John Warren may be the best steal from Manhattan since the Indians were conned out of the island for $24 worth of beads.

Warren chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers from the New York Knicks in expansion draft, is showing Cavs' coach Bill Fitch why the Knicks picked him first in the 1969 college draft.

Warren, a 6-3 guard, spent the 1969-70 season on the bench watching all-pro Walt Frazier weave his magic in the NBA, and some of it rubbed off on him.

"JOHN HAS a lot of Frazier's tricks," beamed Cavs assistant coach Jim Lessig. "He's a good one."

"I'm copying Walt," admitted Warren. "I watched him for 82 games and I was bound to pick up some of his moves."

Fitch, who hesitates to expound on an athlete's talent, has nothing but praise for his new backcourt ace.

"John is intelligent," said Fitch. "You tell him once and he does it. He's a good sound player."

WARREN HAS BEEN performing this week on one healthy foot in drills at Baldwin Wallace. He had a cyst removed from the bottom of his foot a few weeks ago and it has been slow to heal.

"There's a hole about the size of a quarter," said Fitch. "You can see the bone. If it were anywhere else it would take at least 10 stitches to close it.

"John has shown a lot of courage. You have to play while hurt in this league and he's shown me he can."

WARREN, A NATIVE New Yorker, refers to his shift to Cleveland as a whole new world.

He starred for St. John's College in New York, leading his school to three NCAA tournament trips.

"It's a brand new experience here, but I'm looking forward to it a lot," he said. "I think we'll have good personnel but it will take a lot of hard work for everyone."

WHEN ASKED WHO he thought were the toughest teams the Knicks faced last year, Warren replied without hesitation, "Baltimore and Atlanta."

He was reminded that the Bullets and Hawks are in the same division as Cleveland. With that he shook his head and said, "Oh no!"

This article originally appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer September 11, 1970.