Knicks rumors are already coming hard and heavy this offseason, and we're here to help you sift through everything and find the true juicy tidbits. Here's our New York Knicks Rumors Roundup For Sunday 5/24.
#4 Draft Pick Off The Trade Block?
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson said prior to the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery that he’d be willing to trade the team’s draft pick if it fell out of the top three. Now with the #4 selection in hand, word around the team is that the Knicks may be changing their tune.
Knicks general manager Steve Mills said after the disappointment of falling to No. 4 that the club will “explore all options.’’ But a person debriefed on the front office’s thinking said trading down is not a top priority because the goal is to get the best player in a deal, not a second asset. If the Knicks ultimately judge (Emmanuel) Mudiay, (Duke’s Justise) Winslow or Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein as most impactful, they will stay put. Jackson said after the season the chances of them trading the pick would increase if they fell to the fifth pick.
There’s also the fact that it doesn’t appear the trade market for the #4 pick will be nearly a ripe as that for the #1 or #2 pick, with Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor standing as the two top consensus prizes of this draft.
New York reaches out to Emmanuel Mudiay
The New York Knicks and the three teams ahead of them in the 2015 NBA Draft order have a placed a call in to standout international point guard Emmanuel Mudiay's agents:
The top 4 teams in the draft reached out to Emmanuel Mudiay's agents.He likely won't workout for them until early June, source tells @SNYtv
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 23, 2015
The Knicks are in the market for a franchise point guard one way or the other, especially with veteran Jose Calderon reportedly losing favor both with some executives in the organization and with a vocal portion of the team's fan base.
Mudiay, a slash-and-kick guard with fantastic passing instincts, could very well fit that bill.
Knicks not a player for Marc Gasol?
The Knicks are one of a handful of teams preparing to make a major charge at Memphis Grizzlies big man Marc Gasol when he hits free agency in July, but one of his teammates doesn't think that the Big Apple provides a fit.
Per Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling:
Btw I recently asked B. Udrih (ex-Knick) to weigh M. Gasol to NY: "They're not going to get him. He's a laid-back guy & doesn't like drama."
— Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) May 2015
If that's really the case, other major-market team such as the Los Angeles Lakers may also be out of the running for Gasol before the chase even begins.
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