
Artest is out of the country and unavailable for comment, his agent, Mark Stevens, said. A source said Artest is headed to Kenya Wednesday with the Players Association as part of a Feed the Children program.
Stevens spoke to Artest yesterday. Asked about Artest's reaction to reports the Knicks have interest in bringing him home, Stevens said: "He's a New Yorker. I'm pretty sure you can fill in the rest."
Robinson will join last season's rookies, Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins, and Randolph Morris and this year's picks, first-rounder Wilson Chandler of DePaul and second-round shooting guard Demitris Nichols of Syracuse.
