D'Antoni sounds optimistic about what lies ahead

Mike D'Antoni will spend one more week in the Las Vegas heat for training camp with USA Basketball, which is preparing for the World Championships in Turkey next month. Then D'Antoni will return to an awaiting crucible in New York.

"This is a big year for us," he said, "and I'm excited . . . We're young, we're inexperienced, but it's an exciting time."

The Knicks aren't what D'Antoni hoped they would be by this point in his tenure, mainly because the goal was to sign LeBron James. That didn't happen, but the Knicks came away with one of the top free agents in Amar'e Stoudemire and the team still has the salary-cap flexibility to make a run at other stars, such as Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul, in the near future.

And this roster might not even be a finished product before the team opens training camp in late September. Donnie Walsh has said he is finished actively pursuing players on the free-agent market but that he is open to considering trades that upgrade the lineup or fill a need.

One player the Knicks remain interested in is Rudy Fernandez, though they are at an impasse with the Trail Blazers.

What appears to be the next step in this rebuilding phase is to develop the collection of young, inexpensive talent, which includes three second-round picks from the June draft who played for the team in the NBA Summer League last week. Perhaps the most promising result of the five-game schedule, which ended Saturday with a 109-107 overtime win over the Wizards, was the eye-opening performance of No. 39 pick Landry Fields.

D'Antoni noted how the 6-7 Fields, "never makes mistakes," but he did not want to put too much stock into how any player looked against the marginal talent that makes up most of the summer league. Fields averaged 15.6 points per game. "I'm anxious to see him in training camp," D'Antoni said, "and see where he is."

Andy Rautins was the first of the three second-rounders, selected No. 38, and though he struggled with his shooting (which is supposed to be his strength), D'Antoni came away very high on the 6-4 guard. "We know he's going to shoot it well," he said. "It's only a matter of time."

Jerome Jordan (No. 44 pick, purchased from the Bucks), who often looked lost on defense and struggled with foul issues, is "somewhat of a project," D'Antoni said, but he thinks Jordan has enough of a foundation to work with at the NBA level.

Others off the summer league team that D'Antoni mentioned were Patrick Ewing Jr., Eric Boateng and Jaycee Carroll, each of whom could earn training-camp invites. But the Knicks might be more inclined to carry fewer than the NBA maximum of 15 players just to allow for flexibility for future trades.

D'Antoni, an assistant coach, now switches his focus to the national team, which will play an exhibition game against France at the Garden on Aug. 15 before they open the World Championships in Turkey on Aug. 28.

D'Antoni said he doesn't think he'll be tired from the busy summer. The word he used was "energized." "It's not hard work," he said. "It's the stress that breaks you down, and there isn't much stress with this."

That will come later.

Notes & quotes: Spurs general manager R.C. Buford addressed the talk about Tony Parker. "I would think we hope he ends his career in San Antonio," Buford told MSG Network.

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