It was the opening moments of Maciej Lampe's American basketball career, a time he had been awaiting while his agent waged an intercontinental tug of war to get him into a Knicks uniform. Even if it was only with a summer league team, Lampe was finally on the court and he had the ball in the lane.

He feinted one way and spun the other, lofting a feathery jump hook toward the rim. The ball bounced off the rim. The same thing happened moments later: same shot, same result. He went outside and misfired there, too. By the time the game was over, Lampe was 1 of 7 from the floor, with 2 points and 3 rebounds. Lampe, an 18-year-old 7-footer from Poland, hung his head and made no effort to sugarcoat what had just occurred.

"It was a horrible game for me," Lampe said. "It was a bad day. Maybe tomorrow, I'll play better. It was just a joke."

Lampe has endured a strange series of events since June 26, when he dropped from a possible lottery pick all the way to the second round of the N.B.A. draft, where the Knicks selected him with the 30th overall pick. With a buyout worth approximately $2 million in his contract with Real Madrid, Lampe had been wondering since the draft whether he would be able to negotiate a deal that could free him to join the Knicks.

It was not until last Friday that Lampe received clearance to participate in the summer league. He was in the starting lineup today for the Knicks' summer league squad in the Reebok Pro Summer League against the Milwaukee Bucks. While the player who was selected in the lottery by the Knicks, Mike Sweetney, contributed 20 points and 8 rebounds, Lampe was wondering aloud whether his own performance - and not the buyout - might keep him in Europe next season.

Asked if he was confident that he would be with the Knicks in the coming season, Lampe said: "Not if I play like this. I have to play better the next few games, play better and show them what I can do."

The Knicks shrugged off his tough start and pointed to Lampe's potential.