AROUND THE NBA

Don Chaney will be the head coach for the New York Knicks for the rest of this season. Chaney officially was promoted Monday, taking over for Jeff Van Gundy, who resigned Saturday.

“With Coach Chaney, it’s like night and day,” Marcus Camby said. “We still work hard, but at the end of the day there’s more smiles around here now. ... Hopefully, that can be a good sign, and guys can just relax and play their games.”

Sick of losing, Denver Nugget guard Nick Van Exel reiterated that he wants to be traded, saying the team has made no strides in his four seasons.

Nugget General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe, who met with Van Exel on Monday, said he has no plans to trade the point guard, who is the Nuggets’ leading scorer with a 25.1 average. Vandeweghe described his half-hour meeting with Van Exel before Monday’s workout as “very positive. ... I told him we’ve made a lot of positive changes here.”