Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Knicks Rumors: Miles Plumlee, Goran Dragic Coming To Big Apple?

By Kenneth Teape

facebooktwitterreddit

New York Knicks Rumors: Are Phoneix Sun Duo Miles Plumlee and Goran Dragic On Way To New York?

With the NBA on an extended break for the All-Star Game, teams have more time to talk about potential trades leading up to the trade deadline February 19th. There are plenty of rumors beginning to swirl, as the deadline is only two days away. For the New York Knicks, this is an important day as their roster is expected to change greatly. They have a couple of players they are looking to move in trades, but could they be looking to add talent? Rumors have begun to pop up that the Knicks could be interested in adding not one, but two different Phoenix Suns.

Earlier in the week, it was reported by Real GM that the Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were interested in Suns center Miles Plumlee. Plumlee, who started the season as the starting center for the Suns, as seen his role diminishing greatly since the acquisition of Brandon Wright and youngster Alex Len being inserted into the starting lineup.

The Knicks, and the Lakers for that matter, who present ideal places for Plumlee to land. The Knicks in particular don’t have many bodies up front that would block him from consistent minutes each night, especially with Amar’e Stoudemire being bought out. That right off the bat is 24 minutes a night that need to be picked up by other players.

While Plumlee would eat into the cap space Phil Jackson has been clearing for the future, it wouldn’t be a crippling amount. Plumlee is only on the books for $2,109,293 next season, a very reasonable number for a player with starting experience that could step right into a role off the bench as well. He then has a $3,113,316 qualifying offer for 2016-2017, again not too steep of a price.

Plumlee alone wouldn’t take much to acquire, but the Knicks may acquire him in a much bigger deal, as another Suns player is rumored to possibly end up in New York. The second player is point guard Goran Dragic.

Late Tuesday night reports started flowing in about Dragic wanting to be traded by the Suns. Dragic has been upset with the direction of the Suns since the summer, when they signed Isaiah Thomas and Dragic’s numbers have fallen off this season. According to Sam Amick of USA Today, Dragic told the Suns he plans to leave as a free agent, and they will now attempt to trade him before Thursday to try and get something back for him,

The Lakers are connected to Dragic as well as the Houston Rockets. Amick continued to say that there are seven or eight teams in total that are in on trading for the Suns’ point guard. Meanwhile, reports are stating that Dragic and his people are pushing for the Lakers, Knicks or Miami Heat to be where Dragic ends up.

More from New York Knicks

If Dragic truly wants to end up in one of those three cities, why would those teams break the bank in terms of trade assets if he wants to be there? They can just wait until the offseason and sign Dragic when he becomes a free agent without surrendering any assets.

For the Knicks, a team supposedly in rebuilding mode, that would be the way to go. Surrendering anything in the form of young players, such as Tim Hardaway Jr., or future draft picks would go against everything Jackson has been attempting to do since he got here. Sure Dragic would be an upgrade, but why trade assets when you know he wants to leave, and then give him a massive contract extension on top of that. This wouldn’t be an extension and trade, as Dragic would still be a free agent after this season, meaning the team that trades for him potentially would lose him for nothing.

There are questions if Dragic is even worth a max contract in the range of $80-100 million, as he will be 29-years old when next season starts and he has never played a full season. While he is undoubtedly healthy, it would be hard to stomach for the Knicks trading away what little assets they have for a player they could attempt to sign in the offseason. They went down this path once when acquiring Carmelo Anthony, and doing it again would leave them in almost as much a tough position as it did that time around.

While acquiring players at the deadline this week seems like a long shot for the Knicks, there is always a chance something could happen. Jackson has said they are not done making moves, and the Suns could be a team they make some of those supposed moves with.

Next: Who Were the Top 25 Athletes in New York Last Year?

More from Empire Writes Back

Home/New York Knicks