NBA Study

[Guest Carmine Bellini]

During the All-Star break I

[Guest Carmine Bellini]

Re: NBA Study Trade in the NBA today, love to get a chance to use the NBA lessons whenever possible... LOS ANGELES -- Isiah Thomas made yet another move Sunday in his transformation of the New York Knicks, trading Keith Van Horn to the Milwaukee Bucks and acquiring Tim Thomas in a three-way deal that also involved the Atlanta Hawks. New York also received center Nazr Mohammed from Atlanta, while the Hawks acquired Michael Doleac from the Knicks and Joel Przybilla from Milwaukee. New York also sent a 2005 second-round draft pick to Atlanta. It's the third trade made by Thomas, who has also changed coaches, since taking over as team president in late December. Only seven players who were with the Knicks then remain on their roster. This latest deal gives New York a new starting small forward in Thomas, and a new backup center in Mohammed. Both could be in uniform Tuesday night when the Knicks play the Detroit Pistons. Van Horn was averaging 16.4 points for New York, third on the team behind Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston. He was acquired last summer in a multi-team deal that sent Latrell Sprewell to Minnesota. Isiah Thomas gave a strong hint about how he felt about that deal on his first day on the job in New York, saying: "I wasn't on the watch. What's done is done." Van Horn scored 20 or more points in three of the Knicks' final six games before the All-Star break, tying his season-high of 30 in a Jan. 31 victory over Phoenix. He was New York's second leading rebounder, averaging 7.3. The Bucks will become the fourth team Van Horn has played for since being the No. 2 overall pick of the 1997 draft. He spent five seasons in New Jersey and one in Philadelphia. Tim Thomas was averaging 14.1 points and 4.9 rebounds for Milwaukee, where the seventh-year forward had spent the past 4½ seasons. This is the second time Van Horn and Thomas have been traded for each other, the previous deal coming on draft night in 1997. Doleac was averaging 5.0 points and 4.1 points as the backup to Dikembe Mutombo, his role increasing after Lenny Wilkens replaced Don Chaney as coach. Mohammed was averaging 6.5 points and 5.0 rebounds as the backup in Atlanta, which has undergone its own roster overhaul in the past week. The Hawks dealt Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau to Portland for Rasheed Wallace and Wesley Person. Przybilla, in his fourth year, appeared in only five games for the Bucks this season, scoring one point. Milwaukee has been one of the surprise teams in the Eastern Conference, going into the All-Star break with a 27-24 record -- fifth-best in the conference. The Knicks (25-29) have climbed into second place in the Atlantic Division, while the Hawks (18-35) are 21 games behind Indiana in the Central Division. Since taking over the Knicks, Isiah Thomas has acquired Marbury and Penny Hardaway from Phoenix and Moochie Norris from Houston, traded or cut Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Clarence Weatherspoon, Charlie Ward, Slavko Vranes and Maciej Lampe, as well as dealing two future first-round draft picks and the rights to point guard Milos Vujanic. CB