The New York Knicks have a long-term plan, and it doesn’t include draft picks. It also may exclude Iman Shumpert.
The Knicks’ 2011 first-round pick may have punched his ticket out of New York thanks to a series of events that has made owner James Dolan angry. To compound the problem that his “secret” offseason knee surgery caused, he’s started out the 2013-14 campaign shooting less than last year, when he was an integral part of the team’s playoff offense. He’s averaging one shot per four minutes, which won’t offer Carmelo Anthony much help. In addition, he’s connecting above his career average from the field and a solid 40 percent from three, 5 percent higher than in years’ past.
The Knicks need Iman Shumpert to step up and work with J.R. Smith and Andrea Bargnani to combine as Carmelo’s secondary option. The hope was that Shumpert would take a step forward and take on more responsibility, but he’s held the ball too often compared to other Knicks, as Harris Decker of TheKnicksBlog points out.
Shumpert’s defense made up for his offensive tentativeness, but it seems he’s already worn out his welcome with James Dolan and Knicks management. His aforementioned surgery over the summer interfered with his offseason workout regimen, and Stephen A. Smith leaked over the summer that Dolan wanted to trade Shumpert.
It appears that the slow start and offensive approach caused Dolan to contemplate these thoughts once more.
But, why is Iman Shumpert out the door and not J.R. Smith? Is it due to a scare over his knee? Or, are the Knicks really this stubborn? J.R. Smith elected to get knee surgery after he signed his new contract and he also earned a five-game suspension from the league for violating the substance-abuse policy. By all accounts, it should be Smith, and his brother Chris, who are out the door at this point, but it’s Shumpert.
A trade seems imminent, as rumors have swirled all week over potential Shumpert deals. What will the 6-foot-5-inch Shooting Guard, removed from two left knee injuries, get the Knicks in return? While they think Rajon Rondo, it’d hurt the Knicks’ plan that they do, in fact, have.
To trade for Rajon Rondo would be to potentially pick up two three-year deals in Gerald Wallace and Courtney Lee and get rid of Amar’e Stoudemire’s two-year contract. The Knicks would be trading for a point guard they can already sign in 2015, and they’d go through an extra year of salary hell.
The Knicks need to stay the course and try to win with the squad they have right now. In two or three years if a title doesn’t happen, they can sign two stars to max deals (with Stoudemire, Chandler and Bargnani gone) around Carmelo Anthony and keep Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Iman Shumpert. But, the Knicks don’t always make the necessary, or sane, decisions.
— Kenny Ducey
