WASHINGTON – Though Isiah Thomas keeps talking about not wanting to make a trade, there has been various reports he has turned down deals left and right.
In fact, ESPN reported Thomas turned down a chance at Ron Artest, because he didn’t want to give up Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman in a package.
Naturally, the Knicks are banking Artest will opt out after the season and sign with the Knicks for the maximum five-year, $30 million mid-level contract. The same one they used for Jared Jeffries and Jerome James. Artest told The Post earlier this month the Knicks are on his radar, and he wouldn’t mind being traded now.
It also was reported the Cavs were interested in Jamal Crawford, and the Knicks could have snared Larry Hughes in a package.
The Knicks appear to have been shopping Zach Randolph, to Milwaukee and the Nets for Vince Carter. Randolph has picked it his play since Friday’s blowup with Thomas in which he may have asked Thomas to trade him in the locker-room afterward, according to a TV report.
Thomas and Randolph have denied it, but Randolph has played like he’s trying to boost his stock.
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Making the playoffs is still a giant longshot for the Knicks, but the eighth seed has finally come into view following the Knicks’ stunning three-game winning streak. When the Knicks play in Washington tonight, they stand six games out of eighth place, at 12-26. The 18-20 Nets are the No. 8 seed.
“We still have a lot of making up to do,” Jamal Crawford said. “We have to keep it in perspective. We’ve had starts before where we had two in a row in November. We got to keep it up and not get too crazy.”
For a few days, Thomas hasn’t had trot out his morbid rhetoric that has marked this catastrophic season.
“Winning definitely makes you feel better,” Thomas said. “It builds your confidence and helps our belief in faith in what you’re practicing. What you’re trying to accomplish out on the floor. When you have positive results, because of what you put in, it helps.”
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Asked how close he came to hiring Orlando assistant Patrick Ewing as a big-man coach, Thomas said, “Close. But it’s never worked out.” . . . This Washington-Miami trip begins a stretch in which the Knicks play seven of their next nine on the road, where they have won twice, and one of their home games is Monday vs. Boston.
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Thomas was asked if Crawford’s play reminded him of his game.
“He’s a better shotmaker than I ever was,” said Thomas, who has won two more championships than the number of playoff games Crawford has participated in.
Ever the diplomat, Crawford wouldn’t buy into the club’s better wining percentage without Marbury.
“The Wizards have a better winning percentage with Gilbert (Arenas) out but if you ask them, I’m sure they’d love to have him.”