Thomas would be starting at the 3 or 4 and would probably see minutes at both positions. The Thomas at SF experiment didn't really work last year because Rudy T always preferred speed, mobility and shooting over size. Van Gundy seems more concerned with size and would be more willing to put a power forward in a small forward spot.
I am comparing him to Artest in the defensive intensity department. I didn't say he could guard SG's and PG's. The question was what would Van Gundy have him playing. Van Gundy would have him playing most of his minutes at the 3 and a very few minutes at the 4 when the opposing team has an undersized, quick 4 on the floor. Kenny would be bodying up the smaller 3's the way that Van Gundy likes, all the way out on the floor. Yes, he would get driven on by the quicker 3's. But given his size, the best matchup for him on a Van Gundy team would be at the 3. Van Gundy likes big, bruising 4's. Kenny is tough but he ain't big enough. No I won't disagree that KT wouldn't be a better Rox SF than JJ. I don't know that. But I do think Kenny makes too much money. JJ is the much better bargain in that department and the tradeoff isn't great either way whether JJ is better or whether Kenny is better. I would pay though to see a KT Artest game matchup. I'd love to see those 2 beating on one another for 40 minutes to see who would blow up first.
If we still had Hakeem, he would be an old man who can't play. If we still had KT we would have three tweeners. Good trade, bad trade, something had to happen at that position. That is why I raised this question. I wanted to see what the concensus was. What I hear back is a bit of everything. Some feel he would start, some say ride the bench. Pretty much what was happening when he was here, some starting, some bnch, some out of poistion. Immagine how crowed things would be without the trade and if Eddie could have kept it together.
