Mostly repeat summaries from this weekend's news, but here it is. 2 articles.

Mission Impossible: Can the Knicks pull off a season-saving trade?


It was a day that will live in David Stern infamy, Martin Luther King Day, 2001. The league, which schedules several matinees for the holiday, suffered a PR disaster after Knicks center Marcus Camby went wild, taking a swing at Danny Ferry and landing the punch firmly on coach Jeff Van Gundy's face.

"Hopefully we can keep that in the distant past every MLK date on," said Camby, who sat out Sunday's practice, trying to rest his injury-plagued foot "It was a fluke thing, that incident that happened, that I don't expect to happen ever again, on my part."

What isn't a fluke is Camby sitting out practice, resting one ailment or the other. His plantar fascitiis has bothered him all season, and according to Camby, it isn't going away. "It's going to hurt the rest of the season," Camby told the N.Y. Times. "But my thing is, I'm trying to play every game from here on out. We're 14-24. We need as many bodies as possible. We've just got to get a win."

Camby is expected to play this afternoon when the Knicks host the Hornets. But can the Knicks hold onto to Camby and turn their season around? Latrell Sprewell has been saying no all season. Now Allan Houston seems to be joining the chorus. "In order for us to win a championship, yeah, we would have to do something," Houston told the N.Y. Post. "For us to get to that championship level, where the Knicks really want to go to, we're going to need some help. I'm in the trenches with these guys every day and we're trying to get something done together. But, yes, I do think in order for us to get to a point of a championship level, I think we need some help."

While all have been critical of the team, none of the Big Three wants to be the guy who gets traded. They all love playing in New York. Camby was just the latest to do something of an about-face when his name suddenly surfaced in trade talks (Spree did it last week). "Who else is out there? What's going to happen? We can't really count on management making moves. We know the 14 or 15 guys on this team have to turn it around. We can't rely on help that's not possibly going to come."

Could Camby be the latest Knick on the trading block? That's the latest hot rumor floating, not only in the New York press (which has everyone on the trading block this time of the season) but also around the league this weekend. Several league sources told ESPN Insider that Knicks GM Scott Layden is exploring all possibilities, including trading Camby, right now.

Camby on the trading block? The Knicks are lucky just to have him on the low-post block. Are the Knicks this desperate? Apparently yes. Layden's efforts to move Spree over the past few weeks have produced little fruit. The Knicks want an All-Star caliber big man or point guard in return and very few teams would pay that high of price for Spree. With Houston almost impossible to trade (he's a base-year compensation player this year), Camby is the Knicks' biggest asset. His contract is reasonable and he's a big man. But what about the foot? And the myriad of other injuries that seem to follow Camby around every season? Can Camby land the Knicks the missing piece of the puzzle?

Sunday's N.Y. Post reported that the Knicks are talking to just about everyone. For starters, the Post reported that the Knicks talked to the Nuggets about Nick Van Exel. The Post is also reporting that the Knicks are talking to the Warriors about Danny Fortson and Adonal Foyle. And the Post is reporting that the Knicks also have talked to the Bucks about giving up Camby and Charlie Ward for Tim Thomas and Joel Przybilla.

All three scenarios seem highly unlikely. Unless the Nuggets are willing to part with Raef LaFrentz as well, the Knicks won't part with one of their Big Three. Fortson? He and Clarence Weatherspoon would be an imposing front line. And while the Bucks have shopped Thomas a bit, a trade for Camby seems like a reach. This summer they offered Thomas and Sam Cassell to the Nets for Stephon Marbury. But would the Bucks consider dumping Thomas and Przybilla for a center who may or may not be healthy enough to play when the Bucks make their playoff run? While Bucks GM Ernie Grunfeld is a long-time fan of Camby and Ward, he isn't that big a fan.

So if the Knicks can't move Camby, Houston or Spree (we won't even get into the realm of the super-overpaid like Shandon Anderson or Howard Eisley), what can they do? Without a stable of young players to throw into a trade to make the contracts of guys like Houston or Spree more palatable, Layden may be embarked on mission impossible.


Is Marc Jackson suddenly running out of action?

Well, the celebrated date of Jan. 19 came and went and coveted (or is he?) Warriors center Marc Jackson is still a Warrior.

Jackson had his bags all packed Saturday hoping to find out whether he was heading to the Grizzlies, Magic or Pacers. "[Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean] can get it done with any one of those three teams," Jackson told the Contra Costa Times. "But let's get it done. There's no more excuses. They want to get it done; I want to get it done. My teammates have come up to me and asked me what's going on. Let's make it happen."

Why isn't anything happening? The Orlando Sentinel reported that the Magic have balked at the Warriors' asking price, offering only a combination of reserves the Warriors don't want.

The Indianapolis Star reported that the Pacers feel Jackson is only a borderline fit and could consider pursuing the Warriors' Erick Dampier, the Hornets' Jamaal Magloire, the Nuggets' Raef LaFrentz and the Blazers' Dale Davis instead. With point guard Jamaal Tinsley ailing, the Pacers may not be able to afford to ship off backup point guard Travis Best anymore.

That leaves the Grizzlies, who most likely won't have the first-round pick the Warriors are looking for.

Would the Warriors consider either lowering their asking price or just holding onto Jackson until this fall when they can override a Jackson veto? Or will Jackson agree to widen his list of teams to include the Knicks, Mavericks and Blazers to avoid spending the rest of the season rotting at the end of the Warriors' bench?

With the market for Jackson appearing to shrink, neither side has much time to waste playing that game.

Why won't the Knicks just offer someone like Allan Houston for Nick Van Exel. I would be willing to part with him or maybe even Sprewell in a trade for Van Exel. I don't think we need LaFrentz all that bad, but having a big 3 of Sprewell, Camby, and NVE would be great.

I would like to see a straight up trade with Houston and Van Excel.Then make that Bucks trade if it's true with Camby,Ward for Thomas,Przybilla.Then trade Jax,Anderson for Artest,Guyton if possible.