MILWAUKEE — That the Knicks made a late attempt to sign free agent center Andrew Bynum before he joined the Pacers Saturday indicates president Steve Mills still would like to land a legit backup center for Tyson Chandler by the Feb. 20 NBA trade deadline.
The Knicks, who face the moribund Bucks Monday at Bradley Center, are still concerned with their big-man depth and durability. Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin returned for Saturday’s 106-91 loss to the Heat and Metta World Peace is allegedly healthy too after platelet rich plasma therapy. But all three are major injury risks with chronic issues.
The Knicks’ key trade chip for a big man remains combo guard Iman Shumpert. But after watching LeBron James and Dwyane Wade pick apart the Knicks’ defense Saturday with Shumpert sidelined by a sprained shoulder, it makes you wonder if the Knicks can afford to give up on the former Georgia Tech defensive dynamo.
“Iman’s a big part of what we do from a defensive standpoint because we can match him on either Wade or LeBron, and not having him [Saturday] hurt,’’ Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
The Knicks could face the Heat in the first round of the playoffs in a 2-vs.-7 showdown and Tim Hardaway Jr., for all his 3-point scoring grace, has defensive deficiencies.
Saturday’s stomping was humbling for the Knicks, but Chandler thinks they still have enough to make up a lot of ground in the final 34 games. Chandler even chattered about rising to the third seed. Of the Knicks’ final 34 games, 17 are against teams with losing records.
“Obviously we didn’t come in expecting to put ourselves in this situation,’’ Chandler said late Saturday night. “But on the bright end, this is the kind of year where that’s the case for a lot of teams. I feel like it’s still wide open. I looked at the standings, and I feel like we’ve got a real opportunity to kind of shoot up to that third spot and try to get ourselves in the mix.”
In order to attain the third seed, the Knicks would have to overtake Toronto for the Atlantic Division crown and still have a better record than any non-division winners, such as Atlanta (25-21). The Hawks have a better record than the first-place Raptors (25-22).
The Knicks trail the worst-to-first Raptors by six games for the division lead. At 19-28, the Knicks stand in 10th place in the East Conference – 1 ½ games out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
A cause for optimism is the small-ball lineup Woodson installed after starting power forward Andrea Bargnani tore his elbow 12 days ago. That put Carmelo Anthony back at power forward, with point guards Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni sharing the backcourt.
The chemistry was much better and Bargnani’s absence spawned a four-game winning streak the Heat snapped, Woodson declared small-ball will likely continue even when Bargnani returns — possibly soon after the All-Star break — meaning the 7-foot Italian will become a reserve.
The Knicks have lost 28 games, tying their number of defeats last season when they went 54-28. But Anthony, for one, isn’t dwelling on that.
“I like the direction we are going in right now as far as our mentality and focus,’’ he said. “As long as we continue to get better, then we can make a push for the playoffs.’’
The Knicks’ 4-4 homestand was a mixed bag, starting with three straight losses that triggered questions about Woodson’s defensive game plans. That was followed by the four-game winning streak, which ended with the Miami dud.
“I’m looking at what we accomplished in the last week or so,’’ Chandler said. “The way we started, you don’t ever want to start like that, but I’m very pleased with the way we’re playing of late. Even [against the Heat] we had some bright spots. We’re playing better basketball of late.’’
Woodson still has to figure out his big-man rotation for now and the future. When Bargnani gets back, it will complicate things tenfold.
Woodson has Stoudemire, Martin, the athletic Jeremy Tyler and World Peace to choose from off the bench to play power forward and center. With Woodson saying he wants a nine-man rotation, someone will get squeezed.
“We’ve been playing good basketball,’’ Chandler said. “It’s encouraging. We have something to build on.’’