The NBA schedule is now past Christmas and for many teams that means the season will start to get very long or very short, as many that are out of contention will stay there and that means the trade deadline is coming up and rumors about buzz is already starting and some of the top names includes Omer Asik, Rajon Rondo, Luol Deng, Iman Shumpert, Jimmer Fredette and Greg Monroe.
The Rockets and Asik have been at odds for a while and reports have Asik asking for a trade numerous times, starting all the way back to the summer when the team opted to sign Dwight Howard. Back then, general manager Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale were saying all the right things - about how Omer and Dwight could co-exist, blah blah, how there would be no issues, blah blah, how both could play on the court at the same time blah blah - but that was either lip service or straight up lies, because Asik knew better and now it looks like the team will be trading him at the deadline. ESPN.com reported heavily on a deal that looked like it would go down to the Celtics, but that did not go through and now another deal could come closer to the deadline.
The Knicks have been a complete mess this season and that is why Iman Shumpert's name has come up and on top of that, the team is hoping they can somehow snag Rajon Rondo in a trade with the Boston Celtics. There is a new report out, which is unrelated to the past deal offered, which was for Shumpert and involved Rondo and a laugh from the Celtics, but this new one has the Knicks hoping that Rondo forces a trade out of Boston to the Big Apple, much like Carmelo Anthony did a couple years ago with the Nuggets.
According to ESPN.com, the Knicks are in dire straits after losing again at home on Christmas Day to fall to 9-19 and just 4-11 at MSG and now they are hoping that Rondo and the Celtics end up making a trade this season or into this summer. The report says that there is a chance that Rondo, who may not want to be around for the Celtics rebuild, will threaten the team that he will leave as a free agent in 2015, forcing a trade to another team to get something in return rather than just let him leave, which is kind of what Melo did when he got out of Denver and traded to NY. Now, that is putting a lot of hope on Rondo, but the point guard has not yet returned from injury and while the Celtics have said they are not trading him and not trading him and not trading him, that's usually what teams say before they trade a guy.
Luol Deng and Jimmer Fredette are interesting options as well, as both are set to be free agents and Deng could be very intriguing, as he has a nice expiring contract for teams to pick up. The Bulls do not want to trade Deng and they would like to sign him long term, but he could end up getting big money and with Derrick Rose out for the season, a trade could be coming soon. Jimmer has the chance to get dealt as well, as the Kings declined his option and since they barely play him now behind Rudy Gay and others, he looks ready to go.
