<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class="bi">Advantage Jones?</div> <div> <span style="font-style: italic">Oct 16</span> - Allan Houston and Demetris Nichols, the aforementioned draft pick from Syracuse, are both trying to make a roster that already includes the maximum 15 guaranteed contracts. For weeks, it was generally assumed that Fred Jones, portrayed as a throw-in in the Zach Randolph trade, would be the odd man out.</p> </p> But Jones' relationship with Isiah Thomas goes back to their Indiana Pacer days and there is something to be said for being an "Isiah guy." Just ask Knicks VP of basketball operations Glen Grunwald or assistant coaches Brendan Suhr and Mark Aguirre.</p> </p> "He gave me my shot," Jones said following yesterday's practice in Greenburgh. "Leaving Portland was a little difficult for me because that's my home city. But it eased the pain knowing I was coming to a familiar situation." -- <font color="#000000">New York Daily News</font></p></div></div>
