The New York Knicks have a lot of mysteries surrounding the future of head coach Mike Woodson and the fate of some of their players with the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, but as the team enters its final game before this weekend's All-Star break tonight when it hosts the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden one thing is certain, Woodson wants to be a part of their discussions if and when they decide to trade some personnel.
According to ESPN, Woodson said he expects to be a part of the decision making process if the Knicks decide to make a move before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 20.
"Again, I like being the coach. I would like to think that if something goes down, I'm sure they will include me," Woodson said Tuesday in an interview on ESPN Radio's The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show. "It's been that way since I've been here and I don't see that changing. We just have to let it play out and see what happens."
Team president/general manager Steve Mills and the Knicks brain trust will be set to make decisions as the Knicks consider potential offers heading towards the trade deadline and their inclusion or non-inclusion of Woodson could be a telltale sign of whether or not the embattled coach will make it through the year behind the bench for the Knicks. With the Knicks playing mediocre basketball thus far this year, many rumors about his job status have circulated throughout this season.
Knicks owner James Dolan proclaimed his team to be a championship caliber team heading into the season, but the Knicks have gone 20-31 thus far this season and sit in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, 2.5 behind the eighth place Charlotte Bobcats. The losses piling up have led to Woodson's job status being questioned, most notably after a recent loss to the lowly Milwaukee Bucks.
Woodson has said over-and-over that his focus is on bringing the Knicks to the playoffs, not on losing his job.
"I still have a job to do. And that's not going to change," Woodson said in the radio interview. "Like I mentioned yesterday, my preparation, I've come to work happy about being the head coach of the Knicks. And I push my coaching staff, I push myself to try and be better every single day. And the players come in and are ready to go to work. Our job is to make sure that we're prepared and they're prepared when they step out on the floor. That's not ever going to change. ... I'm going to try to do the best job that I can possibly do."
It's unknown if the Knicks will make any kind of moves before the deadline on Jan. 20, but at this point the team is willing to do anything it can to try to improve and creep its way up the standings.
"There's a short window frame here between now and the 20th and I'm sure we'll be talking to teams, I'm sure," Woodson told the radio show. "That's just the nature of the business. But are we going to do anything at this point? I just don't know at this point."
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