With a crowded backcourt, mainly at the shooting guard position, the New York Knicks are open to trading J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Shane Larkin, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley.

They’re working on trying to make a move in the backcourt,” one NBA source close to the situation said.

The Knicks are trying to balance their roster. They have four shooting guards and only one small forward. Therefore, it’s sensible for them to trade Smith or Shumpert.

Shumpert has already been rumored in many trade talks before. The Knicks came close to trading the three year pro out of Georgia Tech before the trade deadline last season for Matt Barnes and Darren Collison. Shumpert has also been the cornerstone to trade talks involving Amar’e Stoudemire’s expiring $23.4 million contract, and Andrea Bargnani’s expiring $12 million contract.

New York has, however, made Tim Hardaway Jr. untouchable. They are content with Hardaway Jr. being their future shooting guard.

The former Sixth Man Award winner, J.R. Smith has been a head case in New York with his crazy antiques. He has two years remaining on his contract, with the final year being a player option worth $6.4 million. His market value is not too promising due to his subpar performance last season.

Shumpert, on the other hand, has good trade value and is known as a strong defender around the league. In addition, his $2.7 million contract is not too overwhelming for teams to handle. As a result, he is drawing more interest around the NBA than Smith.

Meanwhile, Shane Larkin came to New York in the Tyson Chandler deal with the Dallas Mavericks in June. The 5'11" point guard has a $1.6 million contract for this upcoming season and a team option the season after. He would make for a terrific trading chip to attach to any deal to make it work financially.

Of course the Knicks are trying to figure out what kind of deal they could conjure up to strengthen their frontcourt using any of the above-mentioned players.

Additionally, they have interest in re-signing Toure’ Murry, who is currently drawing interest from the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat. Murry plays point and shooting guard so bringing him back would create even more of a log jam in the backcourt.

Phil Jackson has proven that he is not hesitant to move his players and will do anything to improve the roster to maintain his promises to Carmelo Anthony. Looking at New York’s depth chart, it figures that they do need more frontcourt depth, and a player such as Iman Shumpert can possibly land them a solid backup forward in return. 

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.