The Knicks, Hawks and Warriors were in talks Sunday on a three-team sign-and-trade that would bring combo guard Jamal Crawford back to the club, according to an NBA source.
Although a source thought it had a better than 50-50 chance of happening,
one person familiar with the Knicks thinking said they will not include guard Toney Douglas, a native of Atlanta, or Landry Fields in a Crawford package, which has damaged the chances of this going down.
Crawford is one of the top free agents available but the market hasn't been strong for him. The Knicks have offered Crawford their $2.5 million mini exception which he has rejected. Crawford prefers a sign-and-trade so he can make upwards of $5 million per season.
Agent Andy Miller told the Indy Star Crawford is still considering the Pacers, however Indiana signed power forward David West Sunday.
One person familiar with the Knicks thinking said Douglas is the club's starting point guard and they don't want to give him up in this scenario for Crawford. It is possible the Knicks are also being used to drive Crawford's market value up elsewhere.
The Knicks traded Crawford three years ago to create cap room for 2010 but was a favorite of coach Mike D'Antoni's. Crawford has tweeted his interest in the Knicks this morning.
*
Meanwhile the Knicks announced the signing today of another Hawks guard Mike Bibby and view him as Douglas' backup.
"Mike is a veteran point guard who we know can be successful in our system," Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald said in a statement. "He's an effective player who has a long track record of leading his teams to postseason success."
Rookies Iman Shumpert and Josh Harrellson and Jared Jeffries officially signed their contracts today and practiced, giving them 11 in uniform, including Tyson Chandler.
Read more:
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knick...to_bring_X88nsR7szxSK1IbIoh87LN#ixzz1gGcJD4HO