Isiah Thomas hit the ground in New York style last week, leaving victims wherever you looked. And that could be good for the Bulls.

Within hours of becoming Knicks president, Thomas moved to buy out the contract of Clarence Weatherspoon and cut second-rounder Slavko Vranes, the 7-foot-5-inch project from Serbia and Montenegro. Thomas ripped second-round 7-footer Maciej Lampe for poor work habits, berated the team for allowing Latrell Sprewell to curse out owner James Dolan during a home loss to Minnesota without a response and had rookie Michael Sweetney activated because Thomas didn't know if he was worth keeping. He also made it clear Antonio McDyess, who was benched, isn't crucial to the team's future. "I wouldn't say we live and die with his health," Thomas said.

This is what the Bulls need to do (according to Sam Smith): Get McDyess and Charlie Ward, the latter having fallen to third point guard with Illinois' Frank Williams starting for the Knicks. Combined, McDyess and Ward make almost $20 million and are in the last season of contracts. The Knicks are looking to compete now. Would the Knicks take Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams? Probably not Williams. The Bulls might have to sweeten the pot with Crawford. Or Kirk Hinrich. The point is getting $20 million off the books [for Kobe Bryant].

"I know people have doubted me for a long time," Jamal Crawford said Saturday night after his career-high 42 points led the Bulls to a 100-86 victory over the Washington Wizards. "People thought I shot too much, took bad shots. So this feels good."

"I've always felt I had the ability, and for coach [Scott] Skiles to show the confidence in me is a great feeling."

With the season perhaps on the verge of slipping away and the Bulls 7-20 and starting four games in five nights, Skiles played Crawford all 48 minutes Friday against Cleveland, and he broke from a slump with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting in an 87-80 victory. Then Crawford played 42 minutes Saturday and seemed reluctant to even leave the game in the last minute, on the way to his career night in the 14-point win, which equaled the Bulls' biggest margin of the season.

The 9-20 record still trails last season by a game after 29 games. But there's hope, and now it may be time for Mr. Inside.

The Bulls hope Eddy Curry can return from a knee injury Monday night against the Miami Heat.

In a mostly head-to-head matchup with good friend LeBron James, Bulls guard Jamal Crawford snapped out of a slump and helped the Bulls do so as well with a much-needed 87-80 victory over Cleveland.

Crawford, playing all 48 minutes, tied his season-high with 30 points and helped harass James into 7-of-24 shooting as the Bulls ended a four-game losing streak and an eight-game road skid.

At 4-10, the Bulls own more road victories than all of last season, when they went 3-38.

"Man, we needed this one," said Crawford, who added five assists. "LeBron definitely put on a show in Chicago [last Saturday] and they won. I wanted to step up because I knew I couldn't miss forever. I was due."

"Jamal had it going", said Bulls coach Scott Skiles. "He was playing well and deserved to stay out there. I've done the other to him, where I've taken him out when he hasn't deserved to stay out there. If you're doing one, you should be fair in the other regard."

Crawford's offensive fireworks even forced Cleveland to switch James away from him in stretches.

"Jamal had a great night," James said. "? He's one of the elite point guards in this league and when he's on fire like that you can't stop him."

Defense isn't the first image that comes to mind with Jamal Crawford, but coach Scott Skiles started Crawford on LeBron James on Friday night. Skiles did so for reasons at both ends of the court.

"When you're into the game defensively, it's funny how your shot starts going in," Skiles said. "Every game I want him to play defense whether he's on LeBron James or my grandma. When he does, he has a big offensive night."

Crawford, who entered in a 26-for-94 slump, responded with his highest-scoring game (30 points) in seven games.

Chicago Bulls operations chief John Paxson is prepared to let Eddy Curry and Tyson chandler play out their contracts and become restricted free agents if they won't too much money next summer

"If a guy thinks he's a max player, you risk absolutely nothing by letting him play [without an extension] that fourth year because you can always match it,'' Paxson said. ''It makes some sense from our end to let the guy play that fourth year out and let the market dictate."

Tyson Chandler did some exercises for the first time since injuring his back on Dec 8.

He is still out at least two more weeks but his spirits are good.

"I'm excited that I'm getting close,'' Chandler said. "It's been tough.

"The (Chicago) Bulls entertained hopes that Eddy Curry, who has a bruised left knee, would be available Monday or tonight, but now it looks like he won't return until this weekend at the earliest."

Dennis Rodman is back playing professional basketball.

"Rodman, who played on five NBA championship teams with Detroit and Chicago, signed a contract with the Jam Friday, the president of the American Basketball Association's first-year franchise confirmed Sunday afternoon."

He is expected to start practicing with the team after Christmas with January 16th as the target for his first game with the team.

Rodman turns 43 in May and has a desire to return to the NBA.

CHICAGO (AP) Jay Williams sat in a chair at the edge of the Chicago Bulls practice court, smiling at the sounds that have carried him through these last six months.

Every bounce of a ball, every screech of a sneaker on hardwood echoes through his head like a siren's call, pushing him to chase his dream. He still can't walk without crutches, and it will likely be summer before he can run again.

But someday soon, Williams promises he'll be back on the court.

``I'm going to come back and play,'' he said Saturday after watching a Bulls practice for the first time since the devastating motorcycle accident that jeopardized his career.

``That's the motivation, where you want to get back to. This is what I've done my whole life. That's what I look forward to doing again.''

Williams is in Chicago this weekend for the first time since being released from the hospital July 2. He visited with his teammates after Saturday morning's shootaround, exchanging a hug with fellow guard and one-time rival Jamal Crawford and checking to see if there was anything left in his old locker.

He was at the Bulls game against Cleveland later Saturday, sitting behind Tyson Chandler in the first row of seats behind Chicago's bench. Williams leaned over and shook hands with his teammates before the game, smiling widely. He'll return Sunday to North Carolina, where he'll continue his rehab at Duke. He hopes to return to Chicago in January for more physical therapy.

``It'll be good to hear the cheers of the Chicago fans again,'' he said. ``But, hopefully, I can hear the cheers after I make a basket on the court sometime soon.''

Williams, the No. 2 pick in the 2002 draft, had a promising career ahead of him when he got on his new motorcycle to go to dinner June 19. He'd just put the powerful street bike in second gear when it got away from him and slammed into a utility pole.

He was thrown onto a grassy curb, face down from the waist up, his left leg tilting grotesquely upward. He'd severed a main nerve in his leg, fractured his pelvis and tore three of the four main ligaments in his left knee.

He spent the next two weeks at a Chicago hospital before being transferred to Duke University Medical Center.

``He's made great progress,'' said Bob Bruzga, a physical therapist at Duke who accompanied Williams to Chicago. ``With the injuries he's had and where he is right now, he's done remarkably well.''

But will he ever play in the NBA again?

Though Williams is targeting a return for the 2004-05 season, the Bulls are operating as if he won't. They drafted another point guard, Kirk Hinrich, and are working with Williams' agent, Bill Duffy, on a settlement to buy out the rest of his contract that pays him $7.7 million through next season.

Though the Bulls could have terminated Williams' deal _ riding a motorcycle violates the standard NBA contract _ he's currently on injured reserve.

``It's way too soon to tell right now,'' Bruzga said when asked if Williams will play again. ``We probably won't know anything more until this summer or so, once he's off the crutches and we get him running again.

``However, I will tell you he is shooting baskets right now with us, and his shot is as good as ever.''

Williams visited Dr. James Andrews on Friday, and said the sports medicine specialist told him his knee is stable and he can play again. All that stands in his way is work and time.

Williams does physical therapy for four to five hours a day, five or six days a week. He rides a stationary bike, works out in a pool and does weight training and exercises to improve his balance and endurance.

It's exhausting and, for the foreseeable future, endless. But Williams isn't complaining.

``This has been a life-changing event for me,'' he said. ``It not only makes you realize how important some things are that you thought weren't important, but there's a lot of things I took for granted in life.

``It's a different world I'm in now,'' he added. ``I know I have to keep working hard to get back to my dreams, and I'm going to keep working hard for it.''

Once overwhelmed by thoughts of the accident, Williams' mind is now focused solely on his future. Even driving by the site of the accident this weekend wasn't as emotionally charged as it once would have been.

``All that stuff is kind of past and gone now,'' he said. ``You can't hold onto the past because then you can never live in the present.''

A buyout agreement between guard Jay Williams and the Chicago Bulls is expected to get done within the next month.

"There are always two sides where you obviously feel really badly for Jay, and we still do," general manager John Paxson said. "But there comes an issue of us moving forward. There are issues of dollars and [luxury] tax. That part may sound insensitive, but that's more the reality for me than anything."

Williams was injured in a motorcycle accident on June 19 which caused severe injuries to his left knee ligaments and pelvic area, as well as nerve damage. He has been undergoing treatment and rehabilitation in Durham, N.C.