KNICK NOTES
SEATTLE – Of the six players the Knicks obtained for Patrick Ewing last Wednesday, the Knicks have only definite plans for three of them: Glen Rice, center Luc Longley and ex-Laker 7-footer Travis Knight.
Knight, 25, the former UConn pivot who has played four NBA seasons, looks to be the 11th man, taking over the role of departed Chris Dudley as pivot insurance.
Meanwhile, of the three players obtained from the Sonics, head-case guard Vernon Maxwell is expected to be released before training camp opens Monday night in Charleston, while Cuban forward Lazaro Borrell and 7-foot Russian center Vladimir Stepania will get a chance to show their wares. Borrell and Stepania will vie for the 12th-man spot or a place on the injured list. The Knicks like to carry 14 players, including two on the injured list.
Stepania, 23, and Borrell, a 28-year-old Cuban defector, met with Jeff Van Gundy over the weekend and took their physicals. Stepania will work out with the Knicks’ coaching staff today. Borrell will work out with the coaches tomorrow.
“They’ve told me they haven’t seen enough of him,” Stepania’s agent, Tony Dutt, said. “They don’t want to make a decision until they see more of him.”
The three Sonic players were needed in the deal to make it work under the salary cap. Borrell is a small forward who has talent but is already 28 and has just one NBA season behind him. He defected from Cuba 18 months ago. Stepania is a project who has talent but hasn’t learned the NBA game.
Without another deal, the still-unsigned second-round draft pick LaVor Postell is the favorite to be the 12th man but he wants to be traded. The Knicks also want to keep around their other second-rounder, defensive forward Pete Mickeal of Cincinnati. If both Postell and Mickeal stick, Borrell and Stepania may both be released.
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While the Patrick Ewing press conference in Seattle Monday was filled with light-hearted humor, Ewing’s honeymoon with Gary Payton could be over the first time the “Big Fella” costs the run-and-gun club points by not joining the fast break. During Payton’s video tribute Monday, the point guard joked, “Patrick better get a lot of ice, because we are going to want him to run.” Responded Ewing with a grin, “When I have to run, I will run. If I get the rebound, I will kick it to Gary and stay down and wait for them to come back down. It will be like the Lakers with Kareem. If they need me, they’ll say, ‘Come on, Big Fella, it’s your shot.'”
Some members of Knick organization were surprised and disappointed to learn that Ewing didn’t get a single good-luck phone call from a teammate following last Wednesday’s trade.
