New York Knicks are surely not done.... now looking to trade for a center

A day after agreeing to a trade for Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks might not be done dealing.

Team president Donnie Walsh said he will continue to seek a center through a trade before Thursday's 3 p.m. ET deadline, though he was not optimistic he would be successful.

"We think we moved the rock ahead a little bit, but let's don't get carried away and think now we're challenging Miami, Boston and all these teams. We're just not there yet," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, noting the Knicks' biggest needs are size and shooting to replace the departed Timofey Mozgov, Danilo Gallinari andWilson Chandler.

D'Antoni said Ronny Turiaf would be his center in a starting lineup that will include Amare Stoudemire, Anthony, Landry Fields and Chauncey Billups. Shawne Williams and Toney Douglas (and perhaps Corey Brewer) will be the first players off the bench, with Shelden Williams likely being the big body he plans to use to spell Turiaf and Stoudemire.

D'Antoni also said he will use Anthony at power forward from time to time, though the majority of his playing time will be spent at the small forward position.

The Knicks actually gain experience with the new starting lineup.

Fields has started all season, as has Stoudemire.

Mozgov, who is in his first season in the NBA, had been starting at center recently but had only 14 starts for his career, one more than Turiaf this season.

But by replacing Gallinari with Anthony, the Knicks replace 124 career starts with 564. And by going with Billups at the point, New York gets a veteran with 867 career starts, compared with 423 for Raymond Felton.

If the Knicks make the playoffs, that difference becomes even more striking. Felton has taken part in four playoff games in his career, while Billups has been in 139. Gallinari has never been to the playoffs, while Anthony has played in 45 postseason games.

Information from ESPN.com senior NBA writer Chris Sheridan was used in this report.

NBA looking into illegal workouts by the New York Knicks

The NBA is looking into allegations that the New York Knicks circumvented league rules by conducting secret workouts with college players.

Teams are not supposed to work out players before the annual predraft camp and can only conduct a certain number of workouts during specified times. According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Knicks director of East Coast scouting Rodney Heard held workouts in gymnasiums in the Atlanta area in violation of these rules, with a May 2007 session resulting in a major knee injury to Kansas All-American Brandon Rush. Rush withdrew from the draft.

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"We will be investigating these allegations," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Tuesday.

The Knicks said in a statement that they are cooperating with the NBA and "defer all comment to them."

Rush had previously said that he was injured in a pick-up game in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo., but he admitted to Yahoo! that it actually happened during a workout with Heard.

"It was [during] drill work, doing a three-man weave," Rush said in a recent interview, according to Yahoo!. "I went up for a dunk, came down and that was it. It was a quick pop in my knee."

Heard worked out Wilson Chandler before the 2007 predraft camp, league sources told Yahoo!, and the Knicks subsequently drafted him.

In addition, DePaul's Dar Tucker said Heard led him in a workout in 2009, and Notre Dame's Tory Jackson said Heard worked with him and Baylor's Ekpe Udoh in 2010.

"Rodney did most of the workouts," Jackson said, according to Yahoo!. "He never really put anybody else in charge of his workouts. He wanted to run all the workouts himself, which was good."

Heard denied being involved in the workouts when reached by Yahoo!.

Insurance Problems Hender Stoudemire from Playing In World Champs

LAS VEGAS -- The door to the gym opened on the first day of Team USA's minicamp Tuesday, the players strode inside and Amare Stoudemire was not among them.

The New York Knicks' new forward will not play for the United States in next month's world championships because of problems insuring his contract.

The U.S. team's roster dropped from 22 to 20 as the team spent its first 24 hours together preparing for Turkey, as the Suns' Robin Lopez also pulled out after deciding he was not far enough along in his rehabilitation from a bulging disc in his lower back.

Lopez was a long shot to make the roster, but Stoudemire was expected to be one of the key big men on a roster loaded with talented guards but somewhat thin at the forward and center positions. During the team's first practice Tuesday, David Lee injured his right middle finger and planned to immediately fly back to Oakland to be examined by the Golden State Warriors' medical staff.

The Knicks informed USA Basketball on Monday night that Stoudemire would not be rejoining the team he played for in the 2007 Olympic qualifying tournament. He was left off the roster for the Beijing Olympics but could still play in the 2012 Olympics if the insurance issues are worked out.

Stoudemire's decision "was made for us," team director Jerry Colangelo said. "We don't have to make a decision regarding Amare because if the team who has the investment will not allow him to play because they don't have coverage for him in international play, that eliminates him.

"There's nothing to work out. They said he's out. It sounds like a cliché, but it opens up an opportunity for someone else."

Stoudemire has had microfracture knee surgery, as well as other injuries, a major reason Phoenix wouldn't offer him a maximum-length contract. The Knicks then gave him a five-year deal worth nearly $100 million, even while saying they weren't sure whether the contract could be insured.

According to the Knicks, the insurance policy from Stoudemire's contract with the Suns is still in place, but it excludes his surgically repaired left knee. The Knicks have begun working to secure insurance on his new deal, but that hasn't been completed. Without proper insurance, NBA teams can prevent players from taking part in summer events.

"He had to pull out because he couldn't get insurance on his knees. So, he's not able to play," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, who is an assistant with the U.S. team. "I don't know if his [future USA Basketball] status has changed or not. I have no idea. I hate it for him, but it's business."

With the players who led the Americans to the 2008 Olympics gold medal taking the summer off, USA Basketball was counting on Stoudemire. The world championships begin Aug. 28.

"He's disappointed, we're disappointed, but we have to honor the team's request, decision to pull him. I think it was late notice," Colangelo said. "He had a big year. He's healthy, he was hungry, and so we lose that. But having said that, it opens up another opportunity for another big."

Asked about his commitment to playing in the world championships recently while taking questions from the media on Twitter, Stoudemire wrote: "I'm so ready to play for USA. There isn't anything that would stop me for playing for the US."




Chris Sheridan is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.