NJ.com: Three way deal unlikely
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Rich
Posts: 27410 Alba Posts: 6 Joined: 12/30/2003 Member: #511 USA |
1/24/2004 2:27 AM
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1074927238102750.xml
Knicks notebook: Three-way deal unlikely Saturday, January 24, 2004 BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO Star-Ledger Staff ATLANTA -- Isiah Thomas and Billy Knight met for about 35 minutes outside the Hawks' locker room last night, each man highly motivated to change his roster for very different reasons. Thomas wants to make his Knicks more athletic while Knight, the Hawks' GM, wants to slash payroll. And not coincidentally, rumors abound that the two general managers are trying to put together a three-way trade with Portland. But it may be problematic. The Knicks would acquire forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim ($13.5M) in the proposed deal, and ship Keith Van Horn ($13.3M) to Portland. The Blazers, in turn, would send Rasheed Wallace ($16.9M) to Atlanta, which is in salary-dump mode and would let him skip in the summer. Spare parts would be added to make the salaries match. The problem: The Blazers held it up because they also want Kurt Thomas, according to one Eastern Conference GM familiar with the talks. Van Horn is not enough, especially for Blazers GM John Nash, who was bum-rushed by agent David Falk into giving Van Horn that $73 million deal with the Nets four years ago. Secondly, are the Knicks willing to send away two starting forwards for the price of one -- even if Abdur-Rahim is a near 20-and-10 man? Not likely, unless there is a side deal for an athletic small forward. But Isiah Thomas doesn't want to be put in a situation in which he has to proclaim his everlasting loyalty to Kurt Thomas. When asked how difficult it would be to part with his starting power forward, the team president replied, "I'll never talk about anything like that. And if I was to answer that question, I would totally have to lie to you." |
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NJ.com: Three way deal unlikely