I THINK you all know my position on Nick Van Exel: Miserable so-and-so. Definitive coaching conundrum. Recurring disruptive influence. Perhaps the NBA’s ultimate disjointed guards.
A perfect posterior, in other words.
But, just as clearly, Little Nicky is one of the league’s most talented at his position, right behind Jason Kidd and Gary Payton, against whom he more than holds his own. He’s tough. Competitive. Creative. Rarely turns the ball over. A master at making miraculous shots.
Everything the Knicks conspicuously lack, in other words.
If I were in charge of reorganizing New York’s mournfully fragile roster, Van Exel would’ve been in the starting lineup for the last week or so. Forget about trying to hijack Raef LaFrentz as part of a package. That’s nothing more than a far-fetched fantasy. Unlike the Mavericks and Blazers (itching to execute a major deal and owning the assets and billionaire owners to pull it off), the Knicks simply don’t have what it takes to squeeze the center/forward out of Denver’s tube of toothpaste.
At the same time, the Knicks have to be able to put together something (Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson? Eisley, Othella Harrington and Lavor Postell?) for Van Exel that would appeal to the Nuggets who are exceedingly anxious to get out from under his evil spell. But GM Scott Layden is wasting precious time. He’s giving opponents the opportunity to concoct and purify propositions.
In fact, I have it on infallible authority the Celtics have entered the bidding and already have Nugget GM Kiki Vandeweghe leaning in their direction. Sources tell me they’re prepared to swap Kenny Anderson, rookie Joe Johnson and Randy Brown for Van Exel and Calbert Cheaney.
Then again, Boston will not consummate the deal unless Little Nicky agrees to forfeit the final two years ($26.56 million) of the five remaining ($60M total) on his contract, as he has indicated he’s willing to do. Advisors, such as former agent Tony Dutt (perhaps because he, too, losses substantial money!) are adamantly opposed. We’ll see (trading deadline is Thursday) if he lives up to his statement that, “The money doesn’t matter.”
That Van Exel (apparently) enthusiastically embraces the idea of giving up so much scratch weighs heavily in his favor. It demonstrates how serious he is about leaving the Rocky Mountain Horror Show to play for a winner – which pretty much eliminates the Knicks, I guess, for those who wish to press petty details.
On second thought, I’d be extremely wary of anybody loopy enough to surrender 26 million of anything (FYI: In 13 NBA seasons, Vandeweghe, who averaged more than 20 points a number of times, pocketed a total of $8.8M), much less stone cold cash.
Van Exel’s insane salary stance reminds me of the old Groucho Marx line: “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”
If you can get beyond such lunacy and his hardcore background (father is incarcerated, mother was shot five times last year), and do your homework, you find Van Exel is difficult (killing his team and his value with his constant gibberish to be traded) but not really a bad guy.
Reports that his teammates don’t like him are nonsense. They actually respect the hell out of him because he has their backs. Years ago, Van Exel told me to my face to get out of his because I’d written unkindly about Laker teammate Elden Campbell. The ban lasted a season and I respected him for it.
Which one of the Knicks’ three point guards is capable of averaging 20-plus points and ten assists? How many close games have the Knicks lost this season? Think maybe Van Exel might’ve accomplished a little bit more at crunch time than Mark Jackson, Charlie Ward and Eisley? Think his push-it-up style would improvise easier baskets for Latrell Sprewell and anybody else along for the ride. If anybody who’s available can get the Garden into gear again, he’s the hombre.
Does the league’s most desirable malcontent have an attitude? You know it, but the Knicks could stand an upgrade in attitude, healthy or otherwise. Last I dared to look, they’re paying guys ($14M) at that position and they ain’t takin’ them anywhere worthwhile, that’s for sure.
I see it this way, the Celtics are winning and they’re primed to pounce on Van Exel’s bones, so why wouldn’t Camp Cablevision want him doing arts and crafts for the Knicks? What have they got to lose other than another double-digit lead?