"This is not the way Antawn Jamison envisioned any of this. Not at all.

It's not the way the Cavaliers power forward thought he'd begin his 13th season -- with his left knee ballooning intermittently for an unknown reason, with his shot not falling and with an unexpected role as a sixth man for a team that has limped to a 1-3 start.

The knee was good enough for practice Thursday -- the first time since playing in Saturday's game against Sacramento -- though Jamison is still questionable for Friday's game at Philadelphia. The 34-year-old has had an MRI and tests that show nothing structurally wrong, and while surgery hasn't been discussed, Jamison also said he is "not going to deal with it throughout the season."

If it sounds like Jamison is frustrated, he is.

"So far, as a whole, this season has been frustrating -- as a team and as an individual," Jamison said. "But this is when you stay positive, continue to work knowing that you're doing the right things and hopefully you get a breakthrough on both parts."

That's why Jamison continues to work on his shooting; he figures it has to get better eventually. Typically, shooting is a strength for the 6-foot-9 forward, but he's hit just 32 percent in three games this season. In the preseason, he was 8-for-38 (.211) and missed one full game and most of another because of his knee injury.

Even if coach Byron Scott attributes Jamison's early struggles to his knee injury, the player is hesitant to do so. When asked what is going on with his shot Thursday, Jamison shrugged.

"Nothing is going on with my shot," he said wryly. "Nothing at all."

Jamison's role with the Cavaliers was originally as a "stretch four," a big man who could stretch an opponent's defense because of his ability to shoot 3-pointers accurately. But that was when The Player Who Left was still here, and Jamison arrived via a midseason trade. This Cavaliers team was to be Jamison's best shot at a championship.

Now, Jamison is the veteran forward on a rebuilding squad of youngsters. He's taken a backseat to J.J. Hickson, the promising 22-year-old power forward who has assumed the starting power forward position and is the team's leading scorer with 18.3 points per game. "