CHICAGO — While the Knicks officially will add 6-foot-8 forward James Singleton Friday, the club hasn’t ruled out Kenyon Martin for Sunday’s game against Indiana.
When Glen Grunwald signed Martin in late February, the Knicks general manager said the club would have enough insurance in the big-man department to withstand all sorts of injuries. It turns out he was wrong.
Thursday they were working out a deal for Singleton, a journeyman power forward who joined the team in Chicago. Kurt Thomas, a long shot to return from a stress fracture in his right foot, is expected to be waived today when the deal becomes official and Singleton could debut tonight in Cleveland.
* Martin (sprained ankle) and center Tyson Chandler (neck) didn’t make the road trip and will also miss tonight’s encounter in Cleveland. However, Martin has progressed to a point at which the Knicks aren’t ruling him out for Sunday.
Coach Mike Woodson, who had called Martin’s injury a “severe’’ sprain, backed off yesterday, saying “Kenyon was a lot better today back at home getting treatment. So that’s a positive.’’
Chandler’s case is murkier. He looked super in a 37-minute bang-up performance in Oklahoma City on Sunday before suffering a relapse to a neck injury that had cost him 10 games in March.
“The soreness from his layoff got to him,’’ Woodson said. “I played him [37] minutes that game. His body felt it. He said I got to rest because I’m hurt. I got to back off and let that happen.’
Thursday night’s big-man alignment in the 118-111 overtime loss to the Bulls of Carmelo Anthony and Chris Copeland was illustrative of the Knicks’ dire straits. All traditional big men on the roster are hurt — including Amar’e Stoudemire (knee surgery), Rasheed Wallace (foot surgery) and Marcus Camby (plantar fasciitis).
Woodson said he couldn’t talk about Singleton because he wasn’t a Knick yet. When asked what he is looking for with a roster addition, Woodson said, “Somebody like Kenyon. Defensive-minded who can rebound, hustle-type player. We need somebody who can guard 4’s and 5’s when we switch, he can keep some of the quicker guards in front of him.’’
Singleton was cut by the Wizards after the preseason and went to China. He played 12 games for Washington last season.
* Stoudemire, who claims to have Jewish roots, will serve as an assistant coach for the Canadian men’s basketball team in the Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer. Before he entered the hospital for his latest knee surgery last month, Stoudemire tweeted a photo of him posing with a group of men in yarmulkes for good luck.
* After Thursday night’s loss, Anthony did not rule out sitting out the final two regular season games against the Bobcats and Hawks.
* A Boston advance scout was on hand Thursday night, reviewing the Knicks for a potential first-round playoff clash. The Celtics don’t play the Bulls or Knicks again this regular season.
* Anthony saluted Thomas for his performance in Utah that started the 13-game winning streak.
“That game in Utah that Kurt won for us turned the ship around for us,” Anthony said. “For him to go out there and be able to play on a fractured foot, do the things he did in that game to help get it started from that game, I don’t think he got enough credit for that.”