I try not to give fresh rumors too much attention, but I particularly like this one. From Tommy Dee at The Knicks Blog, talk on the Nets side of a New York-New Jersey deal of Nate Robinson for Sean "Chong" Williams. Though this is the only place I've heard the rumors, I'd be very interested to see if this goes anywhere. As much as I love Nate Robinson, he's a surplus guard who might not get to shine with Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson around. Meanwhile, Williams just might make sense. Says Dee:

Attitude is something that the Knicks want nothing to do with, of course, and Williams is not a perimeter threat, something that Mike D’Antoni loves in his big men. But he can finish in transition as well as keep possessions alive with his active offensive rebounding ability.

His potential and athleticism, along with his defensive prowess, would fit a huge need for the Knicks. Should Eddy Curry show up out of shape and get under the skin of D’Antoni, a frontcourt rotation of Williams, Zach Randolph (who’s not going to Memphis) and David Lee, would be an instant upgrade.

I'm looking for one thing, and one thing only. Well, no. Two things. My original thought was that the Knicks need some damn shot blocking. Chong's swatting ability would certainly be a defensive upgrade over the low-altitude loafing of Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph. The second thing that I just thought of is that the addition of Williams would be a nice step towards replacing the entertainment value of Renaldo Balkman. While Humpty was a lovable space cadet who we assumed to be a stoner, Williams is a lovable space cadet who is, in fact, a stoner. If this source of Dee's knows what he's talking about, it's time for Donnie Walsh to give the Nets a call.

With the installment of a new coach and a new style, we can expect to see different players adapt and thrive in the fresh system. One such player might very well be the streaky and positionally bi-curious Jamal Crawford. Like Monta Ellis in Don Nelson's famously free-flowing offense, Alan Hahn expects that D'Antoni and Crawford may be a perfect match.

The up-tempo will only make Crawford a more dangerous player on the offensive end and also hide (or at least overshadow) his defensive issues. What we know is the guy can score in bunches and when he's on, he's impossible to defend.

Phoenix has certainly been a haven for shooters over the last few years, with guys like Barbosa, Bell, and James Jones becoming household names under D'Antoni's watch. Whether that can be attributed to the offensive scheme or to Steve Nash's timely passing remains to be seen. Curiously, Crawford was one of the few players to really blossom offensively under the treacherous reign of the coach before Isiah. While undoubtedly lethal from anywhere on the floor, Jamal is notoriously trigger-happy. You could say the same for Richardson and Robinson- other gunners expected to wreck shit in the new offense. I worry that, without a responsible adult like Nash to run it, the D'Antoni system might be more of an enabler than anything for shooting addicts like the three mentioned above.

There are, of course, many ways that this could go right. One of the point guards- Duhon, Robinson, even Marbury- could step up as a poor man's Nash. Or D'Antoni could adapt the offense to suit the personnel. Tommy Dee envisions a Detroit-style off-the-ball look for shooters like Crawford. Either way, if Crawford will ever make headlines and cash moneys like Monta Ellis, he's going to have to keep his head. The new style has the potential to unchain some All Star-caliber talent, but one must beware the danger of sheer mayhem.

Good morning, everybody. Hope a good weekend was had by all. I totally dropped the ball on the last two games of summer league, which was just poor planning on my part. I'm very sorry for that. Let's hit some links to see what I missed.

- The Knicks were handily walloped in their last two games against Charlotte and Minnesota. I'm not so worried about the losses as the individual performances, and the only real standout was Anthony Roberson in yesterday's contest. The Knicks' signee put up 23 points on 9-18 shooting, including 3-7 from three to go with 2 assists. Those last two figures certainly bolster D'Antoni's notion that Roberson might play an Eddie House-type role in the Knick lineup.

- The Knicks finished 2-3 in the summer league. Considering that last season was preceded by an undefeated Vegas outing, I'll take 2-3 every year.

- You can get the individual averages for the summer league here. Wilson Chandler measures up nicely, albeit against fringe competition. Mardy Collins' numbers are rather unsightly, even against fringe competition.

- Meanwhile, let's not forget that the whole reason we were excited for the summer league was to get a chance to see Danilo Gallinari in action, and the kid ended up getting shut down. This article (ignore the misleading tabloid headline) points out that we're pretty much where we were a week ago: positive that Gallinari has a lot to offer, but without any solid evidence of how much he might contribute in the NBA. We also get this:

A team source said the Knicks are considering resting Gallinari the remainder of the summer and request he not play for the Italian national team that gets together in two weeks. The decision could be out of Gallinari's hands as the Italian players are threatening a strike.

Not sure why they'd be striking (Possibilities: They're hungry, it's hot out, their tummies hurt.), but I wonder what Danilo thinks of all this. It seemed from the outset like his back wasn't hurt that badly. This might be a little overprotection on the part of the New York brass. I can't argue with avoiding injury, as long as it doesn't create an early rift between the Knicks and Gallinari and his Italian homies.

- Final piece of SL news: Nate Robinson's #4 jersey was formally retired in Las Vegas. Says Nate, "It's crazy, right? Yeah, it's kind of awesome. First time ever, so I'm glad I could be the first one. It's kind of cool. Maybe I'll set a new trend." Such a Nate Robinson thing to take place, and congratulations to him, I suppose. You gotta wonder, though. Are they really retiring the number 4 from the summer league? That's a lot of people to deny that widely worn digit. Will players in the future petition to wear the number to honor Nate the Great? One must wonder. Anyway, this whole thing gives me some ideas for the rest of the summer. We'll be getting to what comes next shortly. Have a good one, and I'll see you all later.

NBA free agency begins at midnight, and there are already some names floating around for the Knicks' hole at point guard. Chief among them is none other than Chicago's Chris Duhon, seen above displaying his unselfishness and team-first mentality. According to The Sporting News, last year's league leader in seductive gazes per grind session (SG/GS) is expected to meet with Walsh and D'Antoni Tuesday morning. Of the candidates at point guard, Duhon would fall into "mediocre fringe starter who gets a 2-year deal" camp. I'm not particularly enamored with that solution, nor with a guy who, for all his defensive skills and pass-first tendencies, primarily just sucks. See the comments of this Blog-A-Bull post for a sampling of his fan club in Chicago. Then again, if we do opt to make a signing, I'd take Duhon over the likes of Sebastian Telfair any day. Speaking of which, the article cites the expectation that any addition of another point guard would be followed by the buyout or release of Mr. Stephon Marbury. So much for letting his deal expire.

Anyway, signing a free agent is an odd solution for the point guard conundrum. It's a short-term move in what is supposed to be a long-term agenda. Though the money spent wouldn't be frivolous, it'd still be added payroll. Finally, what about Nate Robinson? He seems like a pretty D'Antoni-friendly guy to me, but we haven't heard anything about him fitting into the offense. Why not let Nate spin in the new system? Best case, he shows the point guard skills, shooting, and defense (all of which we've seen in flashes) to lead the team. Worst case, he fails and the Knicks shuffle the lineup or make a signing mid-season. If we're truly urgent to have a leader, then the best bets were draft night or a trade. If not, why waste the cash and the playing time on a stopgap guard? I suppose this all depends on your impression of Duhon, et al., but I'm not terribly excited with the cheap free agents available. Perhaps we're better off keeping the point guard solution in house, just for the time being. I mean, there's always Mardy Collins...

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