Can't compete with this

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

I don't think we can compete with this. Here, you got the Knicks taking all 
the bad contracts and the Raptors get Sprewell and the no. 9 without having to 
give up Davis. However, I don't know why the Knicks would be trying to move up 
to get Ford....

DJessen33

Raps, Knicks talk blockbuster: Report
JYD, Sprewell part of trade rumour

`A lot of interesting conversations:' GM


DOUG SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER

It's NBA draft week and blockbusters are in the air.

The Raptors, anxious but not desperate to move out of the No. 4 slot, are 
involved in intense talks with a handful of teams about possible trades b 
including a big one involving the New York Knicks.

Two Eastern Conference sources say the Raptors are talking about swapping 
Jerome Williams, Lamond Murray and the fourth pick to the Knicks for Latrell 
Sprewell and the No. 9 selection with other players possibly being thrown in as 
salary-cap ballast.

Toronto general manager Glen Grunwald, admitting that trade talks are 
starting to intensify, said the Knicks rumour was off-base but reports this morning 
in the Newark Star-Ledger newspaper say the deal is still on the table.

Whether or not it materializes, Grunwald is looking hard at making a trade.

"That's certainly a good possibility," he said last night. "We're going to do 
whatever we have to do. We've had a lot of interesting conversations."

There is no clear-cut No. 4 selection in Thursday's draft, which makes a 
Toronto trade even more likely. Some teams, like the Knicks, might want to move up 
and select Texas point guard T.J. Ford while others, like Miami at No. 5, 
might want Georgia forward Chris Bosh and even Memphis, with the No. 13 choice, 
might want to make a large move forward and take French swingman Mickael 
Pietrus.

The Raptors and Knicks were involved in talks over a blockbuster deal at last 
February's trade deadline, a swap that would have included Antonio Davis, 
Morris Peterson and Sprewell. However, talks bogged down when the Knicks couldn't 
be persuaded to toss in Kurt Thomas.

If the Raptors trade for a lower pick, they have their eye on a couple of 
players who'd be available later in the lottery.

Toronto is enamoured of Kansas point guard Kirk Hinrich, who worked out at 
the Air Canada Centre on Thursday, as well as Georgetown power forward Mike 
Sweetney, who impressed the team's braintrust in two recent workouts.