SPECIAL MIDWEEK EDITION Never-ending Knick nightmare
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

If Trading Deadline 2006 was too quiet for you, don't fret.

Free-Agent Season 2006, which was looking rather lackluster with Ben Wallace and Al Harrington as headliners, is certain to be spiced up by forthcoming weeks and months of trade speculation involving Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Paul Pierce ... all because no one in that illustrious (but frustrated) trio came close to moving before Thursday's trade buzzer.

Only one deal that did happen this week demands deeper inspection, which follows here with Dimedom's answers to five big questions you've surely heard in the wake of the Knicks deciding that they had to have another ball-dominating guard.

1. Someone said the Knicks could actually be the biggest winner at this trade deadline?

Yes. I found one such executive.

But even that guy doesn't really expect it to happen.

In the modern NBA world, where contact on the perimeter has been virtually outlawed, guards can be bigger than ever. Look at what New Orleans has been able to achieve just by putting Chris Paul and Speedy Claxton together. Surely Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis are capable of driving and kicking and morphing into a dynamic duo. The aforementioned executive actually said that the Francis acquisition -- a former All-Star for essentially two guys who weren't even playing -- could someday be remembered as "the steal of the deadline."

Of course, that presupposes three things.

A) The chemistry between the guards has to be right; B) The team environment has to be right; and C) The coach has to be right.

I'm betting on 0-for-3.

Isiah Thomas has tried to give Larry Brown what he wants: The best available veterans, because Larry doesn't have the patience to coach kids. But now it's up to Larry to help make those things happen. Larry has to nurture these two into a partnership that takes advantage of the new rules and gets their teammates involved.

Given how much he has already grated on this group of Knicks with negativity -- and how morose Brown looked at Francis' introductory news conference -- it's hard to believe that he's that coach.

Which has to be scary for Knicks fans if their team, as many more executives around the league suspect, finds itself stuck with these two guards when this doesn't work.

2. Starbury and Franchise can be a modern-day Isiah and Joe Dumars?

Stop it. Please.

We covered some of this ground before, but these guys haven't proven anything together or even individually. Neither has won much in the NBA. Neither has a great locker-room reputation. Both possess lucrative long-term contracts that only the Knicks would touch. So you can't talk about their potential as a tandem until we see some evidence that starts to chip away at their mirrored reputations.

This is even more of a stretch when you remember that Isiah was one of the greatest crunch-time players in history and that Dumars is a former NBA Finals MVP who is also remembered as one of the finest perimeter defenders of his generation. Marbury and Francis haven't gotten anywhere near those stratospheres.

3. The Knicks would have been better off sending Penny Hardaway's expiring contract to Denver for Kenyon Martin or to Portland for Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff?

If Larry's your coach?

Definitely.

Miles and Ratliff could have provided athleticism and interior defense. Martin, assuming he eventually heals fully from microfracture knee surgery, potentially provides both.

But once Orlando held out for Hardaway's contract instead of taking back Jamal Crawford, there was no chance of dealing with Denver or Portland.

The Nuggets and Blazers, mind you, miss out here as much as the Knicks. Denver has to proceed with Martin knowing that coach George Karl pushed for his exile ... and with sources close to the situation saying Martin is now equally eager to get away from Furious George. The Blazers, like Denver, wanted Hardaway's last-year salary (plus a good young piece and/or a good draft pick) in hopes of creating the salary-cap flexibility to start over yet again.

4. All Orlando has to show for its Tracy McGrady trade is Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo and Trevor Ariza?

Not exactly. You're forgetting the cap space that comes with Penny's contract.

And if you're still not impressed, you don't remember where the Magic were two weeks ago.

You have to remember, firstly, that the McGrady trade was made by a previous regime. Can't blame the new management tandem of Otis Smith and Dave Twardzik for that one.

Secondly ...

The Magic have some hope now, which didn't exist before the Darko Milicic trade. Darko is still worlds away from justifying his status as the No. 2 overall pick in the LeBron James Draft, and there is still no indication when last June's first-round pick (Fran Vazquez) plans to leave Europe for the NBA, but Orlando now owns the rights to three highly coveted 7-foot kids. They'll also have cap room next season to pursue pieces that should help convince Dwight Howard to stay.

Huge questions remain about the team's future in Orlando, with an arena issue that has loomed for years. For the actual team, though, they have a future again after the massive double-investment in Grant Hill and McGrady worked out so disastrously.

5. Trading for Steve Francis can actually help the Knicks trade for Garnett this summer?

Sorry. There's a better chance Marbury and Francis will become Thomas and Dumars.

This was an inevitable post-trade spin from Madison Square Garden, but the Wolves were only interested in Francis or Marbury in the past two months because they still have Garnett. Those two have zero appeal to Minnesota if Garnett is no longer there.

Don't forget, furthermore, that the Wolves already passed on the opportunity to acquire Francis in January when they dealt Wally Szczerbiak to Boston instead for Ricky Davis, Mark Blount and Marcus Banks.

The Wolves are obligated to explore the possibility of trading Garnett in the offseason because they're having so much trouble rebuilding around him. And Garnett intimates say he is fond of New York ... as a city. But that's as far as it goes, no matter what the spin is. Teams that can package youth with upside, cap-friendly contracts and good future draft picks -- Chicago and Golden State are on the list -- will have the best shot at Garnett.

Posted by islesfan:

3. The Knicks would have been better off sending Penny Hardaway's expiring contract to Denver for Kenyon Martin or to Portland for Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff?

If Larry's your coach?

Definitely.

Miles and Ratliff could have provided athleticism and interior defense. Martin, assuming he eventually heals fully from microfracture knee surgery, potentially provides both.

i'm glad we didnt take a chance on martin, and who knows what young guy we would have had to throw in. As far as mile+ratliff, yea we could have gotten them, if we included Frye.

Posted by islesfan:

5. Trading for Steve Francis can actually help the Knicks trade for Garnett this summer?

Sorry. There's a better chance Marbury and Francis will become Thomas and Dumars.

This was an inevitable post-trade spin from Madison Square Garden, but the Wolves were only interested in Francis or Marbury in the past two months because they still have Garnett. Those two have zero appeal to Minnesota if Garnett is no longer there.

this sh!t is so off its funny. marbury and francis would never be the pieces to goto Minny to get rid of Garnett. it would be salarycap, youth and picks, all of which the knicks can provide.

Posted by islesfan:

The Wolves are obligated to explore the possibility of trading Garnett in the offseason because they're having so much trouble rebuilding around him. And Garnett intimates say he is fond of New York ... as a city. But that's as far as it goes, no matter what the spin is. Teams that can package youth with upside, cap-friendly contracts and good future draft picks -- Chicago and Golden State are on the list -- will have the best shot at Garnett.

wow, you mean what the knicks have....