D'Antoni: Knicks continue to look for trade possibilities

MINNEAPOLIS -- Coach Mike D'Antoni said the reeling Knicks continue to search for trade opportunities before the Feb. 18 deadline, but with the club starting to fall out of the playoff race, they might be more inclined to do a deal that opens up more 2010 cap space.

D'Antoni said the 2010 free-agency plan is a major factor in any deal, and the Knicks continue to shop Jared Jeffries, whose trade could open up more cap room. Whether a Jeffries trade turns into a roster upgrade is debatable because he's having a good season.

"The key is it's got to fit into the plan," D'Antoni said before the Knicks' 112-91 loss to the T'wolves last night. "It's got to be right. I think we as an organization, we're looking all the time, trying to better the team without messing up the long-term plan. It's a tricky thing to do.

"We'll keep looking. [Team president] Donnie [Walsh] will keep looking."

Tracy McGrady, an expiring contract, would be a significant talent boost, if healthy, and is there for the taking. But the Knicks would have to forfeit some of their future and make one of their rookies, Toney Douglas or Jordan Hill, available.

Larry Hughes' expiring contract would have to be thrown into a McGrady deal.

* Timberwolves point guard Ramon Sessions said a deal was so close with the Knicks last July, he went to bed thinking the next morning it would be done.

"There were plenty of nights I went to sleep thinking it will be done in the morning," Sessions said. "There were a lot of different calls back and forth between Donnie [Walsh] and my agent. At the end of the day, it didn't work out."

Sources have indicated the Timberwolves will trade Sessions this summer if they reach an agreement with draft pick Ricky Rubio.

Sessions was the Knicks' prime free-agent target after Jason Kidd signed with Dallas and he would have signed had Walsh not gotten firmer projections in mid-July that the 2010 salary cap would drop to possibly $50 million.

"It was a numbers thing," Sessions said. "The salary cap dropped. They're looking to land the big guys this summer. They were trying to hold as much as they could. I thought it was going to be done. The next day it was something different."