Really? I just read this in this mornings NY Post. Lets hope they're wrong. RICE TO ROCKETS ALL BUT DEAD August 17, 2001 -- The Glen Rice blockbuster is on its death bed. The Knicks have rejected the Rockets' demands for a lottery-protected, first-round pick from the Knicks, multiple sources told The Post last night. Unless things change today, the Rockets were prepared to flunk Rice on his physical at the noon deadline, squashing the three-team deal that would have netted the Knicks Shandon Anderson and Mavericks point guard Howard Eisley. There is a chance the Rockets could be bluffing, but Mavericks coach/president Don Nelson told The Post last night he plans on having Eisley back this season. "I'm sensing it's not going too well," Nelson told The Post. "We're expecting Eisley's going to come back to us and that's fine with me. It looks bad but I haven't been told officially it's dead." If the Rockets squash a trade they agreed to last Friday, citing Rice's failure to pass the physical, the Knicks only recourse is to appeal to commissioner David Stern. The Rockets, belatedly concerned about Rice's injured foot, were attempting to extort more compensation from the Knicks. The Mavericks offered to sweeten the pot but the Rockets, according to Nelson, "wanted more than we were willing to give." One league official called the proposed deal "very iffy," adding "The Rockets are trying to get more out of the Knicks." The Knicks were standing firm on their original offer in which they sent Rice to Houston and Muggsy Bogues to Dallas while netting free agent Anderson in a six-year, $42 million deal and Eisley. The deal was a sensible one, relieving the Knicks of their starry perimeter glut of Latrell Sprewell-Houston-Rice while bringing in two younger players in Anderson and Eisley. Obviously, having Rice return now would be an awkward situation. On Tuesday, the Rockets requested additional medical records on Rice to study his left foot and canceled his introductory press conference in Houston. Rice's foot injury forced him to miss just six games, leading some league officials to believe the concern over the foot is only a smokescreen to the franchise having buyer's remorse over giving up a younger player in Anderson for Rice. Meanwhile, the players involved remained in limbo. Reached yesterday, Eisley told The Post "My head is spinning, it's hard to talk about this. This is a very different experience. It's very much up in the air. I'm not quite sure what's going to happen. I feel good about the situation in New York, but it's hard to tell what's going to happen." Eisley was to join a crowded point-guard field that included Mark Jackson and on-the-block Charlie Ward. Eisley has played some shooting guard after losing his starting job to Steve Nash. "I'd do whatever the coaching staff asks me but I think I'm a point guard," Eisley said. "The Knicks are a great organization and they're going to be a good team year in and year out." While game missed were minimal, Rice was held out of practice from February on. Rice was placed in a soft cast and told to stay off the foot this summer but still experiences pain. Rice didn't return calls yesterday. His agent Jeff Wexler said "We're waiting on medical reports. We won't comment."
The NY Post is one of the world's worst newspapers. I'll take the word of Mark Berman (the Houston version) on Fox news and he says it's done.
