The Rajon Rondo trade rumors seemingly never stop and after reports came out that the NY Knicks wanted the Boston Celtics point guard, the team said they were not moving him, but now as more speculation comes at the deadline, New York could be looking to trade Metta World Peace and they have continued to show interest in the Celtics star.
According to USA Today, the Knicks are looking to acquire the Celtics point guard and this comes after months of speculation that New York will make a big shakeup at the trading deadline like they did a few years ago with Carmelo Anthony. The team is playing some rough ball this season and with the constant speculation about Anthony's contract, the Knicks could look to move him as well if they fear he will be leaving as a free agent this summer. The team has to deal with the Amar'e Stoudemire contract situation and moving him to the Celtics would be the only way a deal could work, according to the report.
The Knicks could try and package a number of players and contracts to the Celtics and they have players to move as well, including Brandon Bass and Kris Humphries and the Knicks also could be looking to make this move to help convince Anthony to stay in the first place. The deadline for trades is February 20 and with the team just 19-30, they could make some big move to blow things up and even though Danny Ainge has continued to say that Rondo is unavailable, if the right deal came along he could change his mind.
Stoudemire is the top option to move for the Knicks and they also could package players like Iman Shumpert or Raymond Felton in the deal, but the biggest problem, cited by the USA Today report, is that the Knicks have no draft picks to send over in the deal. Ainge is looking to rebuild the team through the draft over the next couple years and that is the primary thing he would want in any deal for Rondo. The Knicks almost don't care what they have to do at the deadline as long as they can convince Anthony to stay and they could consider moving Metta World Peace as well.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the NY Post reports that the team could move World Peace and the article says that the fact that he is in Mike Woodson's doghouse is one reason for it. World Peace said that he isn't worried about what happens and that he wouldn't complain about a deal and that means New York could make a move once the deadline gets closer. The team is currently out of playoff contention and while the east is terrible, Woodson himself called the season a disaster and this comes after the team won the division and over 50 games last season. World Peace didn't play much at all on Friday and that could be a sign of things to come and there are plenty of teams that could go after him down the line once the deadline gets closer.
