The Knicks have a big decision to make with Charlie Ward after the season because of a buyout clause in his contract.
If brass believes its second-round draft pick, point-guard stud Milos Vujanic of Yugoslavia, is ready to contribute right away next season, it makes perfect sense to buy out Ward’s final year at a relatively cheap $2 million. Only $2M of Ward’s $6M wage next season is guaranteed.
Having Ward on the roster next season along with untradeable Howard Eisley, disappointing Frank Williams and Vujanic makes no sense, especially if Vujanic is either ready to start or at least be in the rotation.
And there’s no reason to believe he won’t be ready to start next season. The 23-year-old is considered the best point guard in Europe right now. He’s averaging 25 points for his Yugoslavian team, KK Partizan, which is owned by Vlade Divac.
Vujanic, an excellent long-range shooter, is shooting 46 percent. Selecting Vujanic might be the best thing the Knicks did on draft night.
Ward is making $5.75M this season, and unless they get a good big man in return, the Knicks aren’t anxious to deal him because of his suddenly payroll-friendly pact. Ward again could be a hot commodity at the Feb. 20 trade deadline as a payroll reducer because of his buyout clause.
It does seem peculiar that even yesterday, when it was clear Ward is just about back to full strength, he didn’t get his starting job back for last night’s game vs. Seattle. Coach Don Chaney said he didn’t want to hurt Eisley’s confidence.
Maybe Chaney realizes Eisley is going to be around the Knicks for a long time because of his seven-year, $40M deal. Eisley is making $5.3M this season. The guarantee portion of his deal lasts until after the 2005-2006 season. His last year – 2006-2007 at $7.4M – is a team option. Wonder what the Knicks will do.
Ward’s durability, too, is a question as he will be 33 next training camp. Beyond his surgically repaired knee, it took him eight games to return from a right-leg strain – a duration that shocked the Knicks. The Knicks say they traded for Eisley partly because they were afraid Ward’s knees were going to be an issue.
In his last outing, Saturday in Washington, his third game back, Ward finally looked close to 100 percent as he spearheaded a Knick fourth-quarter comeback.
With Eisley amid a miserable, turnover-plagued game, Ward probably should have won his starting point-guard job back. Chaney was expected to go with Eisley again last night and then “revisit” the situation.
“Charlie stepped up big-time,” Chaney said. “It was the first game he looked like he was totally back. The first few games, it looked like he was three weeks away.”
As for Williams, he was put on the injured list once Ward got healthy one week ago. It’s possible Williams will be on the injured list until March, when the Knicks would probably want to get another look at the 25th overall pick.
Even when Ward was out, Chaney only used Williams sporadically as a backup because he seemed overwhelmed. Williams’ rookie season is turning into a waste partly due to fracturing the same left wrist as the summer before at July’s summer league. Williams missed almost all of summer league and preseason, and Chaney admitted he had “baby fat.”
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CHARLIE WARD’S CAREER STATS
SeasonPPGAPGRPGSt3PT%
1994-95 1.60.40.60.210.0
1995-96 3.92.11.60.933.3
1996-97 5.24.12.81.131.2
1997-98 7.85.73.31.837.7
1998-99 7.65.43.42.135.6
1999-00 7.34.23.21.338.6
2000-01 7.14.52.61.138.3
2001-02 5.23.22.01.132.3
2002-03 9.14.63.11.335.3
Total 6.34.12.71.335.6