NY Times
Isiah Thomas tried, but neither trade possibilities nor the midlevel salary exception nor the allure of New York City could put Erick Dampier in a Knicks uniform. So with Dampier on the verge of finding a new place to play, heading from the Golden State Warriors to the Dallas Mavericks yesterday, Thomas, the Knicks' president, settled on his backup plan for a backup center, re-signing Vin Baker.
Although Dampier may not have been the top priority for Thomas in a summer when he has flirted with players like Kobe Bryant and traded for guard Jamal Crawford, the acquisition of the 6-foot-11 Dampier, an eight-year veteran, would have been significant for the Knicks. Even though they have the highest payroll in the N.B.A., the Knicks still have only one true center - Nazr Mohammed - and he, like Baker, may be better suited to play power forward.
With Shaquille O'Neal now in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks could use more heft up front. Dampier, a true center with muscle, would have helped.
"It's difficult to acquire a quality big man in this league,'' Thomas said in a conference call yesterday. "We'll continue to try and do that. At the same time, speed does negate size. If we can get a fast enough team and a quick enough team, we'll be able to play against the plodders. At the same time, we still would welcome and look for a big presence. But I'm very happy with Nazr and Vin, and I'll emphasize again we made the playoffs with both those guys.''
But Baker had little to do with it, making little impact after joining the Knicks on March 12 and averaging 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17 games. He was hardly the player he was in the past, when he was an All-Star and an Olympian.
Baker, who will turn 33 on Nov. 23, had a minor surgical procedure in the off-season to correct an irregular heartbeat. But with Dikembe Mutombo having departed to Chicago in the Crawford deal, Baker, who signed a two-year deal worth about $3.2 million a year, will be counted on to play behind Mohammed. That is unless Thomas can find a way to pull off a deal for a big man, a notion he did not dismiss.
"We'll always continue to try and upgrade our team,'' Thomas said. "The difficult process that we're trying to do is restructure our team and not necessarily lose for three years while trying to do it. We're trying to get younger and more athletic. We got to continue to keep getting better. I'll keep working hard this summer to try and make us better and see if there are other pieces that we can add to make our team better.''
Still, Thomas came up short in his efforts to acquire Dampier, unwilling to give up the sort of package that Dallas appears ready to surrender.
The Knicks are convinced that the deal with Dallas is done; otherwise, they would have held off on signing Baker, hoping instead to use the midlevel exception for Dampier.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/sp.../19knicks.html