Having lost six of their last eight games, including an embarrassing 50-point home loss to Dallas on Sunday, the Knicks are feeling more and more pressure to make a trade or two. Two players on their radar, according to the New York Post, are Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas.
McGrady has not played since being given an indefinite leave of absence from the Rockets on Dec. 23. He has averaged 3.2 points in just over 7 1/2 minutes of action a night in six games this season. Thomas has averaged 8.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 20 games for the Bulls.
With the Feb. 18 trade deadline less than a month away, the Knicks entered Tuesday in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, four games behind Charlotte and Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot.
Although team president Donnie Walsh would not guarantee a trade, he did tell the Post that he is meeting with his scouting department all week to “pick their brains” about available players. Walsh’s one stipulation, the paper reports, is that any player he trades for must be in the final year of his contract so he can protect his 2010 cap space, presumably to make a run at some combination of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh when they hit the free-agent market this summer.
At the same time, Walsh also said that he is not going to hit the panic button and make a trade just for the sake of making a trade. The Post says that Walsh privately admits that his moves last February — trading Tim Thomas, Malik Rose and Anthony Roberson for Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox — backfired.
“You're assuming any move would help us make the playoffs,” Walsh said. “I don't assume. You have to make the right move in order to have something like that happen. If that's there, we do it. I wouldn't think I have to make a move. It isn't like I woke up and [said], ‘Oh my god, I have to do something now.’”
