The New York Knicks achieved two of their goals so far this offseason. They re-sign Carmelo Anthony in free agency, giving the franchise a fighting chance at remaining competitive, and they began the process of clearing cap space by trading off Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. However, Phil Jackson still has at least one more move up his sleeve and he is hoping the Detroit Pistons can help him out with it.
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, the Knicks quietly offered up a package of Amar'e Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr to try and land Kevin Love. The Minnesota Timberwolves did not bite on the deal noting the contracts and players were not good enough. Now, the Knicks are trying to offer the same trade package for Detroit Pistons' big man, Greg Monroe.
Kyler writes that the Knicks would ideally like to keep Hardaway Jr out of the package and include JR Smith instead, but Detroit is looking for a big return on any team trying to acquire Monroe and Smith does not meet those criteria. New York wants a sign-and-trade for Monroe and Detroit is willing to listen, but these still want a big return in the deal.
This deal likely will get turned down by the Pistons. It has nothing for them. The team has not use for Stoudemire with Josh Smith and Andre Drummond on the roster and Shumpert and Smith would just be filler players. However, some Knicks fans would not want this deal to happen as well. Interest has been low around Monroe. He averaged 15.2 points and 9.3 rebounds last season, shooting 49.7 percent from the field which is a big improvement from say Stoudemire's 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds. However, Monroe reportedly had some locker room issues last year with Smith and teams are being turned away because of his attitude. Giving up a young asset like Shumpert or Hardaway Jr for one player is not worth it.
The Knicks will continue to shop this trade package around. Jackson is not Shumpert's biggest fan and a trade for Smith has essentially been a year in the making. According to ESPN.com, Hardaway Jr is untouchable in deals this offseason as Jackson believes he might have the most potential of all the shooting guards on the roster right now. Getting Monroe would be nice and a solid addition to the team's defense, but the Knicks simply do not have the right package to get the deal done.
