Pablo Prigioni to Rockets: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The New York Knicks' roster purge continues.

On Thursday, the team dealt point guard Pablo Prigioni to the Houston Rockets for Alexey Shved and 2017 and 2019 second-round picks, the Rockets announced.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports initially reported the news.

Dealing the 37-year-old makes sense from a Knicks perspective. He's not going to feature in their long-term plans, and he will make $1,734,572 next season—only $290,000 of which is guaranteed. Any cap space New York can create heading into the summer allows more flexibility for the front office as it pursues marquee free agents.

The franchise has already shed a ton of payroll by offloading Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith. Many wondered who might be the next to go.

Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reported on Jan. 21 that the Knicks were possibly using Prigioni as a trade chip:

ESPN.com's Marc Stein followed up on Jan. 25 that the Detroit Pistons were one of the teams registering interest and that their pursuit could become stronger after the injury to guard Brandon Jennings:

Although Prigioni is clearly limited by his age, he's still a talented backup point guard. Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal argued that if he'd been a few years younger, Prigioni would be considered a major building block for New York's future:

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Prigioni may be four years older than the second-oldest Knick, but his average on-court speed of 4.5 miles an hour is the fastest on the club, according to SportVU player-tracking technology. His anticipation, particularly in the backcourt—where he’s made an art of pickpocketing opponents on inbound plays—has led to a team-high 3.4% steal rate this season. And he’s almost annoyingly unselfish, usually preferring to set up a teammate with an open shot rather than take one himself.

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Prigioni's numbers have fallen off this year, but that's likely more a result of the Knicks' offensive futility than anything else.

In his first two years in the league, he averaged 6.7 and 6.4 assists per 36 minutes, respectively, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Prigioni also had a true shooting percentage of 59.5 percent in 2012-13 and 64.2 percent in 2013-14, illustrating that he can be an efficient scorer when he wants to be.

There have been quite a few major trades this year involving the likes of Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, Dion Waiters and Smith. This deal doesn't fall into that same designation.

Acquiring Prigioni won't dramatically alter the Rocket's trajectory this year or next, should they decide to keep him on the roster. But he's an above-average floor general who can make an impact in a limited amount of time on the hardwood.

Prigioni adds nice depth as Houston makes its push for the playoffs in the second half of the season.