| | By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com
It's over.
The trade that would have sent New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing to the
Seattle SuperSonics for Vin Baker in return is, according to several
sources, "95 percent dead."
In addition, free agent forward Maurice Taylor, who was expected to sign
with the SuperSonics once Baker was shipped to New York, will sign a contract
Thursday morning with the Houston Rockets.
What once was a mega four-team, 13-player trade has dissolved into bad
feeling on many fronts because after more than a week of negotiations,
nothing was able to be consummated.
Sonics general manager Wally Walker and Knicks general manager Scott
Layden broke off talks early Wednesday evening because, sources say, the
Knicks are unwilling to do the deal unless they can land Los Angeles Lakers
free agent Glen Rice as well.
Unable to get a fourth team involved in the deal, which was a requirement
for salary cap purposes, and unable to coerce the Detroit Pistons to go along
any longer despite sweetening the offers, the Sonics and Knicks reached a
stalemate Wednesday evening.
The deal has a small chance to be revived, sources said, but only if the
Knicks back off their stance of acquiring Rice and are willing to do a
two-team deal with the Sonics that would swap Ewing for Baker and four other
Seattle players.
That would have to be done in the coming days, because Walker is leaving
for a two-week European vacation on Saturday.
Baker is in San Diego today, and will head to Los Angeles and then Maui
for the beginning of training for the Olympics.
Baker's agent, Aaron Goodwin, backed off his statement of a few days ago
and said that Baker in fact could return to the Sonics.
"Vin will handle this as a professional," Goodwin said. "If the trade
happens, great. If it doesn't happen, he still has gotten himself in great
shape and he is going to act like the professional Olympian that he is."
Frank Hughes covers the NBA for The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash. | |
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