Talking Knicks with Posting and Toasting

The Knicks didn't make any moves at the trade deadline. There were plenty of rumors surrounding Iman Shumpert though. Were the Knicks ever serious about trading Shumpert?

Oh yeah, the Knicks were very serious about it. They have been for a while. From the sound of things, they had the Clippers on the phone at 3 PM Thursday considering a deal for your old friend Darren Collison and Matt Barnes. It ended up falling through, which must be the second or third time that's happened with Shump.

Shumpert recently sprained his MCL and will miss some time. He is arguably one of the best defenders on the team. How will his loss affect the Knicks?

It's funny, because Shumpert's individual stopping effort hasn't looked so great this season-- absolutely no one's has, not one man -- but yeah, a uniformly terrible defense is slightly less terrible, on average, with him in the game. So I suppose his absence will allow New York to achieve maximum terribleness.

New York is currently working to buyout both Beno Udrih and Metta World Peace. Udrih was in an out of Mike Woodson's doghouse all year and World Peace spent most of his time on the bench. The move to buy them out is not surprising. Who will the Knicks target to fill the open roster spots?

I haven't heard or seen yet for sure. The Knicks have at their disposal a couple decent training camp and Summer League guys working with the D-League affiliate in Erie. C.J. Leslie's a talented kid who hasn't quite settled into a role in Knicks minutes, Terrence Jennings is tall and relatively smooth, Chris Smith is J.R. Smith's brother. Without any reports yet of possible targets outside the system, only names like those come to mind.

The Knicks are on the outside looking in where the playoffs are concerned. Is it reasonable to believe that they can make a push and get into the playoffs?

Based on sheer potential, sure. It's early enough yet that a run of wins could launch the Knicks up the standings. I think the roster contains the ability to produce wins, but currently operates at a fraction of that potential. If the Knicks endeavor at once to play harder, they'll win more. I don't see that happening, though I suspect a replacement for Mike Woodson would get them closer.

Can we start a petition to have Walt "Clyde" Frazier as the color commentator for every game? Or maybe just have him as a special commentator at various games like Bill Walton sometimes does? It isn't fair that y'all get to hog him.

Clyde would be terrific for the occasional Bill Walton-like gig. You could only get him for more than that if you let him call games remotely from St. Croix. I think Clyde doesn't watch much ball outside of the Knicks, but he can rhyme about anything.

Thanks, Seth. For more on the New York Knicks and their roller coaster season, head over to Posting and Toasting.