Trade rumors are getting wild as the February trade deadline is only two months away from now. One new rumored deal between three teams is being the hot topic of the news today. It involves the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis as centerpieces of this supposed deal.
Melo, who've been the hot topic of numerous trade deals as of late, is said to be frustrated with the way the Knicks are performing this season. He also expressed his awkwardness about the 'triangle offense' that Knicks president Phil Jackson is currently imposing to the team. With this, some say that his frustration might lead him opting out to his contract.
With this insinuation, a proposed trade deal is being suggested to the Timberwolves, Knicks, and Lakers that involves 9 players. Trade scenario is suggesting as follows:
1. The Minnesota Timberwolves will get Kristaps Porzingis from the Knicks and Jordan Clarkson from the Lakers;
2. The New York Knicks will obtain Andrew Wiggins and Nikola Pekovic from the Timberwolves plus Luol Deng, Julius Randle and Jose Calderon from the Lakers;
3. Finally, the Los Angeles Lakers will acquire Ricky Rubio from the Timberwolves and Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks.
Some comments are saying that the Timberwolves seems to be the clear winner on this deal while the Lakers got the short end of the stick of it. The Timberwolves will have two young and talented rising stars in Porzingis and Clarkson.
Clarkson can be the starting shooting guard for the Twolves while Porzingis will be assigned in the power forward spot with Karl-Anthony Towns as the center. Some are now excited to see how Porzingis-Towns combo works down low if ever this trade will push thru. Though they will miss the services of Wiggins, there is still Shabazz Muhammad who can take his place.
As for the Lakers, some are in opposition on giving up two promising players (Clarkson and Randle) for an aging player (Anthony), but having a high caliber player like Anthony is something that it is hard to pass up. It may affect their plans in the future but if the Lakers are looking for immediate impact on their current campaign this seems to be a viable option.
However, one roadblock is preventing this deal from happening. Both Clarkson and Deng just recently signed their contract with the Lakers which means both cannot be traded as it violates the NBA trade rules as per checking with ESPN NBA Trade Machine.
The rumored deal between the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and New York Knicks seems to be unworkable and absurd to other teams that are involved. This deal will be easily turned down by league official as it breaches the NBA trade rules.
