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Knicks let deal for Mutombo slip away
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newbie
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8/8/2002  8:38 AM
According to the New York Times' article, Layden rejected an offer from the Philadelphia 76ers that would have brought Mutombo to New York for Kurt Thomas, Travis Knight and Charlie Ward (before 76ers eventually made the trade with the Nets). Can you believe that?!!! I'm personally not a big Mutombo fan. But no matter how worse Mutombo is right now, just to get a decent center and get rid of Knight and Ward are plenty for me. In my mind though, I kindof doubt this story a little bit, like all other trade rumors...
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martin
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8/8/2002  8:44 AM
I have to agree with you... why would Philly do this and, more importantly, why wouldn't the Knicks do this? The only think I can think is that Mutombo's contract is HUGE (not Houston huge, but still big).
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Knixkik
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8/8/2002  8:49 AM
The Knicks should have done that deal. Thomas, Ward, and Knight for Mutombo isn't that much to give up. Mutombo is still one of the best centers in the league and having him, McDyess, Sprewell, and Houston would have givin the Knicks one of the strongest starting rotations in the game. Right now it seems like the Knicks have interest in Mourning, but he's not that much better than Mutombo and they'll have to give up a lot more to get him. I think New York should either stay with Thomas and McDyess starting with Doleac coming off the bench or send Thomas, Ward, and Harrington to Dallas for Van Exel and either Bradley or Zhi-Zhi and go with that. Doleac would be an alright starter and having one of those other two centers coming off the bench would be decent too. Having Spree, Dyess, Houston, and NVE would also give us one of the strongest teams in the east.
nwny
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8/8/2002  9:44 AM
Repeat of my post in another string:
I believe this is one of those stupid untrue rumors I have ever heard. "Unnamed sources,” say the Knicks passed on Dikembe for Thomas, Ward and Knight! Give me break. This is the stupidest rumor I've ever heard. Philly gives up one of the last few remaining true centers in the NBA to have Knight play center, and a PG, and PF they don't need or want? The Rumor is Philly proposed this trade and we turned it down? No one is that stupid. Philly would never offer a trade that dumb. They have nothing to gain by doing this.
knicksbabyyeah
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8/8/2002  9:58 AM
Actually this philly article says the offered trade was Mutombo for Spree and KT.. No wonder it was turned down

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/3822339.htm
Caseloads
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8/8/2002  10:10 AM
Posted by martin:

I have to agree with you... why would Philly do this and, more importantly, why wouldn't the Knicks do this? The only think I can think is that Mutombo's contract is HUGE (not Houston huge, but still big).
mutombo's contract isn't as long as houston's but it's way bigger, think 65 mil over the 4 years. He has 50+ mil coming to him his last 3 years of his contract.

houstons' was 100 Mil over 6 years.
Caseloads
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8/8/2002  10:28 AM
CLARITY on the Failed Mutombo TRADE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/sports/basketball/08KNIC.html
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Without disrupting the nucleus of Antonio McDyess, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston, the Knicks could have acquired Mutombo. But Scott Layden, the Knicks' general manager, rejected an offer from the Philadelphia 76ers that would have brought Mutombo to New York for Kurt Thomas, Travis Knight and Charlie Ward, said the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Unable to come to terms with the Knicks, Philadelphia traded Mutombo to the Nets on Tuesday for Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch.

"Billy King couldn't believe that Layden rejected the offer," one official said, referring to Philadelphia's general manager. "If the Knicks had been willing to do it, the 76ers would not have made the deal with the Nets."

Philadelphia was willing to make the seemingly lopsided trade, which would have met the financial stipulations of the N.B.A.'s collective bargaining agreement, because it had another deal worked out.
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Mutombo is old and has a huge contract. The guy is going to fossilize this season, watch. I wonder what the followup deal was Philly had worked out - probably trading KT and some of their players (coleman, etc) for some center...

NYTimes:

"After hearing rumblings about the Nets' deal with Philadelphia, Layden called King Tuesday evening to try to rekindle the trade talks. But the 76ers' deal with the Nets had been completed.

"By then it was too late," one of the officials said."

---------------------------

So it seems like Layden tried to get back into trading with the 76'ers for Mutombo...


NYTimes quote:
"One Eastern Conference general manager who had not heard about Philadelphia's offer to the Knicks said the scenario sounded feasible because Coleman has only one year left on his five-year, $50 million contract. "It makes sense because Coleman has some real value now since he's in the last year of his contract," the general manager said. "A lot of teams want guys in the last year of their contracts because of the luxury tax."
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I think that Philly was then going to try and trade Coleman, Knight and Ward to the Heat for Zo... or Brian Grant and change.
Caseloads
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8/8/2002  10:32 AM
Same Times Article:

"Layden believes the Mutombo is on the decline. He averaged career lows in rebounds (10.8) and blocked shots (2.38) last season and at times had trouble catching the ball."

As I stated, Mt. is almost finished. The guy can't even catch the ball, with huge hands. Great Rebounding and Blocked shots #'s though.

Our team for next year - but remember, Mt. would have been in decline for 3 more years... I can't believe that Philly couldn't trade Mutombo to Dallas (for Finley and filler) or Portland (for Dale Davis and Derek Anderson)

"Still, the addition of Mutombo might have made the Knicks a legitimate contender in the East. With Mutombo, one of the game's best rebounders and shot blockers, at center and McDyess at power forward, the Knicks would have been able to get away with an undersized small forward like Sprewell. Houston and Howard Eisley would have rounded out a starting five that would have been among the most formidable in the conference."
knicksbabyyeah
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8/8/2002  10:42 AM
who do you believe?

philly journalist: "Spree + KT for Mutombo"

or

ny journalist: "KT + Ward + Knight for Mutombo"

To be honest, I think too much nyreporters are taking the "vecsey" approach on sports, if it checks out in the realgm tradechecker I can report it as a trade rumor. Too bad D'Allessandro hasn't written anything about this as of yet, he's probably the only NY reporter left with a spotless record.
Caseloads
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8/8/2002  10:49 AM
Posted by knicksbabyyeah:

who do you believe?

philly journalist: "Spree + KT for Mutombo"

or

ny journalist: "KT + Ward + Knight for Mutombo"

To be honest, I think too much nyreporters are taking the "vecsey" approach on sports, if it checks out in the realgm tradechecker I can report it as a trade rumor. Too bad D'Allessandro hasn't written anything about this as of yet, he's probably the only NY reporter left with a spotless record.
I believe both were options at one pt. I think that Billy King wanted to ditch Mutombo badly. And Thomas is solid... if Thomas were 6'11" instead of 6'8" or listed 6'9" - we'd be saying he was great...

If the nets can play 6'9" PF A-Train (Aaron Williams) at Center, why can't we? KT can play in the post, but Chaney tells him to play center, but play a Charles Oakley game, from 15 feet out and hit baseline jumpers all day to draw the opposing center out from under the basket (since he's not overpowering them underneath). That is the same game Doleac plays and will ask to play.

In recent history, the only Knicks players that played in the deep post was LJ and Ewing. (Felton Spencer doesn't count, but he played deep too)

And now that we have Dice, he will be asked to own the post inside.
Dan1078
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8/8/2002  10:59 AM
You guys are missing the fact that KT is Layden's #1 commodity.

He could get somebody more valuable (Van Excel) for him.
Caseloads
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8/8/2002  11:06 AM
Posted by Dan1078:

You guys are missing the fact that KT is Layden's #1 commodity.

He could get somebody more valuable (Van Excel) for him.
my point, exactly. KT is our #1 trading chip and Ward is #2 - his contract ends soon, and he's a great, i mean great backup for anyteam that needs a vet PG.
Knicks let deal for Mutombo slip away

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