Season-long unhappiness and the recent addition of Greivis Vasquez—who came in the Rudy Gay trade with the Sacramento Kings—to the Toronto Raptors backcourt now have point guard Kyle Lowry’s name being discussed in trade talks with the New York Knicks, among other potential suitors.
The Knicks could use Lowry’s services with their leading point guard, Raymond Felton, having left hamstring problems that have lingered since the beginning of the season and now have him missing the next 2-3 weeks of action.
Twitter is all abuzz with insider information regarding the potential of a Lowry trade.
We’ll kick things off with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reported that the Knicks may have to include a future first-round pick to get the deal done.
Y! Sources: As Toronto widens talks on Kyle Lowry, Knicks inclined to add 2018 first-round pick to get a deal done. http://t.co/sJGm12QOvp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 12, 2013
Wojnarowski reports that the Knicks most direct competition for Lowry is likely the cross-town rival Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn maintains the rights to 24-year-old European shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic, in whom Toronto seems to have an interest.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard later reported that the trade was being held up by the Knicks who are reluctant to give up a first-round pick in any deal for Lowry.
Knicks’ pursuit of Kyle Lowry being held up by Knicks’ refusal to give up 1st round pick, sources say
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) December 12, 2013
That report was later corroborated by ESPN Insider Marc Stein, who provided more detail.
Knicks don’t want to burn first-rounder for Kyle Lowry and naturally prefer to keep Hardaway Jr. + save Shumpert (for another deal). But …
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 12, 2013
Toronto insisting on a first since proposed trade not only sends Lowry to NYK but sticks Raps w/Felton’s longer-term $. Let’s see who bends
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 12, 2013
And at last report, Toronto was said to be seeking TWO of the following three: Shumpert, Hardaway Jr., Future First. A bit pricey, I’d say
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 12, 2013
Earlier in the day, New York Daily News writer Frank Isola added levity to the trade rumors while taking a jab at Knicks owner James Dolan.
Maybe the Knicks haven’t pulled the trigger on a deal for Kyle Lowry yet because Jim Dolan still thinks he can’t make a trade until Dec 15th
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) December 12, 2013
The hidden gem of Dolan’s now notorious and epic Q&A (minus any follow-ups) was the boss not knowing the rules regarding trades. Awesome
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) December 12, 2013
I can’t see the Knicks trading Tim Hardaway in a deal for Kyle Lowry. Jim Dolan loves the kid as much as he loves The Eagles. Yes, that much
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) December 12, 2013
Adding further levity to the situation, Eric Koreen of the National Post remarked on Raptors GM Masai Ujiri’s willingness to make bad trades.
I’m sure Ujiri will bend before the Knicks. Totally gonna happen.
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) December 12, 2013
We will just have to wait to see who bends to whose will, if anyone bends at all—seeing as it is still possible that the Raptors might ship him to someone other than the New York Knicks.
Previous Tweet Posts:
Tweet of the Night: Iman Shumpert uses one word to describe his team’s situation
_______
Michael writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com.