Well, there’s always Feb. 20. With Knicks GM Scott Layden facing last night’s deadline to trade the $4.5M injury exception in a package deal, the likelihood of a move became less and less likely.
“There’s a lot of chicken [bleep] being offered, not enough chicken salad,” one league source said yesterday.
Don Chaney said last night, “I felt a week ago it would be a miracle to get a player who could help us. You want to have a guy who can help you in the future instead of letting another team relieve themselves of their baggage.”
Just before last night’s game at the Garden against the Cavaliers, Layden addressed the media and said, “In all likelihood, we won’t use the exception. We don’t see anything out there that would significantly improve the team.”
Without a deal, the Knicks probably won’t be able to make a blockbuster trade until close to the Feb. 20 trading deadline when every team is ready to tango.
A source familiar with the Blazers’ thinking said the Knicks contacted Portland again yesterday but it wasn’t ready to make a bid on Latrell Sprewell. Three Blazers were involved in off-the-court incidents the past 10 days – Damon Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace and Ruben Patterson.
“If it was unlikely then [trading for Sprewell], it became even more unlikely after,” the source said.
Meanwhile, sources said Layden had discussions with Suns president Bryan Colangelo, but Layden apparently wasn’t interested enough in Phoenix’ Penny Hardaway even though he could play point guard.
Layden turned down a deal for Hardaway last season as he was trying to pry Stephon Marbury away from the Suns. Probably the only way Phoenix would be interested in Spree is if Hardaway were in the deal.
In early December, teams also are still figuring out what they’ve got. Though one league executive said every team is looking to cut payroll, the stuff offered to the Knicks wasn’t enough of an upgrade to pull the trigger. Adding any player straight-up for the exception was only going to increase their $90 million payroll by double that salary, if the luxury tax kicks in.
Owner James Dolan got a break this summer when no luxury tax was paid by any club (Dolan would’ve owed about $31M). But this July, without the revenues generated by Michael Jordan’s return, there’s a chance the luxury tax will take effect and Dolan will pay about $39M – the amount he’s already over the threshold.
The Knicks received the injury exception after the NBA deemed Antonio McDyess out for the season. From the beginning, there was interest in Memphis power forward Stromile Swift, once considered a bust, but the frontcourt-heavy Grizzlies weren’t ready to part with him after his impressive start.
With their frontcourt glut, Golden State and Chicago were eager to make a deal with the Knicks. But Layden didn’t want Marcus Fizer, and Danny Fortson made too much money to fit under the exception. Obviously, Golden State wasn’t about to discuss taking back Sprewell.
Allan Houston said he’s glad Spree still will be around even though Sprewell hasn’t returned to All-Star form. Sprewell had no rebounds and four turnovers in his last game despite his clutch overtime play in their win over New Orleans. The Knicks are 3-3 since he got back and had won two straight entering last night’s game vs. the horrible Cavs.
“The minute he came back, he changed our look,” Houston said. “He adds so much to this team. We are who we are. We’ve got to have a guy like that to help us continue to build.”