The NY Knicks made a Kevin Love trade offer and while the team knew that it would be rejected, they offered Amar'e Stoudemire Tim Hardaway Jr and Iman Shumpert to the Wolves to gauge what Minnesota would want for Love and while the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls are in the lead, the Knicks figured why the heck not at least offer something and see what happens this summer.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Knicks made an offer to the Timberwolves for Love that they likely knew would be rejected, offering Stoudemire, Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Iman Shumpert. The "longshot" offer was of course declined, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls have made much better offers and those are the teams in the front position to get Love. The Bulls jumped back into the mix on Love after missing out on Carmelo Anthony in free agency and while the Knicks knew that a deal would not get done, they wanted to at least open up the contact between the two sides.
The Knicks were previously mentioned during the early part of the offseason by Love as a place where he could see himself playing and that is another reason why the team made the offer. Love mentioned the Bulls, Knicks, Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers and Boston Celtics as potential options earlier in the offseason and now Cleveland has jumped into the mix and has been the frontrunner after offering Andrew Wiggins. The team signed Wiggins to a contract and that means he can't be traded for a month, but sources say that should not stop a deal from getting done. While it likely won't be the Knicks, another team could jump in during this period along with the Bulls to steal it away, but unless someone blows the Wolves away, they may not pass up the offer from Cleveland.
The Knicks missed the playoffs last season after starting 3-13 and now they are in position to build something and while fans are impatient, this five year period for Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher and Melo could bring a championship. The Knicks have not had success in quite some time and while this past few years has been better, the era of Jackson could bring a championship if he is allowed to do his business and getting Anthony was a major step to get that done.
The Knicks won't pull off this deal, but it shows Jackson is willing to try and things and if he is given the time to build, he can make the team into a winner again. The east will be tough with the Heat, Bulls, Cavs and Wizards, but the Knicks should make the playoffs this season.
