Now it's going to be even harder for the Knicks to replace Larry Johnson. On Thursday, the NBA denied the Knicks' appeal for the disabled-player exception of $4.6 million one day after Johnson retired from basketball due to a debilitating back condition. The league decided the Knicks applied too late for financial relief and are now left with just the $1 million exception to add a player.


"We would have liked to have gotten it," said general manager Scott Layden. "But you move on. Our focus, as always, is we'll use whatever we have at our disposal to improve the team. We'll see if anything presents itself."