Eddie House traded for Nate Robinson

Eddie House, speaking at practice February 17th at UCLA in Los Angeles, just told the team media that his trade to New York for Nate Robinson is almost complete.

The Celtics guard added that he could have remained at the team hotel, but reported for practice in the event that the trade didn’t go through.

"I wouldn’t say it’s a done deal, but there’s a pretty good chance it’s going through," said House’s agent, Mark Bartlestein.

In apparent support of House’s theory, the New York media entered the locker room in Madison Square Garden tonight to find Robinson’s locker cleared out, save for a jar of vaseline. Robinson had missed a game Tuesday night in Chicago with what the team described as the flu.

One man who will be particularly happy if House does indeed replace Robinson in that space is Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, who coached House once before in Phoenix.

"Mike D’Antoni is a huge fan of Eddie," Bartlestein said. "Mike told me on more than one occasion that his greatest regret was letting Eddie go."

That said, Bartlestein is sure that this trade will leave House in a state of regret as well.

"Eddie had a tremendous run in Boston," said the agent. "He has a tremendous relationship with the fans. The fans love him and he loves them. It will be emotional for him to leave, but it’s a business."

It will definitely be worth Robinson’s while to make the move north, though. He stands to make a $1 million bonus if his team makes the playoffs.