Rumors are recently swirling that the New York Knicks could possibly land Sacramento Kings' Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore in a three-team trade or either one of them in a one-on-one deal as the latter is still trying to straighten out its roster to finally qualify to the playoffs next season after a decade-long drought.
Even with the hiring of former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger as George Karl's replacement for next season and the departure of mercurial point guard Rajon Rondo to the Chicago Bulls via free-agency, Sacramento is still considered as one of the most dysfunctional teams in the league at the moment.
Ten-year veteran Gay had been especially vocal in expressing his grievances to the media this summer while McLemore had been the subject of many trade rumors since last year and so the two players are really feeling the pressure of still playing for the club in 2016-2017.
With the Kings reportedly adamant of building a harmonious postseason-bound roster anchored on their franchise player DeMarcus Cousins, Gay and McLemore are rumored to be available to interested trade partners at the moment.
Sportsblog's All About Knicks had suggested that the New York Knicks should consider exploring a deal with Sacramento involving Gay and McLemore.
While the Kings consider the two players as dead weight to their postseason cause, the article thinks that they can actually "bolster" the Knicks and their "chances to make the playoffs" next year.
The report also said that if the Knicks want to get both players, then a three-team trade may be the only way to pull it off.
Gay is evidently unhappy about his situation in Sacramento, so New York should target him first before McLemore. The NBA journeyman can spell either Carmelo Anthony or Kristaps Porzingis at the small forward and power forward positions and, with his versatility, he can even start at shooting guard if the coach decides to.
Should the Knicks decide to go small ball, Porzingis could slide to the center spot and Gay and Anthony will man the forward positions with Courtney Lee and Derrick Rose in the backcourt.
Meanwhile, Cousins is also not exempted from trade rumors as a recent report from Chat Sports said that he could be joining the Washington Wizards next season in a deal that would send shooting guard Bradley Beal to the Kings.
The report noted that Wizards main man John Wall and Beal are beginning to build tension between them because of the latter's new mega-money deal with Washington.
Wall had since denied the rumors that he was "rankled" about Beal's deal, but speculations that a trade with the Kings for Cousins could still happen has been persisting.