Donnie Walsh wasn’t at his usual seat during pregame warm-ups before last night’s 115-109 loss to the Bulls at the Garden. No doubt the Knicks GM was in his office working on a blockbuster deal before today’s trade deadline.
Was Tracy McGrady about to be a Knick? Was Nate Robinson headed to Boston?
When Walsh appeared as the game began, you figured a deal had been struck. Then the announcement was passed along press row: Darko Milicic for Timberwolves forward Brian Cardinal. Huh?
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OK, so Milicic for Cardinal wasn’t the headline-grabber everyone was expecting the Knicks to open with yesterday. Yet, by the time you read this, the Knicks might well have undergone a mini-makeover. Robinson could be a Celtic and McGrady could be headed to the Garden.
What does it all mean for the new look Knicks? The same thing it meant in November when the season started and as far back as when Mike D’Antoni became head coach and Walsh was named the general manager two years ago. The players might change, but the objective is the same: to get as far under the salary cap as possible for this summer’s free agency signing spree. Everything else is window dressing.
If and when the new players get here, there will be talk of renewed energy and a fresh start. There will be questions about why Robinson couldn’t have stayed with the Knicks and how much does McGrady have left. But the next time the Knicks are truly meaningful will be this summer, when we find out whether all this effort to get as far under the cap as possible will be worth it.
We won’t really know that until LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh decide where they’re going to play next year. The Knicks aren’t the only franchise gutting their roster to get under the cap. If none of those players decide to become a Knick, then all of this is wasted energy. It will be doubly demoralizing if the cost for cap space is future first-round draft picks.
“You always love draft picks,” D’Antoni said. “You don’t want to give anything away. But you have to do what you have to do. We want to set it up to where we take our best shot.”
The Milicic deal was announced first to clear a roster spot for the two Celtics — Eddie House and J.R. Giddens — who will arrive in the trade for Robinson. McGrady should soon follow. But though the Knicks might be packaged differently, they’ll be the same struggling team for the remainder of this season.
D’Antoni basically conceded as much saying, “If it’s the last 30 games that are a little here or there, we still have our objective.”
Walsh deserves credit for putting the Knicks in position to be a major player this summer. It’s not like he has traded away top talent to get under the cap.
Few tears will be shed over Robinson’s departure. He provided good entertainment. But he and D’Antoni clearly clashed, and now Robinson may have a chance to prove his game can mesh with a contender.
To D’Antoni’s credit, he isn’t even talking about making the postseason anymore. He almost sounded yesterday like a coach who can’t wait for the season to end.
“I knew it was going to be a tough two years,” he said. “And I knew what we had. I was hoping for better this year. I thought we could make the playoffs. We’ve been struggling of late and some things have caught me blindside or we wouldn’t be struggling like this. But I knew what we had to do and we’re sticking with that.”
That’s why the faces can change, but the objective is still same. It’s not about this season. It’s about this summer.
george.willis@nypost.com