Iman Shumpert has been part of almost every New York Knicks trade rumors and reports the entire offseason. Even before the Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton trade deal to the Dallas Mavericks was made, rumors were spreading that Shumpert was going to be shipped to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a couple of first round picks, James Fitzgerald of Yellow Jacked Up notes.
After that, Shumpert was linked to numerous other trade scenarios for Kevin Love of the Minnesotta Timberwolves and O.J Mayo of the Milwaukee Bucks. He was even part of a possible swap for Matt Barnes with Doc Rivers expressing interest on Shumpert and his defense. And the most recent involvement? A possible trade deal to the Detroit Pistons for Greg Monroe and to the Phoenix Suns for Eric Bledsoe.
Apparently, Iman Shumpert has been the Knicks favorite trade chip for quite some time now and there are two reasons for that. First is the fact that the Knicks are ushering a new era of basketball with Phil Jackson as the new President. Jackson would love nothing than to maximize Carmelo Anthony's prime and the best way to do that is to assemble a championship-caliber roster around Anthony. If the Knicks want a Championship roster they need to add another superstar to play alongside Melo and trading Shumper (along with other players and/or draft picks) could be a way for them to acquire the likes of Rajon Rondo or Marc Gasol in the final year of their contracts in 2015, writes Joseph Zapata of Bleacher Report.
The Second reason why the Knicks have tried hard to trade Shumpert before the start of the season is because of the fact that he still has significant value. Shumpert is not a supertar and may not even become an All-Star in his career but he is a solid rotation player who plays tough defefence. Here is what Joseph Crevier Rant Sports thinks on why the Knicks should trade him prior to the season opener:
Believe it or not, other teams likely have not given up hope on Shumpert. Many would be willing to take on the rookie scale contract of Shumpert in hopes of turning his offensive woes around. In other words, Shumpert's trade value is much higher than it probably will be come NBA trade deadline time. After the deadline, New York can basically lose him for nothing as he enters free agency in the summer of 2015.
With the Knicks trying to enter into title contention as quickly as possible, its no surprise why they are trying to trade Iman Shumpert. Chances are teams will take a shot at Shumpert with his youth, athleticism, and relatively high ceiling and the Knicks can use this as a leverage to acquire key pieces that would help them assemble a championship team in 2015 when they will have plenty of salary cap room with Soudemire and Bargnani's huge contracts coming off the books.
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