Super agent David Falk met for lunch yesterday in Washington for 2½ hours with Atlanta GM Pete Babcock and Hawks president Stan Kasten to discuss 7-2 center Dikembe Mutombo’s future.
While Babcock said Falk did not demand a trade yesterday, it appears he didn’t have to. Babcock, in a 30-minute interview with The Post, gave every indication that he will make every attempt to deal Mutombo before the Feb. 15 deadline in what would be one part of a major overhaul of the Hawks’ roster.
The Knicks are still very much in the running.
“Right now, we’re going through the pain of rebuilding,” said Babcock, whose Hawks entered last night’s game vs. Washington at 2-12.
“It’s a painful process but necessary for us to get where we want to be. I don’t know the outcome. We’re looking at a lot of different options to play out and then we’ll have a better idea. As a staff, we know what areas we want to address as we reassemble the puzzle. We have so many conversations going on on a number of different levels and it’s painful process to go through. We have to see how it falls out.”
Two Eastern Conference sources familiar with the Hawks’ thinking told The Post yesterday that Hawks’ management feels the best way to rebuild is to trade the 34-year-old Mutombo for two “appreciable” starting players to blend in with their young nucleus that features second-year point guard Jason Terry and 6-8 guard Dermarr Johnson.
“They’re ready to trade him,” the source said. “They want to move him because they’re not going to sign him.”
Babcock said “a number of teams” have expressed interest in the shotblocking Mutombo, who is off to a slow start after battling malaria.
Asked if the Knicks have the assets necessary to get a deal done, Babcock said “Sure they do. We think they are a quality team and a quality team always has assets.”
The Knicks had offered Marcus Camby and Allan Houston for Mutombo in September, but that was before Camby had a terrific start to the season.