Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE
When the New York Knicks made the decision to acquire Raymond Felton, they also landed another player who could end up playing a crucial role off of the bench this season.
The Knicks received Felton and Kurt Thomas in a sign-and-trade deal from the Portland Trailblazers for Dan Gadzuric, Jared Jeffries and a 2016 second-round draft pick. The trade left the Knicks with just the recently acquired Marcus Camby and Thomas to be the backups for Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.
Chris Copeland signed with the Knicks the team later, but he has yet to play a game in the NBA and if Stoudemire, who is injury-prone, were to get injured, the Knicks would be left with two players nearing the end of their careers.
Camby is 38 years old and while he made 53 starts in 59 games last season, he averaged just 4.9 points and nine rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game. He’s averaged 9.7 points and 9.9 rebounds throughout his career, but is known more for his defense, something the Knicks badly need.
Thomas will be 40 years old as of October 4 and made just 3 starts in 53 games last season, averaging three points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game. He has a career average of 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds.
Copeland was undrafted out of college and struggled during his last year in the D-League in 2006-07. He earned a contract with the Knicks after averaging 21.8 points in Belgium last year.
The Knicks are rumored to be after another power forward, but it appears Thomas will begin the season as Stoudemire’s backup and Camby will be Chandler’s backup.
