Phil Jackson is trying to make something out of nothing. The New York Knicks cannot make roster improvements without making trades this offseason. With little to no financial wiggle room, Jackson has been trying to make deals that have are not turning out as planned. With no one biting on the team's starters, Jackson is now dipping into the second team in hopes that it spurs some kind of interest.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, the Knicks are now trying to shop Wayne Ellington and Pablo Prigioni in trades this offseason. For those keeping track at home, the Knicks have now sought out deals for Amar'e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith. Every one of those have come up unsuccessful. The Knicks managed to deal Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks at the start of free agency, but since then have come up short on every move Jackson has tried to make.
The issue is that no one wants Knicks' player by themselves. New York wanted to deal Stoudemire on his own, but most teams would not take him unless a guard like Shumpert or Tim Hardaway Jr was involved as well. Stein reports that the same thing is happening to Ellington. The Knicks wanted to seal him as a solo trade, but now must attach a player like Prigioni to do so.
New York could attempt to include Shane Larkin in a deal over Prigioni. Stein writes that Jackson does favor Prigioni, but in order to make a deal someone has to go. Larkin was acquired along with Jose Calderon in the trade with Chandler and Felton. He is just one of many shooting guards New York has on the roster and will attempt to give up. Jackson believed that Shumpert or Smith would garner more attention, but instead maybe Larkin is the better deal.
All of this drama is simply because New York has too many "untradeable" players. No one is eager to take on Stoudemire who has an inflated salary without the stats to match it. Plus his injury history does not speak in his favor. The same goes for Bargnani who spent most of last year stomping his feet over a lack of playing time. Jackson ideally wants to create at least one more roster space and possibly gain a draft pick out of a trade. At this point he might be happy with just about anything.
