Chris Broussard of the New York Times chronicles the decline of the Knicks, starting in the summer of 2000 when they traded Patrick Ewing.

The Knicks were afraid Ewing would be disruptive if brought back for one more season, so they accepted a package of aging, injured, ill-fitting players with long-term contracts.  In all, the Knicks have taken on $137.4 million in contracts for players they acquired through the Ewing trade. They could have kept Ewing around and chopped his $16 million off their payroll after the 2000-1 season.

Broussard says the Knicks are now the worst positioned team in the league, both financially and in terms of getting better.

Now they are eyeing the lottery.  In the related piece, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News says that Knicks GM Scott Layden is on his way to China to scout Yao Ming.  Ming used to be reported at 7'5", but is now showing up as 7'6".

The New York Knicks announced last night that starting center Marcus Camby is expected to sit out the rest of the season following an MRI on his torn hip muscle.  He played a total of 29 games for the season.

The accouncement comes after the passing of the trade deadline, before which they were trying hard to ship the talented but often injured blocking machine to teams out West.  It was earlier believed that Camby might be back in April, but the Knicks are currently sitting 13 games below .500 and it is thought Camby would not be 100% until May anyway.

Marcus is extremely disappointed and in disbelief. The season started out with so much to look forward to after working out. Everything snowballed. The silver lining is this gives the foot a chance to completely heal." said Camby's business manager Rick Kaplan.

When San Antonio's Terry Porter dived for a loose ball and rolled onto the back of Timberwolves guard Chauncey Billups' right ankle Saturday night, one uneasy, incongruous thought passed through the minds of some Wolves watchers:

Why doesn't the team's newest player spell his first name with a "k" instead of a "c"?

Huh? Bear with us: Marc Jackson is the big guy acquired Thursday at the trading deadline. Mark Jackson is the aging, well-traveled point guard again playing for the New York Knicks. The former is a beefy addition to the Wolves front line who showed his value immediately in the 112-88 victory over the Spurs on Saturday. But the latter is the sort of insurance policy the Wolves seem to need at that most vital position, trigger man of their potent offense.

Face it, with starter Terrell Brandon (knee surgery) out for the season, with Billups historically vulnerable to injuries and slumps and with the postseason rapidly approaching, how comforting is it to know that the two current backups have, between them, only one NBA start at point guard?

Peter Vecsey of the New York post has given his thoughts about the Knicks inability to manoeuvre this trade deadline; it was for their best.

True, the Nuggets did unload a number of hefty contracts - and we all know the Knicks have their fair share of these - but Vecsey said what Denver received in return has to ask questions about whether Nuggets GM Kiki Vanderweghe is still on Mark Cuban's payroll.  The Mavericks got their man, Raef LaFrentz, while removing the bloating salary of Juwan Howard from their payroll.  Both players were rumored to go to the Knicks during the deadline, with Marcus Camby due to be sacrificed along with some of the Knicks big contracts (Shandon Anderson, Charlie Ward, etc.)

But word around the league is the Knicks should have sacrificed Camby for Howard, whose $20M plus contract would come off the books after next season giving the Knicks some cap relief.  But would it?  Vecsey indicates that if the Knicks did make the trade they'd still have a cap hit of at least $70 million after the 2003 season anyway, still exceeding the would-be cap from between $20-$25 million.

There is no shortcut around the Knicks woeful cap situation, and with a lottery pick in their future this season they may be down for some time to come.

Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News writes that Don Nelson and Mark Cuban continue to deny they'll make any blockbuster trades before the deadline.  Cuban shot down the notion of trading Juwan Howard for Marcus Camby and change, saying, "We aren't looking to add people to the IR right now."

But, the Mavs are looking to get a little payoff acting as a facilitator in other deals, namely whatever deal Denver can put together in shipping out Nick van Exel.  Dallas hopes to grab a defensive-minded role player likes James Posey in such a deal.

Yeah, we know, you have heard enough about Nick Van Exel to last you a lifetime.  Well after 6pm Eastern today it shouldn't matter anymore, because Nick will either still be with the Nuggets or he will be the newest member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

According to Kyle Ringo of the Rocky Mountain News the Nuggets had a deal lined up with the Boston Celtics that would have made Van Exel a Celtic, but he said he killed the deal because he was being asked to make too many concessions to complete the trade. What happened to following through on your word, ey Nick?  The Celtics then turned around and completed a deal with the Phoenix Suns, landing Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk.

Van Exel believes that either the New York Knicks or the Minnesota Timberwolves are the team still in the hunt for his services.  Reports out of New York say the deal is dead, leaving Minnesota as the other potential possibility, but all Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said when told Van Exel still thought there was a chance was "It's questionable."

It is unsure if Van Exel would ever take the court again for the Nuggets even if he wasn't traded, perhaps opting for season-ending surgery on his elbow instead.

"I would hope so," Vandeweghe said when asked if he hopes Nick would play if physically able. "Nick is a very good basketball player. Obviously, as you all know, we are paying him a lot of money and we would certainly hope that he would play."

"What I would like to do is to see if I could play without damaging it any more, because it was hurting in December and I got it shot up, and what I was told was that it wouldn't flare up again until (the time of the playoffs)," Van Exel said. "We're far from that. We're in February and it's flaring up again. It's just really taking a chance on me hurting it worse than it already is and being worse for being surgically repaired. I've got to make that decision."

General managers around the league, including Wolves vice president Kevin McHale, continued to man the phones on Wednesday, trying to improve their teams. McHale has said it's unlikely the Wolves will make a trade. The latest:

? Saunders shot down trade rumors involving Knicks guard Charlie Ward, calling it "not an option.''

Why? "We've got Chauncey, we've got Terrell (Brandon), so if you're going to get a good player, how many guys do you have (at point guard) that are in the last year of their deal?'' Saunders said. "Probably not many of them. So you've got to take a guy who has another year left, and if you want to have that kind of money tied up in one position, that's pretty difficult.''

? Trade talks with the Denver Nuggets involving Brandon and Nick Van Exel are not dead, according to sources. Van Exel told reporters Wednesday he expects to stay in Denver, but there is one more possibility for a trade. The most likely candidate is Minnesota.

Two questions could help or hinder the deal: How will Brandon fare from his surgery this morning, and will Van Exel restructure the final two years of his contract, worth a combined $26.5 million in 2004-05 and 2005-06? If Van Exel is not traded today, talks could resume this summer.

About that Howard/Camby trade you've been talking about this morning... it may be fruitful to move to another topic.

According to Greg Logan of NewsDay, Knicks president and general manager Scott Layden tried to pull off a deal for Dallas power forward Juwan Howard and his famously bloated contract yesterday. But a Western Conference team official with knowledge of the talks indicated to Logan late last night that the deal fell through.

Logan writes that several NBA sources confirmed yesterday that Layden offered injured Knicks center Marcus Camby as the centerpiece of the deal for the Mavericks, who also would have had to take on a few of the contracts Layden has been trying so hard to move.

Earlier this morning, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that while the Suns and Celtics were reshuffling their rosters yesterday, the Knicks were holding serious negotiations with the Dallas Mavericks that could see Juwan Howard and Marcus Camby swapping zip codes.

The snag, however, is the fact that Howard makes $18.75 million per season compared to Camby's $6 million, meaning more players/teams would need to be added before today's 6pm deadline for a deal to be approved by the league.

The Knicks have given up building around the talented-but-brittle Camby, while it is believed that Mark Cuban is trying to improve the Mavericks defense.  Charlie Ward and Shandon Anderson, both solid defenders, are possible inclusions as well reports Berman.  Camby is expected to be out until April but will be should to make a playoff run, somewhere where the Mavericks are sure to be.

"It shouldn't be too hard to trade Juwan," a league source said. "But they're talking to everyone in the league. It's tough to deal with them because they throw everything out there. You don't know whether they're serious or not."

The potential deal for Nick Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz is now all but dead, while the possible acquisitions of either Marc Jackson, Erick Dampier or Danny Fortson are also considered slim.  New York coach Don Chaney remains uncertain of a Knicks deal taking place.

"He (Layden) hasn't given me any indication there's a doable deal out there," Chaney said.

Dave D'Allessandro of the Star-Ledger writes that as of late yesterday, Layden and Don Nelson were working with these parameters: Camby, Shandon Anderson and Charlie Ward -- three players Nellie is known to covet -- for Howard, a player who is a chronic source of irritation for the Dallas coach and GM.

But talks were on hold late last night, according to a Dallas official, because the Mavs had misgivings about Camby's ability to return from his torn right hip muscle in time to help a team that has title aspirations. "That was the main issue -- we can't be sure about Marcus' health," the official said.

While the trade between the Pacers and the Bulls was the big news around the league, but in New York all the talk was about the possible acquisition of Suns point guard Stephon Marbury.

"They're trying to move Steph?" was the reaction of Knicks All-Star Latrell Sprewell. "Are you serious? It's not like the Knicks need another point guard, though."  None of the Knicks current point guards even remotely resemble the package a player like Marbury brings to the table.  But is he even really on the table?

"The Suns are not shopping Marbury," said one Eastern Conference general manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "A lot of teams are calling about him because of the changes going on in the Suns organization, but they're not shopping him. It would be embarrassing for them to trade him so soon after they just traded him for Jason Kidd."

But don't blame the Knicks and other teams for trying to acquire the gifted guard, with recent events involving him not to Suns management's liking.  As Chris Broussard of the New York Times reports Marbury was arrested and charged with drunken driving on February 8, an offense that did not sit well with Suns management.  It was then Marbury who missed the Suns' morning shoot-around the day that coach Scott Skiles resigned, leading to interim coach Frank Johnson to only play him 14 minutes, including none in the second half.

The Knicks also look to miss their other aquisition targets, with Denver's Nick Van Exel seemingly either staying with the Nuggets or becoming a member of the Boston Celtics and the Timberwolves laughing at the Knicks proposal of Charlie Ward for Dean Garrett.  Their other targets, Warriors pair Erick Dampier and Marc Jackson, also seem likely to be a fruitless effort despite Jackson expressing his desire to play for New York prior to Golden State's game against the Nets.

The Knicks figure to be the first team to face Jalen Rose's Bulls after today's trade, "wow, that's crazy" Sprewell's response after being told.  But as Broussard puts it 'perhaps not as crazy as the idea of Marbury joining the Knicks before Friday.'

We have heard all week that Nick 'The Quick' Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz are being discussed as becoming future New York Knicks, and today you expected the same, right?  Well, not according to coach Don Chaney.

After the Knicks lost to the Jazz 92-89 Sunday night Chaney had some interesting words, referring to the team that walked off the floor as the one that would finish out the season.  The Knicks are sitting last in the Atlantic, are neck-deep in trade rumors involving players like Denver's Nick Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz, Phoenix's Stephon Marbury and Golden State's Erick Dampier and Marc Jackson, yet they are staying put?

"At this junction, from what I've seen and heard, it's really tough to make trades at this point," Chaney said. "Not that it couldn't happen, but usually at this point something would have happened by now. There's not a whole lot out there. What you don't want to get into is making quick judgments and quick moves that you're moving players you really don't want to move. We're hurting right now and sometimes that's when you're most vulnerable, when you're wounded."

With the possible exception of Latrell Sprewell, and he doesn't want to go anywhere, the Knicks have very little that any other team would desire.  Allan Houston is overpaid and Marcus Camby is on the injured reserve more than on the court.  Should Sprewell be traded he said he would just continue to enjoy playing basketball.

"If that's the way it happens, you have to deal with it and make the best of the situation where you're at," Sprewell said. "I love playing basketball, regardless of where I'm at. I have an opportunity to do what I love doing, and frankly get paid doing what I love doing. You have to appreciate that, and I do."