MONTREAL - Wilson Chandler could become the Knicks' new sixth man, with Toney Douglas taking his place as the starting shooting guard.
Mike D'Antoni is considering altering his starting lineup because Douglas has played well and mostly because Chandler gives the Knicks versatility and scoring off the bench.
"The starting lineup might be different after seeing some things because we don't have that conventional (shooting guard) that you can pencil right in," D'Antoni said Friday before the Knicks lost, 108-103, to the Toronto Raptors before a sellout crowd of 22,114 in the first NBA game played at the Bell Centre. "I like what Toney brings into it."
D'Antoni cautioned that he could change his mind between now and Wednesday, when the Knicks open the 2010-11 regular season in Toronto. But the team's lack of depth is why D'Antoni feels it makes sense to have Chandler coming off the bench.
The likely starting lineup could be Felton, Douglas, Danilo Gallinari, Stoudemire and Timofey Mozgov. Under that scenario, D'Antoni has the flexibility to replace any of those starters with Chandler, who can play three positions.
Of the players likely to be in the rotation off the bench - Anthony Randolph, Walker and Ronny Turiaf - none owns a career scoring average above 9.2 ppg. Kelenna Azubuike is averaging 10.6 in 205 career games, but the veteran guard is recovering from knee surgery and could be out until January.
When asked if the Knicks could miss what Harrington brought, D'Antoni said: "We would like to have that. I just feel like no matter what we're going to score points. Now it's a matter of who's doing the little things, all the energy, we need rebounding, we need to play defense. All those things will go into it. But you're right, it would be nice to have a guy that can come in and score points and we'll look for that."
Pretty much what Ive been saying regarding Chandler at SG. Hes a good all around player but hes just not best suited at the 2. Chandler doesnt help with our playmaking, shooting, passing, and just basic all around guard play problems. Hes a SF through and through who can play SG and PF in spurts. As Dantoni says we could use Chandlers versatility and scoring off the bench, especially since Randolph seems to be lost.
Douglas or Fields is my choice to start, with Chandler being 6th man as he plays the aforementioned 3 positions. Chandler hasnt exactly lit it up these last few games while Douglas has beasted, so perhaps Dantoni has seen enough. We need Gallos shooting on the perimeter to open things up, so he gets the nod at SF for now. Either way I think Douglas is clearly our best candidate to start at SG on the roster at the moment. I liked what I saw with the Felton/Douglas combo. Fields is still a rookie and will begin off the bench it looks like. I would be even happier with him getting the nod over both Douglas and Chandler tho, and the Post (below) says he is also still in consideration for it so we'll see what happens.
The biggest downside if this happens is we obviously wont have a backup PG on the bench. Not that Douglas is some true PG anyway, but he can still run the offense decently (at least better than anyone else we got) with Felton out. Felton will likely get Duhon-esque minutes no matter what, but the difference is he seems to actually be able to handle them.
Our rotation seems to be heading to something like:
Felton 36 / Douglas 12
Douglas 18 / Fields 20 / Walker 10
Gallo 33 / Chandler 15
Amare 35 / Chandler 13
Mozgov 30 / Turiaf 18
Again no backup PG, so we're going to have to be creative with how we use Douglas. Too bad we didnt give Jeremy Lin a shot. Randolph could be put on the bench since Chandler plays his same role. Although there hasnt been anything written about Randolph being out of the rotation yet, he seems to be heading to Dantonis doghouse so who really knows whats going to happen with him. I hope that doesnt happen.
Overall Im happy with this decision if it happens. Its like we're going BIG AND SMALL at the same time with Mozgov/Amare/Gallo downlow and Felton/Douglas up top. I think this def makes the starting group more balanced. Douglas seems poised to be our 2nd scorer and will help out Felton with guard duties that Chandler doesnt provide. Against big SGs we might have a problem on defense, but thats where Chandler comes in. Chandler is still going to get PLENTY of minutes so Im not worried about his role.
Meanwhile the Post writes there are preliminary talks that Chandler could get extended.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/c ... rXkYCN7sfI
MONTREAL -- Coach Mike D'Antoni hasn't yet decided on whether Wilson Chandler will start Wednesday's season opener at shooting guard, but there have been preliminary discussions between Chandler and the Knicks about a potential contract extension, The Post has learned.
"There's been positive dialogue," Chandler's agent, Chris Luchey, told The Post. "I wouldn't be surprised if he is extended."
Luchey was in New York last weekend and met with Knicks president Donnie Walsh at the Garden.
Chandler is in the final year of his rookie contract, and there has been speculation the Knicks would let him flee as a free agent to make sure they have enough cap room to sign Carmelo Anthony, should Anthony become a free agent come July. Chandler has been rumored as trade bait as a result.
Before the Knicks' 108-103 loss to the Raptors in their preseason finale last night, D'Antoni said that shooting guard is the lone starting position up in the air. D'Antoni said Toney Douglas, who came on strong this week, and rookie sensation Landry Fields are being considered.
As the story says Melo is still our top priority and the talks are just preliminary, but Im sure we are trying to find any way to keep Wilson if we could.
