How desperate are the Knicks to create cap room for their presumed 2010 run at LeBron James? So much so that they traded for a guy with a heart problem and waived his physical requirement just to get Zach Randolph out of New York. This isn’t the kind of heart problem the Knicks are used to, though.

Cuttino Mobley announced today that he’ll have to retire because of a heart condition that could be fatal if he continued to play. It’s the same ailment that took the lives of Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers. The Knicks traded Randolph to the Clippers last week to get Mobley and his expiring contract. Normally, this kind of news would be grounds to void a trade, but the Knicks aren’t exactly expressing outrage over any of this.

As it turns out, a visit to a Knicks doctor who Eddy Curry refused to meet with when he was traded to New York convinced Mobley that he needed to walk away from the game. Mobley told the NEW YORK TIMES that an MRI ordered by Knicks doctor Lisa Callahan “saved his life”:

“The specialists I’ve seen made it clear that my heart condition has gotten worse, and I couldn’t continue to play professional basketball without putting my health and life in serious danger,” Mobley said in an afternoon news conference at the Knicks’ training center here. “As much as I want to keep playing in the N.B.A., I have no choice but to follow the advice of my doctors and step away from the league.”

The Knicks were aware that Mobley had a heart issue, but didn’t know its severity. GM Donnie Walsh admitted that while he would’ve liked to see Mobley on the court, that wasn’t the main motivation behind the deal:

Walsh said he knew that Mobley might have a more serious condition but decided not to rescind the deal. The Knicks liked Mobley as a replacement for Crawford as the starting shooting guard, but their top priority was to remove Randolph’s hefty contract from the payroll and clear salary-cap space in 2010. Mobley’s contract expires that year.

As we speak, every GM in the league is combing through their team’s medical records to find someone to trade to New York.

Now, the Knicks await word on whether or not they get any salary cap relief for this situation. Mobley is owed $18 million for this season and next, but since the Knicks have publicly stated that they knew Mobley had a health issue there might not be any relief to be had. Not that the team would’ve used it anyway, considering that they’re just loading up on cap space for 2010.

I find it shocking, honestly, considering a number of athletes have died of previously undiagnosed heart conditions over the years, that heart examinations aren’t routinely given to every professional athlete. Even Mobley, who knew he had some sort of problem, seemingly never had an MRI to reveal its extent until now.