The Knicks are optimistic about the addition of Darko Milicic, but are realistic at the same time.

"There's three or four coaching staffs that really haven't gotten anything [out of Milicic], so we're not saying, 'Oh we can," Mike D'Antoni said. "Just sometimes in a person's career it's the right time. He's having a kid, he's married, maybe he's settled down. He's in the last year of a contract. We'll get the best out of him that he has. Is it good enough? We don't know.

"It's a shot in the dark."

"It's low risk, high reward," his New York-based agent, Marc Cornstein, told The Post on Sunday. "There is a reason he was drafted where he was drafted. Now it's a matter of will we see it? It remains to be seen, but I'm optimistic off this situation."

Milicic, who hasn't adapted well to U.S. living, now is surrounded by a larger support system, featuring Cornstein and a European-style head coach. But one NBA executive whose franchise had Milicic said: "He's been in the league six seasons. He is what he is."

Cornstein disagrees.

"We're thrilled on so many levels," he said. "I'm excited to have him in my hometown, personally and selfishly. We've known him for a long time and are very close to him. On a basketball level, we're more thrilled. Coach D'Antoni is the ideal coach for him. He has a great understanding of European players and how to utilize his skill sets and talents."