The New York Knicks were one of the busiest teams and reportedly were eager to make a deal way ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.
According to a Yahoo Sports report, the Knicks targeted Houston Rockets’ veteran guard Eric Gordon. The 33-year-old Gordon seems out of place in Houston’s rebuilding and is primed to be traded.
The Knicks were hoping to materialize a trade before Dec. 9 for a two-month window to potentially aggregate Gordon’s contract in a future deal before the February 9 trade deadline.
But as it turned out, the Rockets’ asking price of a first-round pick for Gordon, who is owed $19.5 million this season with a $20.9 million non-guaranteed salary next year, was too rich for their blood.
The 15-year veteran is averaging a career-low 12.1 points while still shooting 34.7 percent from deep this season for the Rockets, who are heavily invested in their youth movement.
Gordon is represented by CAA’s Aaron Mintz, who also handles Knicks players Julius Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein.
The Knicks have been reportedly shopping Evan Fournier around the league and are willing to attach Cam Reddish or Immanuel Quickley.
Fournier and Reddish were also linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in a potential swap with veterans Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn.
Derrick Rose, who had his fifth straight DNP during Wednesday night’s win in his hometown Chicago, has also been made available. Both Rose and Quickley are being linked to the guard-starved Dallas Mavericks.
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