Mitnick Column: Malcolm Thomas Journey From Tel-Aviv to the Bay Area

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From nba.com/warriors

From nba.com/warriors

After spending half of a season in Israel with Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Malcolm Thomas managed to turn a one game stint in the D-League into a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors.

After scoring 13 points and 17 rebounds in his only appearance for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, Thomas was able to convince the Warriors brass he was worth a closer look.

I have been watching his career take a dip this season in Israel, and I can tell you Thomas is a very athletic big man with a high motor.

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Few hookups, and big breakups

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The compressed offseason was supposed to be about hookups. On Friday, it was all about breakups.

Hours after being chastised by Chauncey Billups, the New York Knicks began targeting his replacement at point guard. Billups met the media in Los Angeles on Friday, less than a week after he was surprisingly released by the Knicks via the amnesty clause. The five-time All-Star is still not over it.

From Pedro Moura of ESPNLosAngeles.com: “Billups admitted he “contemplated” retiring after being claimed by the Clippers, but he was also clearly offended at being released by the Knicks. Going over what happened with New York, he mentioned the word — “waived” — seven times in a 45-second period. “You’d just never think that being waived is gonna be one of the things that happens to you,” he said.

While the Clippers appear to be overrun with point guards in Billups, Chris Paul, Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe, the Knicks still don’t seem quite ready to hand the reins of Mike D’Antoni’s offense to Toney Douglas, who was elevated when Billups was cut loose.

The Knicks quickly signed Mike Bibby to a one-year deal, even though he can’t stay in front of opposing guards and really doesn’t do much more than spot up at the arc. So they have turned their attention to another aging point guard with question marks, targeting Baron Davis, who cleared amnesty waivers at 8 p.m. without being claimed.

Davis had told the Cavaliers that he was unable to practice due to a bulging disk in his back. However, SheridanHoops.com recent signee Moke Hamilton knows otherwise.

From Hamilton’s column this afternoon: “At this point, the Knicks so desperately need help with playmaking, they’re hoping a player with a reputation for being out of shape and not putting forth the effort necessary to win can be their missing ingredient. It’s a low risk gamble, so I say why not? And yes, I say that despite the prognosis that he will be out for eight to 10 weeks as he battles a severely bulging disc in his lower back. Mind you, there are a growing number of skeptics that believe that the severity of his injury is being fabricated in an attempt to scare off would-be bidders. Sources tell me Davis hopes to end up with the Knicks, and if he does, he could be available to go within two weeks.”

That’s the juiciest transaction we have right now, except for Kobe Bryant being waived by his wife, Vanessa, who has grown tired of her husband’s infidelity.

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Chris Paul fallout, and Deron Williams calls David Stern a “bully”

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I am filling in for Chris Sheridan tonight. Hopefully this will go better than Brian Cardinal and Alex Ajinca filling in for Dirk Nowitzki.

We applaud Deron Williams for his candor, but we also hope he doesn’t have to eat his words.

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger has a story coming out of Nets practice today where Turkish legend Deron Williams called David Stern a “bully” and said he speaks to Dwight Howard “all the time.”

“You’re fighting a bully, man,” Williams said. “David Stern’s a bully. You can’t really go up against him, man.”

Asked if he really wanted to call Stern a bully, Williams didn’t back off.

“He knows he’s a bully,” Williams said. “Ain’t no secret. I think everybody knows that.”

Then, Williams did try to soften it by adding that being a bully is part of Stern’s job description.

“He’s got to be, man,” Williams said of Stern. “I think every owner of every big business is a bully. It’s how they become successful.”

Williams said he hadn’t spoken to Chris Paul but has spoken with Howard, who has told the Magic he wants to be traded to the Nets. He didn’t think anything was wrong with hitting up a friend.

“Well, there’s technically tampering – I don’t know, there’s a fine line about tampering – but Dwight’s my friend, so if I want to call and talk to him, I’m going to call and talk to him,” Williams said.

Here’s the problem: The guy who decides whether or not you are guilty of tampering is the same guy you just called a bully. And now, since he’s shown a recent proclivity to blow up trades involving superstars, he just might do it again – just to show Williams how much of a bully he really is.

Meanwhile, the fallout continues from the scuttled Chris Paul trade.

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Knicks can’t trade money again until July 1

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NEW YORK — Jim Dolan’s big fat wallet will be of no use to the Knicks until next July.

The Knicks sent $3 million to the Washington Wizards as part of today’s three-team trade to acquire Tyson Chandler, meaning they don’t have any more money to spend in trades this season — and they might not have any draft picks in June.

A new rule in the recently ratified collective bargaining agreement limits the amount of money a team can trade in any given season, and the Knicks have already reached that $3 million limit.

So there will be no opportunity to buy any additional picks on draft night, as New York did last June when they purchased the 45th pick from New Orleans and selected Josh Harrellson, or as they did in 2010 when they paid the Milwaukee Bucks $1 million for the draft rights to Jerome Jordan, the 44th pick.

The Knicks’ 2012 second-round pick was sent to Phoenix in the sign-and-trade deal for Amare Stoudemire, but it is Top 55 protected – meaning the Knicks will keep it if they do not finish with one of the five best records in the NBA.

The first-round pick for 2012 was sent to the Houston Rockets in the Jared Jeffries salary dump two Februarys ago when they acquired Tracy McGrady.

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Blockbuster trade: Chris Paul going to the Lakers

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Mark Heisler was the first to tell you this was a possibility nearly two weeks ago. Now, it appears it is happening.

Multiple news outlets are reporting that the Lakers, Rockets and Hornets have agreed to a three-way deal sending Chris Paul to the Lakers.

New Orleans will receive Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and the New York Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2012. The Rockets are getting Pau Gasol from the Lakers. There could be other pieces in this deal, too, but we won’t know all of them for certain until 2 p.m. EST, tomorrow when the league officially reopens for business.

Now, it’s a matter of whether Andrew Bynum and a couple of first-round draft picks will be enough to get Dwight Howard from Orlando.

As for the Hornets, I’d say general manager Dell Demps did quite well, given the circumstances.

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