The NY Knicks have been active this offseason and the team is open to trade deals with Iman Shumpert, Amar'e Stoudemire, JR Smith, Shane Larkin and Andrea Bargnani and Phil Jackson could clear cap space to make runs at Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol or Rajon Rondo next year.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Knicks have shopped a number of players this summer and Stoudemire is the name that is likely to move at the trading deadline. The team has him on an expiring contract and while he has a ton of money on his deal, a team like the 76ers could be an option, as they have cap space and enough to absorb the money and not get hit too hard. The Knicks want to position themselves as a place to attract free agents to play with Carmelo and that will be much easier once Stoudemire is off the books.
Andrea Bargnani is another player that will come off the books and with Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol along with Rajon Rondo. Jackson said the Knicks would be looking at free agents next summer and the NY Post reported earlier in the year that the team will be targeting Gasol, as he is one of the top free agent options on the market.
The Knicks brought in Jackson to run basketball operations after their horrible start and now he is building things with Derek Fisher as his head coach and Carmelo as his franchise player. The Knicks have their general manager, head coach and star player all locked up on five year deals and with owner James Dolan supposedly stepping back a bit, the franchise may actually have the chance to build after years of mediocrity.
The Knicks were shopping both Pablo Prigioni and Wayne Ellington together after the team found a deal for Ellington on his own this could mean that Larkin is the player of the group that stays. Ellington was moved with Jeremy Tyler in a deal with Sacramento and has the team has opened up that position in the rotation and also added some solid pieces in Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw.
While Larkin could be nice trade bait, the Knicks realize the more valuable than Prigioni because of his age and potential and while he could be moved later, it probably is a good idea to stash him on the bench. The Knicks won just 37 games last season and they got a great year from Carmelo Anthony and now they have the chance to make an impact in the east.
LeBron James is back in Cleveland and with Miami and Chicago looking good, it will be hard to challenge the top of the conference. The team should be able to make the playoffs after missing it last year and Jackson has already put together a better team than the Knicks had last year.
