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Inside Dish: Knicks unlikely to deal Sprewell

January 19, 2003 Print it


The Knicks have played better since the return of SF Latrell Sprewell, and, with the league's trading deadline less than a month away, Sprewell's value is as high as it is going to get. Sprewell is 32 and on the downside of his career but still could help a contender.

However, it's unlikely the Knicks will deal him. He is worth more to the team than it could get in return. Plus, the Knicks still are holding out hope that, in the midst of a soft part of the schedule, they can get back into the playoff mix. With teams such as Orlando, Philadelphia and New Orleans struggling, 500 could be good enough to punch a ticket to the postseason in the East. . . .

The Knicks are indicating they won't speed up the return of PF Antonio McDyess after surgery on his broken kneecap. McDyess will return next season, and you have to wonder what kind of player he will be when he gets back. He'll be 29, having lost two of his prime seasons (he played 10 games last season, none this year) to knee injuries. . . .

Blazers PF Rasheed Wallace broke out of a lackluster string of games with 38 points and 10 rebounds against the Grizzlies last week, but that performance was negated after the game when, according to a source, Wallace was standing at the loading dock of the Rose Garden with Grizzlies PG Brevin Knight as referee Tim Donaghy walked by.

Wallace apparently gave Donaghy, who had called a technical foul on Wallace during the game, a rather impolite two-word greeting. When Donaghy responded in kind, Wallace allegedly threatened him. The league gave Wallace a seven-game suspension for the confrontation. . . .

The Bucks finally seem to have settled on a center and, oddly, it's a power forward: 6-8 Jason Caffey. The Bucks have tried rookie Dan Gadzuric, Joel Przybilla and Ervin Johnson at the center spot, but they favor Caffey because he is the best passer of the bunch and does a good job of working the pick-and-roll with PG Sam Cassell and SG Ray Allen. Gadzuric and Przybilla have fallen out of the rotation. . . .

Hornets coach Paul Silas prefers to let injured players tell him when they need to come out of a game, but he is beginning to realize he can't take that approach with PG Baron Davis, who has a bad back. In his first game after two weeks out, Davis continually told Silas he was feeling fine. Davis wound up playing 42 minutes, and Silas admits that's too much. The coach has decided to monitor Davis' minutes more closely and limit him to eight-minute spurts. . . .

The Cavaliers appear to have gotten a steal with rookie PG Smush Parker, who went undrafted. Parker has played well and does a good job feeding SG Dajuan Wagner and G/F Ricky Davis. That creates a problem for the Cavs, though: There is no spot for G/F Darius Miles.

The team is considering trading Miles, but with the way he has struggled since coming off a knee injury, his stock is at an all-time low. Remember, the Cavaliers made the bonehead move of the offseason by trading their best player, PG Andre Miller, for Miles and are not eager to acknowledge that it was a mistake by moving Miles so quickly.

I think Sprewell is very cleverly not playing quite well enough to be tradable anyway.