Donnie Walsh almost never acknowledges he’s got anything hot going on the trade front, but Sunday he confessed things were starting to take shape — a big admission for the Knicks president.
According to a knowledgeable source, “there are discussions” occurring between the Knicks, Nuggets and Timberwolves
regarding a three-team trade that would land Carmelo Anthony in New York by the Feb. 24 NBA trade deadline.
In the three-team package, the Knicks would be giving up Wilson Chandler, Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry’s expiring contract. That would seem too good to be true, and one person familiar with talks said there could be other pieces involved.
“I don’t think we have anything going, but we’re getting a feeling for possibilities,” Walsh said before the Knicks played the 76ers at the Garden. “We have a better feeling for what’s going to happen.”
In Donniespeak, that means things have progressed, with the trade deadline still a very long 19 days away. The Nuggets would get a first-round pick, Chandler and Minnesota’s Corey Brewer, but the feeling is they would have to gain more for this deal to take place. Opening salary-cap space apparently has now become a Denver issue as much as draft picks.
Either way, the Knicks will deal Randolph by the deadline. His reps have requested a trade.
Walsh cautioned, “If you get something that will help your team, then you get excited. It hasn’t come to the point I’m excited.”
“I don’t feel good or bad,” Walsh added. “These things take two to tango. But we’re out there looking and seeing if we can do something. Some of it is not real big, trying to fill in the blanks within our own team.”