Jeff Teague has gone from All-Star point guard of the Atlanta Hawks to trade asset very quickly. The point guard has not played well this season as injuries and inconsistencies have plagued him so far this year. While the Hawks are contenders in the Eastern Conference, they clearly need another piece to get them far in the postseason and several teams are beginning to take interest in Teague for a potential trade deal.
The rumors about Teague started with Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports reported that the Hawks have discussed a trade of the point guard and while they are not shopping him to anyone, calls have come in. Now ESPN's Ian Begley is taking it one further reporting that the New York Knicks are one of teams showing interest in Teague, but the chances a deal gets done are slim.
The Knicks have limited trade assets to win the Hawks over in a deal. Teague will not be cheap. He has been considered a franchise point guard and the Hawks will not deal him for just anyone. New York has nothing to really offer the team, but they did make the call. Teague does not fit the profile of a player the Knicks would target in a trade. Begley reports that Phil Jackson is not going to make a deal for a player that could factor into the team's salary cap space past this year. The Knicks plan on chasing marquee point guards like Mike Conley and Rajon Rondo in free agency which means any player they make a trade for must have an expiring contract. Teague is on the books for $8 million next year which is not what the Knicks want.
The Knicks continue to get linked to trade deals heading into the deadline as the team aims to get some backcourt help. The issue is they have nothing to offer in a deal. No one is interested in Jose Calderon. Derrick Williams has improved too much to trade away. Kyle O'Quinn has developed into a key bench player while Langston Galloway is a scoring threat with the reserves. The Knicks will be hard-pressed to make a trade for players like Brandon Jennings, Jamal Crawford and Ty Lawson with the roster they have. Instead, the players are confident in what they have right now as guys like Arron Afflalo are talking playoffs over trade deals.
"My take is that we're a playoff team, period. If we don't make the playoffs this year ... we belong in the playoffs," Afflalo said, via ESPN.com.