/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/5276721/143397611.0.jpg)
It's another theme day here at NBA.SBNation.edu/blogs/cool, and the network-wide topic today is TRAIDS. Now that December 15th has passed, making free agents signed this past off-season eligible to be dealt, every team blog is posting a bit about the trade prospects of their respective organizations.
So, what about the Knicks? Given how well they've been playing, the usual stream of trade ideas and rumors has tapered to a mere trickle. We've heard the odd, unsound Amar'e Stoudemire trade rumor, but that's pretty much it. But yeah, on December 15th, all New York's off-season signings became trade-eligible. That's a bunch of people. And while I cannot envision and would not approve a trade of any Knick protagonists, I could imagine a scenario in which the Knicks deal a few guys at the end of the rotation. They could swap depth for depth, or perhaps package depth in exchange for a single more prominent player (e.g. Thomas + White + an olive for LeBron James). Zach Lowe touched upon the Knicks' potential trade options in a recent Grantland post:
About half the roster became trade-eligible Saturday, but the only semi-big names that stick out as both useful and tradeable (from New York’s perspective) are Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas. The latter has been a token starter here and there, but he doesn’t play much otherwise, and Camby has played 46 minutes all season due in part to plantar fasciitis. He's due $4.3 million next season and at least $1.025 million guaranteed in 2014-15, which may be too much for anyone, considering his age/health.
...
Both Thomas and Camby (if healthy) could help a team in need of size or rebounding, but the Knicks aren’t going to help Boston, Brooklyn, or Miami beef up within their conference.
On that note: You know who needs size and rebounding? The Knicks do. The frontcourt looks deep, but with age and injuries and stuff, the Knicks haven't yet benefited from their full complement of big folks. In general, the types of players I feel the Knicks need right now-- rebounder/help defender bros and competent perimeter defenders-- aren't with other organizations, but on New York's own bench in street clothes. There's plenty of time between today and the trade deadline for that to change, but for now, I'm as pro-stability and anti-trade as ever.
That's me. What about you? Do you see any trades worth pursuing? Feel free to play around with the Trade Machine to determine what's feasible. Remember that the olive has a no-trade clause.