Will Tim Thomas Sink the Knicks?
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

When it comes to evaluating performance, everything is relative. Take Tim Thomas, for instance. The Knicks were ecstatic when he scored 17 points in a win over Toronto on Saturday. But the only reason they were so excited was because Thomas had been so awful up to that point.
Through 12 games this season, Thomas has been an utter disaster. His sudden inability to find the basket is perhaps the most baffling development of the new campaign. Entering the season, the 27-year-old forward seemed poised to have a career year. He averaged 15.8 points in 24 games with the Knicks after being traded from Milwaukee in the middle of last season, and as a New Jersey native, one could see him adjusting better to the Gotham press onslaught than most.
Instead, Thomas’s scoring average has nearly halved to 8.4. He’s hitting a meager 34% from the field. His freethrow trips have dried up – he’s taking fewer than two a game after averaging four tries per contest with the Knicks last year. He’s not making up for it by shooting from the outside, either. The man who once set an NBA record by making six 3-pointers in a quarter has converted just seven the entire season. Overall, he reached double figures just three times in the Knicks’ first 12 games, despite Lenny Wilkens bending over backwards to get him involved by running several plays for him early in the game.
Thomas’s effort on Saturday, though not spectacular, was at least solid – 8-of-14 shooting, five boards, and three steals. Yet it was such a departure from his dreadful first 11 games that announcers Gus Johnson and Walt Frazier were bursting with effusive praise, using words like “breakthrough” and “extraordinary” to describe what a year ago would have been a nonevent.
The numbers don’t lie. Let’s take a look at my Player Efficiency Rating (PER), which measures a player’s per minute production by evaluating all of his statistical accomplishments. Thomas, believe it or not, has been the very worst player in the NBA among those who have played at least 200 minutes. For perspective, the league average is 15.00 and the top player, Kevin Garnett, is at 30.43. Thomas, meanwhile, is at a measly 4.87.
How did this happen? Thomas’s own explanation is that off-season distractions have been hard to put behind him. His sister and a cousin both died over the summer, and his mother underwent surgery just as the season began.
“I’m just trying to get back into it mentally overall,” he told the Associated Press on Saturday. “This is not a one game thing. It’s a long season, and mentally right now I’m just trying to get back in the groove of things.”
Beyond the mental distraction may be a physical aspect – namely, that Thomas probably didn’t have nearly as much practice time in the off-season as he had in the past. Not only did the family issues undoubtedly take away some of his court time, but he also was nursing the back injury he suffered in last season’s playoffs and the ankle problems that afflicted him down the stretch.
Whatever the cause, Thomas’s paltry effort is the one negative in a Knicks season otherwise brimming with good news. Every other question about the team heading into the season has been answered with a major positive. Consider:
* Could Nazr Mohammed stand up to the pounding at center? So far so good, with 11.6 points and 8.6 boards a night.
* Could Jamal Crawford coexist in the backcourt with Stephon Marbury? Even though they’re still adjusting, the duo is combining for 37.5 points a game.
* Could Kurt Thomas justify his contract extension? With 10.7 rebounds a game placing him eighth in the NBA, that’s an emphatic yes.
* Could Mike Sweetney deliver on the promise of his rookie season? You betcha. He’s destroying opponents in the paint, shooting 54% and averaging nearly a point every two minutes.
* Could second-round draft pick Trevor Ariza bring some much-needed athleticism to the table? Amen. Thus far he’s been electric off the bench, averaging over a steal a game.
So with all that good news, how are the Knicks only 6-6? Tim Thomas is the reason, the only thing keeping the Knicks from running away with their division. If Thomas just converted his usual percentage on his shots, the Knicks would be one of the top 10 offenses in the league. Up to now, though, the team has effectively been playing 4-on-5.
The problem wouldn’t be so acute if the Knicks had a replacement waiting in the wings, but they don’t. As good as Ariza has been, his lack of shooting skill puts the Knicks in a similar hole offensively. The only other alternative, Penny Hardaway, has been nearly as bad as Thomas. Thus, the Knicks have been forced to ride out Thomas’s slump in the fading hope that at some point it will end.
Fortunately, help may be on the way. Allan Houston practiced for the first time this week and could be ready to rejoin the Knicks’ lineup soon. If his knees hold up and he can play the small forward spot – which he might actually prefer because it will demand less quickness from him – the Knicks could go to a smaller lineup and count on outscoring teams. Houston would also address a serious side effect of Thomas’s slump: the lack of a credible 3-point threat.
Nonetheless, if Thomas’s struggles persist they will severely test Isiah Thomas’s deal-making skills. Less than a year after trading away Keith Van Horn to get him, Zeke will be reluctant to cut bait too soon. Yet Tim Thomas’s trade value is diminishing by the day, and his oversized contract makes him hard to deal without taking back an even more onerous deal in return.
Garden gnomes are hoping for the Thomas of old to show up this holiday season, and Saturday’s effort shows that at least a smidgeon of hope remains for this possibility. But if he can’t rediscover the scoring touch and Allan Houston is unable to fill the breech, Thomas’s sudden demise could be a mortal blow that single-handedly prevents the Knicks from winning the Atlantic Division.