Ranking New York Knicks' Trade Bait
With the NBA's trade restrictions being lifted, we can expect the New York Knicks to start exploring their options in an attempt to get a head start on the work they'll need to do in the summer.
The Knicks aren't exactly stacked with talent, but there are a handful of players who they could look to trade in return for picks, cap space or even as part of a blockbuster trade (as unlikely as that may be at this point).
After their terrible start to the season, the Knicks should also be in full tanking mode, which may mean giving away any decent player that doesn't have a long-term role to play for the franchise.
Phil Jackson certainly has his work cut out here, as there's no guarantee New York will be able to do anything of much use before the deadline, but it's still worth taking a detailed look at the best trade bait he has at his disposal.
5. Amar'e Stoudemire
1 of 5
Even in the final year of his contract, Amar'e Stoudemire's $23.4 million salary makes him very difficult to move. There aren't any teams who'll be actively pursuing him, either—they'll be doing so because they've accepted that they won't be able to re-sign their own major free agent, and want to come out of the situation with cap space and assets.
As it stands, there are no teams facing that particular situation right now. With Rajon Rondo headed to the Dallas Mavericks, the rest of the league's major upcoming free agents appear set in place. It's hard to picture Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol jumping ship, especially for a team like the Knicks.
The Knicks' only real hope of moving STAT is to find a team that wants to get better immediately (Stoudemire's 18.0 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes could help any team in the league) and has a bad contract of their own they'd give up assets to get rid of.
Again, New York doesn't have too many options in that regard. A swap for Kendrick Perkins would potentially make sense (helping the Thunder push their way up the Western Conference standings), but there's such a stark difference between their contracts that a third team and a ridiculous amount of cap fodder would have to be added for it to work out.
Ultimately, with STAT playing great basketball, he's as tradable as he's ever been, but that doesn't mean too much when you're talking about a player who's been almost unanimously considered to have one of the worst contracts in the league for years. The Knicks are almost certainly going to have to hold onto him until he expires.
4. Jason Smith
2 of 5
While Jason Smith is never going to bring back a huge package for the Knicks, he's certainly one of the team's most tradable players. He's a cheap, expiring contract who has proved he can be productive off the bench.
Smith is averaging 14.5 points per 36 minutes on 47 percent shooting, which could be useful for any team struggling to score in the frontcourt.
The Knicks aren't going to be desperate to get rid of Smith, but ultimately if they decide that he's unlikely to be back next season, it makes sense to get what they can for him now. If that means bringing in a pair of second-round picks and retaining the $3 million in cap space his free agency is going to open up, and that would make a lot of sense for New York.
It's not a particularly mind-blowing deal, but the thought process is that the Knicks will be letting him go to maximise cap space anyway, and could find an alternative role player with one of the picks. At this point, that's the best the Knicks can hope for in any trade that doesn't involve giving up a key long-term player.
3. J.R. Smith
3 of 5
The Knicks would love to get rid of J.R. Smith. They have two young shooting guards in place in Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr., and investing $6 million in 2015-16 to someone who's going to take minutes away from them is not ideal (especially with Shumpert's free agency shaping up to be an expensive ordeal).
According to Marc Berman of the NY Post, the Knicks were looking to trade J.R. as early as November, with the Indiana Pacers and a swap for Chris Copeland being explored as an option.
With Smith currently nursing a foot injury in the midst of one of his worst ever seasons, his value is at an all-time low. The best the Knicks can hope for is that a team sees the opportunity to acquire a clearly talented player on the cheap, as B/R's own Adam Fromal suggests.
All things considered, $6 million per year isn't too much for a team with cap room and less invested at the 2-spot than New York currently has. The upside of a deal is that Smith could turn back the clock just a couple of years and return to form as one of the league's best sixth men.
There's obviously a certain amount of risk involved in picking up a player like Smith, but if a team believes it can provide the necessary environment to get him back on track, matching his salary in expiring contracts to bring him in makes sense.
2. Tim Hardaway Jr.
4 of 5
While getting rid of J.R. Smith to solve the long-term logjam at shooting guard would be ideal, he doesn't necessarily have to be the one to go, especially if rumors of a rift between Tim Hardaway Jr. and Carmelo Anthony (via ESPN's Chris Broussard) have any weight to them.
Hardaway is certainly more valuable than Smith right now, and as such he could actually bring back a player who could be of some long-term use to the Knicks. He's young, cheap and was one of the league's top five rookies last season, so getting another decent prospect in return should be expected.
So far this season, Hardaway has topped the 20 point-mark five times, with three of those performances coming off the bench. On the whole, he's averaging 27.7 points per 100 possessions (as per Basketball-Reference), which puts him behind only Carmelo Anthony on the Knicks' roster.
As Hardaway continues to develop physically and defensively, there's a good chance he could become a solid starting shooting guard. That level of upside makes him very valuable, but at the same time, it also indicates that the Knicks are better off holding onto him. Giving away young talent hasn't exactly worked well for them in the past.
While Hardaway is definitely one of New York's better trade bait options, he should only be moved if there's a serious issue in the locker room. For what it's worth, Melo has denied the rumors (via Peter Botte of the NY Daily News), and frankly even if they were true, it's understandable for things to boil over every once in a while when a team's playing this badly.
1. Iman Shumpert
5 of 5
Outside of Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert is the Knicks' biggest long-term building block right now, which can be seen as either a testament to his own talent or to the lack of talent surrounding him.
Either way, Shumpert's status on the Knicks means it could be fairly expensive to keep him in New York once he hits restricted free agency this summer. His cap hold alone could be upwards of $6 million, and then the Knicks will have to compete with offers from teams with cap space that won't be holding out hopes for a blockbuster signing.
Though it's unlikely to happen, New York does have the option to trade Shumpert now, ideally for a cheaper long-term option. He's certainly the Knicks' most valuable piece, and even as an expiring contract, teams should feel confident in him sticking around, given that they'll acquire his Bird rights and that he'll only be a restricted free agent.
Shumpert is averaging 12.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per 36 minutes, and all things considered, was having the best year of his career before separating his shoulder. So long as he returns to health before the trade deadline, there will be plenty of teams interested in acquiring a young player who can contribute in so many areas.
Like with Hardaway, the Knicks' best option is to keep Shumpert (after all, even with maximised cap space they're unlikely to land a major free agent), but the contract situation does make this worth considering, as he's the most valuable asset the Knicks could look to trade.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
