Darko Milicic is still in Serbia, where he and his wife, Zorana, are awaiting the birth of their first child this week.
Sometime in August, the 7-foot-1 Milicic will arrive in New York to meet with the Knicks coaching staff as he attempts to revive his disappointing career.
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Three teams, three failed experiences and countless references to being a draft bust after being selected with the second pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by Detroit. But he just turned 24 and Knicks president Donnie Walsh is hoping the fourth time — with head coach Mike D’Antoni, who plans to use Milicic differently than he was used in Detroit (by Larry Brown), Orlando and Memphis — is the charm.
“There’s three or four coaching staffs that really haven’t gotten anything [out of Milicic], so we’re not saying, ‘Oh we can,’ñ” D’Antoni said. “Just sometimes in a person’s career it’s the right time. He’s having a kid, he’s married, maybe he’s settled down. He’s in the last year of a contract. We’ll get the best out of him that he has. Is it good enough? We don’t know.
“It’s a shot in the dark.”
But it’s a shot with little risk. The Knicks dispatched declining Quentin Richardson, who has been wretched the past two seasons, to Memphis for Milicic, whose arrival gives the Knicks more flexibility in the David Lee sweepstakes, which begins Wednesday.
“It’s low risk, high reward,” his New York-based agent, Marc Cornstein, told The Post yesterday. “There is a reason he was drafted where he was drafted. Now it’s a matter of will we see it? It remains to be seen, but I’m optimistic off this situation.”
Milicic, who hasn’t adapted well to U.S. living, now is surrounded by a larger support system, featuring Cornstein and a European-style head coach. But one NBA executive whose franchise had Milicic said: “He’s been in the league six seasons. He is what he is.”
Cornstein disagrees.
“We’re thrilled on so many levels,” he said. “I’m excited to have him in my hometown, personally and selfishly. We’ve known him for a long time and are very close to him. On a basketball level, we’re more thrilled. Coach D’Antoni is the ideal coach for him. He has a great understanding of European players and how to utilize his skill sets and talents.”
D’Antoni pushed Walsh to trade for Milicic last summer, when the Knicks were dealing Zach Randolph. Milicic has one year left on his contract, so he didn’t affect the 2010 cap.
“He’s been in situations where they want him to be a back-to-the basket center,” Walsh said. “I don’t think he ever was that. My feeling is that by bringing him here with Mike, he can play in a more free-flowing system. The guy can shoot, pass, handle the ball, run.
“But if you think he’s going to get down there against Eddy Curry and a guy like Shaq [O’Neal] and post up, you’re probably asking him to do something he can’t do.”
Milicic likely won’t join the Knicks in Las Vegas next month for summer league and voluntary workouts. But, as Cornstein said, “we can’t wait for Mike to get his hands on Darko and showcase him as a player.”