Jackie

Butler

They can match any offers Butler receives now, although teams probably won’t be falling over each other to get him.

The 19-year-old Butler averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.45 blocks in 40 games with Great Lakes of the CBA. He’ll probably soon head to the injured list, as this is a signing for the future, not for this year.

Butler was signed yesterday. The Knicks see him as someone who might be able to contribute a year or two down the line.

Butler slots in behind Bruno Sundov in the rotation, which is never a good sign.

“Procedurally we have to wait for Monday (players may only be placed on waivers during business hours) for some reason, but we thought it was better to excuse the two guys from practice,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. Houston still needs to make one more cut before the regular season opens up.

They’ve also had serious discussions with Jamaal Magloire while Moore has been testing the waters to see how much money he can get this summer. “We made an offer, left it open for a certain period of time, and it was not accepted,” the Nets’ Rod Thorn said. “So that offer is no longer viable. We’ll have more conversations. But we have to decide what direction we want to go in, just as they have to do.” The Nets are also considering Joe Smith and Jackie Butler.

Butler appeared in 11 games with the Spurs last season, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.4 minutes. He’s going into the second year of a three-year, $7 million contract. It’s a contract the Spurs were happy to shed after not giving him any playing time at all during the postseason. Scola could prove to be the more valuable property for Houston.

The Kings and Cavaliers are still discussing a trade for Bibby, while the Spurs went ahead and shipped Butler to the Rockets in the Vassilis Spanoulis trade. Sacramento’s Geoff Petrie doesn’t seem as intent on trading Ron Artest as he once was, but moving Bibby appears to be a priority. And the Cavaliers know they need a real point guard after being swept in the Finals by the Spurs.

Larry Brown was furious at the call, especially when a referee yelled back at Brown, “It doesn’t matter.” He shouted back that “It does matter.” Apparently the refs don’t respect the Knicks too much these days either. And David Letterman said last week that his NCAA brackets were fried because he had the Knicks going to the Final Four. Ouch.

You know things are bad for the Knicks when Jackie Butler is one of your top players of the season. Larry Brown started a different five for the 42nd time this season and the Knicks had a season-high 28 turnovers in another blowout loss.