The NY Knicks have been shopping trades all offseason and now Pablo Prigioni and Wayne Ellington are potential options to move along with Iman Shumpert, JR Smith and Shane Larkin, while Amar'e Stoudemire likely will remain since his contract is so big Phil Jackson probably can't trade it and this is Jackson putting his stamp on the team as he builds for Derek Fisher.
The Knicks have been active this summer and along with signing back Carmelo Anthony, the team also added Jason Smith on a deal and drafted Cleanthony Early in the second round. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Knicks are shopping those players to help with the logjam they have in the backcourt and there are some teams like the Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets that could be interested.
The Knicks have an overload of players right now and after signing Early they need to make some moves and it's likely Ellington and Prigioni will be a package, as Marc Stein writes that the Knicks have been able to move Ellington on his own. The two players aren't making much money, but now that the team has Jose Calderon, they feel that Prigioni is expendable and Ellington is a solid three point shooter that could fit in somewhere else. Moving Prigioni means Shane Larkin could be staying with the team and making a move would allow the Knicks to sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo.
Phil Jackson has already made some solid moves this offseason, trading away Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton while bringing over some solid players from Dallas. Larkin could be traded but if he isn't that adds more depth to the roster, while Jose Calderon could be the starting point guard this season after Felton was dealt. Chandler hadn't been great for a couple years and his contract was big, while Felton had a very bad year on and off the court last season and getting rid of him was a good move.
The Knicks had a tough season last year and now they are looking to make the playoffs after missing out in 2014. The team got off to a terrible start with just three wins over their first stretch of games and that became too big of a hole to climb out of. The Knicks should be in the mix for one of the bottom half seeds in the east and they could challenge for the division as well. Brooklyn is old and while Toronto is very talented they are also an inexperienced team and that could give the Knicks an opening.
The east is still not as good as the west, but the conference still has plenty of talent and with LeBron James moving back to Cleveland, the Cavaliers should be right in the mix. If the team gets Kevin Love they will be title favorites and that could be huge once that deal goes through and teams like the Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat all could be in the mix as well. The Hawks have talent and there also could be a surprise team in the running and that means the Knicks have to play much better this season.
