The Knicks may finally have found a team willing to take on Iman Shumpert and given them back a new point guard, something they have desperately been seeking.
New York is talking to the Los Angeles Clippers about a swap that would bring Shumpert to the Clippers and send Darren Collison back to New York, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
In proposed deals, the Clippers would send the Knicks a package that includes point guard Darren Collison for Shumpert and point guard Raymond, sources told Yahoo Sports….
The discussions and proposed players are still fluid, league sources said, and a deal isn’t close to being reached. Nevertheless, Shumpert is an object of interest for the Clippers and the recent return of All-Star point guard Chris Paul makes Collison more expendable.
While it is not final and the players involved are fluid, this trade makes some sense for both sides.
For one, Shumpert’s sense of style and wardrobe choices would fit in well in Los Angeles. At least as well as they don in New York, anyway.
The Knicks have been looking to upgrade the point guard spot — they have been disappointed with Felton — and Collison played well for Los Angeles when Chris Paul was out. He clearly got in a better rhythm as a starter than coming off the bench — in the month of January (most of which was without CP3) Collison averaged 14.4 points on 53.7 percent shooting and he dished out 6.1 assists a night. He had an offensive rating of 115.3 in that month.
But Collison is a defensive liability, which is why Rivers is willing to move him. Rivers knows if the Clippers are going to really threaten Oklahoma City in the playoffs, they need more consistent defense and adding Shumpert off the bench helps that cause. He adds athleticism that could help behind the injured J.J. Redick (out indefinitely with a bulging disc in his back) and Jared Dudley. Felton can be the backup point guard and would fill in well enough; so long as Paul is healthy the backup point isn’t going to be playing large or key minutes for the Clippers.
We’ll see if this becomes a reality, but trades that go through are ones where both teams think they gained something, and in this case both teams can declare they won.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... son-trade/
