Greenburgh, N.Y. – Despite an erroneous post by conspiracy theorist Alan Hahn – the perfect trait for a Knicks beat writer, by the way – I did not make it to Las Vegas. I can only wish that was me in this photo on his blog.
http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/
I did stop by the Knicks’ shootaround today to check in with Isiah “Deadline Deal” Thomas to see what he’s thinking with the trade deadline barely more than 48 hours away.
Thomas has been saying all along he doesn’t expect to make a trade – I’ll believe it when I see it – but he made his most definitive statement yet to that effect this morning after practice. All he had to do was make a zero with his thumb and finger when asked to put a percentage on the probability that he’ll make a trade by Thursday at 3 p.m.
“Probably zero,” Thomas said.
I actually misspoke the first time I asked Thomas this question, asking him the probability that he’d make a trade by Wednesday. Later, just to make sure I didn’t give him any unintended wiggle room, I rephrased.
“Is it still zero by Thursday?”
That’s when Thomas gave me the visual to go along with the words.
“The first couple of years we needed to make some moves and we needed to improve and we needed to get better,” Thomas said. “That was part of the job in terms of rebuilding. But I like where we are now. We have a good group, and I think we have not only a good group for the present but I think we have a good group for the future also.”
Don’t misunderstand: If someone comes to Thomas with an unbelievable offer, he’ll do it. So the more accurate percentage probably is 99.9 percent. But if Pau Gasol and Jason Kidd can get traded – and if Kevin Duckworth once got traded at the deadline with a broken leg – then anything is possible. Should be an interesting couple of days.
It figures to be more interesting on the Jersey side of the water, where the Nets will be weighing countless offers for their two All-Stars, Kidd and Vince Carter.
Thomas doesn’t know whether Kidd will get traded – the Lakers continue to be the hot rumor – but he isn’t afraid to say he’d be happy to see the future Hall of Famer leave the division and the metropolitan area.
“I haven’t had a lot of success in beating him,” Thomas said. “He always beat my teams when I was at Indiana and he beats me now. So the less I have to play against him, the better.”
See you back here tonight, when everyone will be wondering if Dwight Howard has a spare sticker to slap on the backboard during one of his dunks.