CLEVELAND -- For much of Thursday afternoon, the Knicks and Timberwolves were locked in a staring contest in their talks on a potential Derrick Rose deal.
Phil Jackson and the Knicks were looking for a second asset in a potential Rose-for-Ricky Rubio swap, per sources. The Timberwolves were unwilling to give up that second asset, whether it was a draft pick or a player. They made that stance clear as late as a half hour before the deadline. It became a matter of who would blink first.
Shortly before the deadline, sources say members of the Knicks organization lowered their demands of that second asset.