Despite much talk and being frequently mentioned in the rumor mill, the New York Knicks flunked out and remain unchanged heading into the back end of the year.
After entering the NBA All-Star break with a record of 23 wins and 34 losses and representing, arguably, the biggest disappointment of the NBA this season, it was expected that the Knicks would shop their players and potentially make a few moves.Here’s a breakdown of what did and, of course, didn’t happen:
Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose was rumored to be on the trading block in the days before New York’s final game before the break — Feb. 15 — which was nine days ago. Following being made available RealGM reported that no less than five scouts were in attendance that night and that Rose was a target of multiple teams.
Talks settled over the weekend but reignited Sunday night following the NBA All-Star game and it was made public that the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves were in discussions about a potential Derrick Rose for Ricky Rubio swap.
Monday was quiet during the day but the reports began to break out again late that night. Brian Windhorst of ESPN stated that the Knicks and Wolves were in active discussions and that Phil Jackson was pushing to pair Rose with either Joakim Noah or Lance Thomas which would have been a ‘salary dump’.
Windhorst also reported that the Detroit Pistons could have become a third team involved as they were said to be shopping guard Reggie Jackson. The insider said that it would be Rubio to Detroit, Rose to Minnesota and Jackson to New York as the Timberwolves were said to not have been high on the former second round pick.
Once again, talks simmered down during the day on Tuesday and heated up again come nighttime. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported on his live podcast that the Knicks were not ‘concerned’ about their return for Rose but would rather just move him along. Subsequently, on Wednesday night, Wojnarowski stated that Derrick Rose trade talks were non-existent due to the fact that Tuesday’s leak meant that the Knicks chances of obtaining a decent return for Rose were diminished.
However, hope was reinstalled as Ian Begley of ESPN New York reported that talks with Minnesota continued and progressed throughout Wednesday and that it would be shocking if a deal wasn’t done. Following Begley’s report nothing much changed, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Rose was a prime target of the Wolves and vice versa in regard to Rubio.
Ian Begley kept fans updated throughout the day, reiterating that the Knicks wanted a second piece in return for Rose, not just Rubio, which proved to be New York’s stumbling block.
However, despite nothing changing and talks seemingly continuing and progressing, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweeted, just twenty minutes prior to the deadline, that Rose-Rubio talks had stalled significantly and that a deal wasn’t likely to be reached prior to the deadline.
Unfortunately, he was correct. Four days of communications and discussions with Minnesota resulted in fresh air, a swing and a miss. To make matters worse and to seemingly rub it in that little bit more, Ian Begley on ESPN radio said that the Knicks did eventually accept one of the Timberwolves’ offers, but it was after the 3 p.m. deadline.
Despite chaos, rumors and reports, nothing eventuated from the talk and Derrick Rose is still a New York Knick.
Carmelo Anthony
There had been a media circus surrounding the Knicks veteran star all season long. From Phil Jackson calling LeBron James’ friends a ‘posse’, to being labeled a ball stopper, to Jackson’s puppet saying Anthony had outlived his usefulness in New York — which was just the beginning. Aside from the off-court dramas, Anthony had been linked to possible trades with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics.
In late January the Clippers made the first move by seeking a potential Carmelo Anthony-centred deal, which was rebuffed, and then by seeking a third team to facilitate.
Nothing eventuated from this but on February 4 Anthony became the subject once again, this time the focus of the Cavaliers as well as the Clippers. ‘League Sources’ reported that LeBron James and Chris Paul were pushing their respective teams to trade for the 10-time All-Star. This rumor was torn to shreds by LeBron James who labeled the report ‘trash’ and the ‘guy who wrote it is trash too’. As expected, silence ensued.
NBA All-Star weekend may have been a reprieve from New York related dramas for Anthony but it put him right in the sights of the entirety of the NBA media. He was put under the microscope, to say the least. Rumors were sure to follow, which they did as late on Monday evening reports stated that the Cavaliers held out slim hope of trading for Anthony and understand that it is highly unlikely. Especially as they weren’t prepared to part ways with All-Star forward, Kevin Love.
The Boston Celtics had been in and out of the Anthony rumors and they then burst into contention on Tuesday night.
In a somehow related and unrelated fashion to the Knicks, the Boston Celtics put on a brilliant display of social media tomfoolery and trolling. Firstly Isaiah Thomas tweeted the ‘eyes’ emoji, which NBA twitter attempted to decipher. Following the the Celtics official Instagram page followed Carmelo Anthony which sent the unverified rumors flying into overdrive. Jae Crowder teased even further by tweeting three emojis, removing his Celtics’ themed Twitter header and changing his location to the planet ‘Mars’. This all unfolded in the late hours of Tuesday night but nothing eventuated once again.
Wednesday was the day that everything was basically put to bed. Anthony stated after practice that team officials hadn’t approached him with any potential deals and as previous reports had stated, he was resolute on not waiving his no-trade clause. Further to this Ian Begley of ESPN New York published a piece that both the Celtics and Clippers still had slim hopes of acquiring Anthony like the Cavaliers, understood that there was only a remote chance of obtaining him prior to the deadline.
However, Begley also mentioned in the same article that the Clippers were confident that they could persuade the 32-year-old Anthony to waive his no-trade clause and join long time friend Chris Paul in Los Angeles this summer.
Other eastern conference All-Stars were prominent features on deadline day, but not Carmelo Anthony. The 32-year-old was only rumored in one potential trade. Thomas Dee reported that Clippers made a play but the offer was well below market value. That was that.
Despite a constant media circus and rumor after rumor, Anthony held firm on not waiving his no-trade clause and remaining with the Knicks. At the end of the day, despite all of the chaos, it was expected that Anthony would remain in New York.
Kyle O’Quinn
Thomas Dee reported as early as February 1 that the Knicks were actively listening to trade offers for big man Kyle O’Quinn. Dee is known to have reported his fair share of nonsense and nothing came about of that report.
However, on Wednesday mid-morning two reports from Ian Begley and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News hit the press that firstly the Knicks had received a fair amount of interest from opposing teams and that the Knicks were seeking a first-round draft pick in return.
As you’re able to see, they were only minor reports and nothing came about as a result and despite the ongoing trolling by NBA players of tweeting out random emojis, O’Quinn tweeted his abbreviated, full-caps gibberish which was nothing out of the ordinary.
The teams interested in O’Quinn never became known nor if the Knicks were involved in any serious talks.
It was no surprise that Kyle O’Quinn was made available as New York Knicks rookie Willy Hernangomez has made him expendable.
Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings has been linked partially to the Cavs as being the potential playmaker that LeBron James seeks, however, that seemed to be all fluff as nothing happened as per usual.
Jennings was mysteriously ruled out of New York’s last game before the break and he followed the trend of heightening conspiracy theories through social media. Jennings removed his entire biography on Twitter and removed his location as well as deleting all of his Instagram posts which many, though, meant his time was up in New York.
However, following Wednesday’s practice, Jennings said he just needed a break from social media due to the ‘crazy responses’ from Knicks fans.
Jennings was also mentioned in Ian Begley’s report on Wednesday, that like Kyle O’Quinn was receiving a decent amount of interest from opposing teams both due to his playmaking ability and team-friendly expiring contract.
it is also unknown in Jennings’ case if he was being dangled but the Knicks or if any serious discussions were held. Jennings has been wildly inconsistent this season and it comes as no surprise that he popped up in a few rumors but it was always unlikely he’d be dealt.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas
It came as surprise but late on Wednesday evening Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reported that Mindaugas Kuzminskas, the 27-year-old rookie forward, was drawing interest from the Phoenix Suns. The first surprise is that Kuz’ name appeared and secondly that a team such as the rebuilding Suns had interest.
It was never made clear whether the Knicks engaged in talks and if they did so, what they were after for the Lithuanian.
Courtney Lee
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders first published early on deadline day that the Knicks were testing the waters and dangling the 31-year-old Courtney Lee. Kyler made it clear that Lee’s age in addition to his three remains years made him a difficult asset to move.
Thomas Dee then followed this up by stating that the Knicks and Clippers began discussions late on Wednesday night and that talks continued into Thursday morning. It was unclear whether Lee was the featured player but Ian Begley and Ramona Shelburne state that Los Angeles mad tried to make a deal for the veteran guard.
Nothing came about and reports an hour out from the deadline made it clear that Lee was safe and would live to see another day in New York.