They were looking for the medical exception which was denied. Mobley is retired on December 11th. He had a press conference to announce it. see sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3762828
Quote from that espn article “Walsh said he wasn’t sure yet what options the Knicks had to fill the vacant roster spot and would begin researching it Friday.”
The one year wait is for salary cap relief. But once a player is retired he is no longer on the 15 man roster.

Okay, cool. Good reporting, Biggie!

At the same time, I think what we’ve seen is that the front office has little interest in filling in the back end of the roster. It could be that ownership is trying to put a lid on additional salaries. It might also be that Walsh and D’Antoni are solely concerned with evaluating the current talent on the roster with less regard for potential playoff positioning.

i think in the future, if a team discovers a life threatening condition that is independently confirmed, the exception should be granted. the league doesnt want to have players playing with unnecessary risks.

if the trade didnt happen, catino would be risking his life still playing. i think when the knicks waived the results of the physical, they thought he had a bad heart, not that he wouldnt play another game.

the other side of this is i am sure the knicks make the trade again even knowing how this all turned out. they would have been getting an extra benefit with the exception

Quote from that espn article “Walsh said he wasn’t sure yet what options the Knicks had to fill the vacant roster spot and would begin researching it Friday.”

The one year wait is for salary cap relief. But once a player is retired he is no longer on the 15 man roster.

Berman is clueless.
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q53

I don’t think Mobley was ever “medically retired”. As the link you provided says, a 1 year waiting period has to pass before the medical retirement is official. It seems that the Knicks were looking for more than just a roster spot but also a $4.5 million trade exception, which is seperate from the medical retirement (that is about removing the player’s salary from the cap).

I’m not saying Berman isn’t clueless. I’m just not sure your interpretation is right (not that I wouldn’t blindly follow a guy named BiggieSmalls or anything…)

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q53

Mobley is medically retired.
You can not trade a medically retired player.
The roster spot is available and the money stays on the cap for at least a year. At that time NYK can petition for salary cap relief. Question is whether the salary is picked up by insurance or not. But the roster spot is open.

Is this true? It conflicts with all the reports I’ve seen today. NY Post is saying Walsh is going to hold off waiving Mobley in case he needs to package the contract at the deadline. Until waived Mobley is on the 15 man roster.