MIAMI – In five days, beginning last Monday and ending Friday, new Knicks president Isiah Thomas has, by actions and words, indicated his distaste for virtually every move former GM Scott Layden made.
The three 2003 draft picks? Thomas hasn’t had an encouraging word yet. The still-sore-kneed Antonio McDyess? Thomas doesn’t think the franchise can rely solely on his recovery, something Layden stubbornly did.
Clarence Weatherspoon? The undersized power forward to whom Layden gave the full mid-level exception (five years, $28 million) is being bought out and waived any day now. Thomas banished him to the injured list to promote first-round pick Michael Sweetney, whom Thomas has no feeling about one way or another. “Honestly, I don’t know,” Thomas said.
Thomas has questioned the team’s pride and toughness; released second-round pick, 7-5 Slavko Vranes on Christmas Eve, and ripped their other second-rounder, Maciej Lampe.
Thomas’ proactiveness underscores how completely saddled in inertia Layden was, not willing to live up to his mistakes. Knicks beat writers who covered colorless Layden since Day 1 feel like they’ve emerged from the Sahara Desert after a five-year journey, parched, and stumbled upon a flowing oasis named Isiah.
As for the coach, Thomas has yet to laud Don Chaney with the plaudits that robotically came out of Layden’s mouth every time he met with the media.
Chaney coached Thomas in the guard’s final two seasons in Detroit. Chaney in the past admitted the Detroit situation was awkward, a bad mix of aging players from the Pistons’ championship years with youngsters. Thomas was one of the aging veterans and, knowing his enormous ego, he couldn’t have been pleased with the diminished role Chaney gave him.
The one thing you have to know about Thomas is he remembers past slights. However, the Knicks’ wire-to-wire win in Memphis bought Chaney some time, unless the team completely tanks in this two-game Florida set.
Thomas’ harshest comments have been directed at an 18-year-old, as the bash of Lampe was a stunner. (Layden never singled out a player for criticism, even when he smacked Latrell Sprewell with fines, suspensions and banishments.) Layden had fallen in love with 7-foot Lampe during workouts last spring and nearly chose him at No. 9 in the draft. But Lampe fell out of the first round and Layden snatched him at No. 30, with many in the league branding it a steal.
So far, Thomas is unhappy with Lampe’s “work ethic.”
“He’s a guy who should live in a gym for a long time,” Thomas said. “He’s got to get better. We don’t have a lot of time to wait for him to get better. This ain’t charity. It’s a business. We all get paid a lot of money to do what we need to do. If we can’t do it, we have to find somebody else.”
Keith Kreiter, Lampe’s agent, was to attend last night’s game in Miami and possibly meet with Thomas. Kreiter said he believes Thomas made the critical remarks to “light a fire” under Lampe because he sees vast potential. Lampe has three guaranteed years at $2 million.
The McDyess saga is getting worse. His left knee stiffened again in Memphis after the first quarter and he scored two points in 22 minutes coming off the bench. One good sign that McDyess is getting less tentative came when he crashed into the first row going for a loose ball, taking out fans. He got up effortlessly, though he wound up with his right sneaker covered by cheese that had to be wiped off by trainer Mike Saunders.
“He’s got some old habits to break,” Thomas said, referring to McDyess not playing with the reckless abandon that made him an All-Star, afraid to get re-injured.