CLEVELAND — The Knicks made a commitment to combo guard Toney Douglas yesterday, exercising the final-year option on his rookie contract, preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. Yesterday was the deadline.
But Douglas didn’t repay them with a good showing last night in an awful 91-81 loss to Cleveland. Douglas, who is now the Knicks’ sixth man after losing his starting point guard job to rookie Iman Shumpert, shot 3 of 12 from the field; 2 of 8 from the 3-point line. He also had three turnovers low-lighting another dreadful bench display.
The Knicks would have paused had they still been in clearing-the-cap mode for either Chris Paul or Deron Williams this summer. But they went a different direction in the Tyson Chandler transaction and have no chance of being under the cap for several years.
The Douglas move seemed like a no-brainer as he will make $2 million in his last season. He also could be a more tradeable asset. Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald informed Douglas at the morning walk-through at the team hotel.
“I took it as a positive,’’ said Douglas. “I guess they want me to be here.’’
* Baron Davis put off his Knicks debut last night, still feeling he is not sharp or strong enough. It’s looking more like Houston on Saturday than Friday in Miami. Coach Mike D’Antoni admitted Miami might be too electric an atmosphere to ease him in. Plus, Davis doesn’t want to play a back-to-back in his first sequence. The Knicks prefer to have him open on the road.
“This is not the day it’s going to happen,’’ Davis said. “I need more contact, more 3-on-3. I can go in spurts, but I’m not comfortable mentally or physically to get out there right now.’’
* D’Antoni on ex-Knick Danilo Gallinari’s signing a four-year, $45 million extension: “Great, good for him.’’ Gallinari’s new pact comes days after he lit up the Garden for a career-high 37 points as the Nuggets beat the Knicks. Recalling Gallinari’s rookie year plagued by major back problems, D’Antoni said, “Our medical people always said he would [recover]. He went through a year of extreme attention to his back. I’m really happy for him.’’