James Dolan Says Knicks Nearly Traded For Prime Vince Carter

Making a rare public appearance on the ‘Roommates Show’ hosted by Jalen Brunson and Jason Hart, James Dolan made a stunning revelation.

He said that, before the Toronto Raptors traded Vince Carter to what was then the New Jersey Nets, the New York Knicks nearly acquired him.

Around the 38 minute mark of the episode, Brunson asked Dolan if there was a trade that nearly happened that didn’t, but he really wished did happen. Adding to the amusement is that Dolan couldn’t even remember Carter’s name initially.

“Yeah, a long time ago, a long time,” Dolan said. “It was… he ended up playing for the Nets… oh shoot… great scorer. It wasn’t Grant Hill… It was a guy out of Toronto…”

That’s when Brunson interjected with “Vince Carter,” to which Dolan agreed.

“We were gonna do the trade and the medical team came back and told us he had a 90 percent severed Achilles tendon and that it would never hold up. That once it ruptured, he’d never be the same player. For that reason, we didn’t do the trade.

“And then Vince Carter went on to have five, six, seven years of… I kept waiting for Achilles to break, it never broke. He was putting in 30, 40 a night. Yeah, we sure dodged a bullet there, didn’t we?! [sarcasm]”

What If Carter Joined Knicks Instead?

The Nets made one of the most lopsided deals in league history, acquiring Carter while only surrendering Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, and a pair of middling first-round picks.

One would imagine that New York wasn’t giving up their best assets either, and so there may have been the possibility of teaming up with Stephon Marbury. Allan Houston played just 20 games that season in what proved to be his final year. A young Jamal Crawford was also coming off the bench for that team.

Salary-wise, Carter was earning $12.6M so it’s hard to say who may have been coming the other way. Houston was earning $17.5M, Penny Hardaway was at $14.6M, and Tim Thomas was making $12.9M.

Carter is likely happier with the way things played out, joining Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson in New Jersey.

After forcing his way out of Toronto, Carter was a force with the Nets. He averaged 27.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists for the remainder of the season. Both the Knicks and Raptors finished 33-49 that season while the Nets finished 42-40. He made the All-Star team that season as well as the following two seasons.

Incredibly, Carter played another 13 seasons after that and retired at the age of 43. He finished with eight All-Star appearances and two All-NBA teams.

He is now also a Hall-of-Famer and had his jersey retired by both the Raptors as well as the Nets.