Former Knicks GM Glen Grunwald rarely spoke with the media, so it was something of a surprise to see that his successor, Steve Mills, engaged in a 15-minute gab-fest yesterday with Knicks beat writers. The exchange was cordial except for one moment when Mills testily repeated his earlier assertion that Isiah Thomas doesn’t have any role with the team, as Marc Berman of the New York Post notes. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Andrei Kirilenko feels he’s reached a point in his career when he can afford to accept a discounted contract from the Nets in return for a shot at the title, but, “If it was 10 years ago, I would never have taken it — never, ever even thought about it,” Kirilenko told Andrew Keh of The New York Times.
- The Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trade sent a pack of veterans from a contending team in Brooklyn to the rebuilding Celtics, but none of them are pouting, observes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
- The Raptors aren’t going to make any drastic moves until at least 15 or 20 games into the regular season, and they probably won’t make any cuts to their camp roster until after the seventh preseason game, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes in his mailbag column.
- Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer sees much in common between the rebuilding projects the Sixers and Celtics are on.