Babcock not ready to deal
Raps GM says it’s too early to panic despite 0-4 start Knicks rumoured to be interested in trading for Rose
The phones are ringing and somewhere in the NBA panic may be setting in, yet Rob Babcock says it’s not time to pull the trigger on a trade.
Yet. With some teams starting to realize they may not be as good as they thought they were, the Raptor general manager said early trade discussions have begun but that nothing is expected to come of any recent conversation.
“ To me, it’s too early,” Babcock said yesterday. “ You need to go longer than a week but the phone calls have been picking up.” But it’s not as if Babcock hasn’t been talking significant moves. Two sources close to current Milwaukee centre Jamaal Magloire insist the New Orleans Hornets called the Raptors with serious enquiries before shipping the Toronto native to the Bucks two weeks ago but no deal could be worked out. And one adviser to New York president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas is already suggesting to people around the league that the struggling Knicks could easily be persuaded to take Toronto’s Jalen Rose. Whether the Raptors could have pulled off a deal for Magloire will never be known, and it’s likely the Hornets were looking for a similar package of draft picks they wanted when they offered Magloire to Toronto in June. And the Knicks, 0- 4 and one game into a six- game western road trip, would have little to offer Toronto because all their centres are either too young ( Channing Frye and Eddy Curry) or too expensive (Malik Rose, Jerome James) to move. However, the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway, worth about $ 15.7 million this season (all figures U.S.) might make sense in a deal and the Knicks twice expressed interest in Rose last season — in November when Vince Carter was traded and again at the trade deadline.
Toronto would save nearly $ 17 million in salary next year, allowing Babcock to have enough room under the expected tax level to pay the full mid- level exception to a free agent. The deal would hurt on court immediately — Rose remains the team’s only pure scorer — and it would be a tough sell to fans who are already staying away from the 0- 4 team. But the prospect of allowing Morris Peterson to start alongside Joey Graham with Hardaway would add a veteran presence to the team’s second unit.
Babcock, however, said the calls he’s making and taking, are much more exploratory right now.
“ My calls are survey calls at this point, we’re not actively trying to move anybody,” he said. “(You’re) constantly circling around the league and talking to teams. Generally it’s a casual conversation, what you do in it is try to learn about what players are on our team they have interest in and what players on their team we have interest in.
“ If ( in the future) I have a good feel for what their needs are, what they’re looking for and what interests them . . . I know I talked to this team.
“ You’re always going to stay in contact.” Meanwhile, Babcock expressed frustration but not surprise that the Raptors are off to an 0- 4 start for the first time in franchise history.
“ I’m very satisfied with everything everybody’s doing, I’m not satisfied that we aren’t playing a little bit better,” he said. And while the Raptors may be without Eric Williams (knee) for tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz and with a 15th roster spot vacant, Babcock is resisting the urge to pluck someone off waivers just to fill a uniform.
‘‘ You can always make moves, but they are basically going to be lateral moves,’’ said Babcock.