The NBA trade rumor mill continues on Wednesday, as the NY Knicks may trade Iman Shumpert to the LA Clippers for Darren Collison and Los Angeles would receive Raymond Felton in the move as New York tries to upgrade for Carmelo Anthony heading into the deadline.
The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports and while sources said to Adrian Wojnarowski that the sides are talking, no move is imminent yet and like nearly every other proposed deal at the deadline, all news must be taken with a grain of salt. Woj is usually one of the best at reporting these rumors, so it's very likely that true discussions are going on, but with the way the Knicks have been attacking the deadline, anything is possible.
The Knicks have been mentioned in a number of rumors heading into the trade deadline and while most of them are ridiculous and unrealistic, they are being reported on by legit sites like Pro Basketball Talk and SI.com. The team now possibly could have some interest in Jeremy Lin and yesterday rumors came up that the Knicks could look at Jeff Teague as an option with the Atlanta Hawks. For the most part, these deals are ways for the Knicks to ensure that Carmelo Anthony stays this summer, but so far nothing has went down yet on a major trade. Earlier this season the Knicks were connected to both Kyle Lowry and Kenneth Faried, but those deals fell through after the team did not want to get "fleeced" again while giving up too much in a trade.
The Knicks have been a mess this season and they lost again to the Memphis Grizzlies coming out of the All-Star break and on top of that, the team has had to hear about Carmelo Anthony trade rumors from the media as well. The team is not going to trade Anthony despite what many think and now this Clippers deal could be a way for the team to get things right, as Collison is a solid point guard option. This deal would be a mess though, as for some reason the Knicks do not value the young star they drafted and developed in Shumpert, as he has been one of the best young players to come to the team in years.
Woj writes that the Clippers are getting Chris Paul back soon and that is one reason why Collison could get moved and Doc Rivers would love to add a player like Shumpert to the roster. J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley came over in a deal before the season and adding Shumpert would bring more athleticism to the bench and more depth overall for Rivers to work with. Collison is averaging 10.1 points and just under four assists per game this season and his contract is not like Teague's, as he is on a $3.8 million deal and has a $1.9 million option for next year.
As usual, no trade is imminent, but it's yet another deal that the Knicks could pull off that has been proposed this season at the deadline. The team is fading back more and more in the east and the front office may feel this is the only way to salvage the season.