Whenever a high-profile athlete goes on the trading block, I think of Dave Checketts. In the early 1990s, during Checketts’ term as president of the New York Knicks, rumors were swirling that Patrick Ewing would be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.

When asked about it, Checketts said, “If we traded Patrick Ewing to the Clippers for three or four Clippers, then we become the Clippers.”

It was another spin on an old sports saying: The team that trades away the star never wins the trade. The idea is being kicked around in Columbus now that Rick Nash is up for auction.

The NHL trade deadline is eight days away. There is a growing school of thought that says a Nash deal is too complicated to get done before the deadline, and that it will have to wait until summer, when teams have more flexibility to play with their salary caps and a bigger auction can be conducted. Remember, too, that the collective bargaining agreement expires in September and teams might want to have a better idea of what the new (lower) salary cap might look like before they take on a contract such as Nash’s (annual cap hit of $7.8 million).

Still, one has to think that Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson would prefer to get a deal done before the deadline. Howson might be patient, but he is also fastidious — and he has a mess on his hands. The Jackets are the worst team in the league and their best player, Captain Columbus, the most important player in franchise history, is available for trade. These are crazy times.

Today, Nash will meet with the New York media before the Jackets-Rangers game in Madison Square Garden. It might be a circus-quality event: The Rangers have been mentioned prominently in Nash trade rumors.

“Rumors will fly,” Nash said yesterday after the Blue Jackets took a 6-1 whipping at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks in Nationwide Arena. “I’m a Blue Jacket right now. All I am worried about is winning (today). I am an easy-going guy, and I’ll let stuff take care of itself.”

Reports out of Philadelphia yesterday were that Howson and his senior adviser, Craig Patrick, met with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren and his senior adviser, Bob Clarke. It is unknown whether Philly is one of Nash’s preferred destinations — he has a no-movement clause in his contract and can nix any deal — but it is an indication of how wide a net is being cast.

The Flyers do not seem like a fit for Nash, but what was the meeting about — Jeff Carter for Jake Voracek and Sean Couturier? I don’t think so.

We already have discussed how curious it is that the Jackets front office that created the 2011-12 disaster is being left in charge for the rebuilding project. The question remains: Can it work?

History comes down on both sides. The Colorado Avalanche, then the Quebec Nordiques, fortified a rebuilding project by trading away Eric Lindros in the summer of 1992. The Avs went on to win two Stanley Cups. On the other hand, the Hartford Whalers destroyed their franchise when they traded Ron Francis to Pittsburgh at the 1991 deadline. Patrick, then the Penguins’ GM, orchestrated the deal that helped the Penguins win two Cups.

Presumably, the package the Jackets seek for Nash includes at least one first-round draft pick, at least one prime prospect and at least one pivotal NHL player. As Howson put it, “value” is the order of the day. Can he get enough?

Twenty years ago, when those Ewing rumors were swirling, the Clippers were not the dynamic young team we see today. They were — well, they were the Jackets. Now that Nash is on the block, applying the Checketts Rule turns into a paradox: What happens when the Clippers trade a star for three or four more Clippers?

Sooner or later, Jackets fans will find out.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

marace@dispatch.com