At the beginnings of the NBA offseason, the New York Knicks looked poised to sell the farm. Carmelo Anthony singed a deal just short of a max contract and in order for the Knicks to make any other moves, trades had to be made. Team president Phil Jackson made it clear that no one was safe from dealing as he attempted to put together a contending roster. However, with training camp getting close, the Knicks have barely made any moves and might not until the season starts.
Jackson was able to pull off one salary cap-saving move by trading away Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. New York got rid of Chandler's inflated contract, Felton's off-the-court issues and acquired Jose Calderon to help the need for a true point guard. However, that is really the only move that has been successful. Jackson has been shopping Iman Shumpert, JR Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr, hoping to deal away at least one of their many shooting guards. He has made Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani up for grabs, but no one wants their inflated deals.
Now it appears Pablo Prigioni is also off the table. Earlier in the offseason, the Knicks attempted to deal Prigioni to the Utah Jazz, but the deal failed to be finalized. Now, NBA beat writer Mark Words is reporting that all talks might be off the table, stating that Prigioni himself denied the idea of a trade and believes he will be back with the Knicks for a full season.
Prigioni would get almost nothing in return for a trade. The veteran point guard is certainly an asset off the bench, but his small contract does not garner much of a return for the Knicks. Right now, Prigioni does better on the roster than off. He does not cost much for the Knicks and he can be a quality rotational player, fitting well into the triangle offense. He also has the ability to run the fast break and help the team in transistion.
Right now, the best bet for trades rests in one of the many shooting guards the team has. No one wants Stoudemire or Bargnani because they cannot afford their deals, but Shumpert or Smith would be a quality get considering one of them might be forced to come off the bench next summer. No mattr what, both forwards, Prigioni and at last one guard will be off the roster come next season. The Knicks must decide how they can make at least one of those moves happen sooner rather than later.
