Greg Logan of Newsday reports that the Knicks let their disabled player exception expire last night. New York GM Scott Layden met with reporters before the exception deadline to announce that trade talks were all but dead.

"Knowing what we know now, we don't anticipate using it," Layden said. "We looked at all the possibilities, and we didn't see anything that would significantly improve our team. That was the goal with the injury exception. Right now, a deal didn't present itself where we felt we could get better."

There may still be a trade or two in the Knicks? future. As Layden noted, "It doesn't prevent us from, in the near future, trying to improve the team, as we always said we would if we felt we could."

The Knicks passed on using the exception because the players offered by other teams are similar to the players already on the roster at double the salary. Since the Knicks are already over the projected luxury tax limit, any salary added to the team would be taxed at a 100% rate.

Layden could have done a multi-player deal that would have netted undersized power forward Danny Fortson from Golden State, or he likely could have had Minnesota's underachieving power forward, Marc Jackson, for a draft pick and the exception. But Layden was seeking a player with size and youth who could play right away and make a significant difference.

"We have some good depth on this team," Layden said. "The deals that were presented to us, we didn't feel were good enough compared to the players we have."