The NY Knicks are in the middle of a terrible season and in the future they may target Reggie Jackson and Rajon Rondo in free agency and this comes as trade deals are options for Jose Calderon, Amar'e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani and Tim Hardaway Jr., as Phil Jackson may have more deals to make at the deadline for Carmelo Anthony after trading JR Smith and Iman Shumpert.
The Knicks have made a number of trades during Phil Jackson's first year with the team, including dealing Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith. Those moves have freed up cap space and the team has also waived the players received from the Cavs and Thunder in the recent three-team deal for more flexibility. The team is breaking things down heading into the summer of 2015 and they now have the money and cap space to target the big name free agents on the market.
According to Pro Basketball Talk and ESPN New York, the team has a number of directions they may go the rest of this season and this summer, as they can target free agents in the summer of 2015 and they can also set up to make a run at Kevin Durant in 2016. Ian Begley at ESPN writes that the Knicks should be in line to have at least $20 million in cap space and while they are hoping to bring in Marc Gasol, there's a good chance he stays in Memphis, so it's likely they will have to look at other free agent options.
Begley writes that Jackson could be an option for the team, as he will be a solid free agent but one that comes in at a manageable price compared to Gasol or Rajon Rondo, another Knicks target. The Knicks freed up over $6 million by trading JR Smith and with Andrea Bargnani and Stoudemire coming off the books they have the chance to chase free agents. Jackson will likely be a restricted free agent this summer and with the Knicks able to spend, they could outbid the Thunder for Jackson.
The Knicks are currently in fifth place in the Atlantic division and they are just 5-34 this season and there's not much hope in sight for this season. That's part of the plan for Phil Jackson, but no one expected things to go south this quickly. The team is struggling on both ends of the court and they are hoping to get a top draft pick and some major free agents in the summer. Carmelo Anthony may shut things down eventually, but right now he says he plans on staying in the lineup when he can play.
The team comes in after a loss against the Rockets and they are ranked 29th in points per game on offense. The team is 29th in rebounds per game and 21st ranked in defense, allowing 101 points per game while scoring just 93 points per game. The Knicks have lost 14 games in a row and they are just 3-16 at home this season and they are actually worse in the standings than the Sixers. The Knicks are rebuilding hard and the hope is that all this losing doesn't turn off top free agents too much.
