After already swinging multiple blockbuster trades this offseason, the New York Knicks may be trying for yet another one.
Knicks writer Kris Pursiainen reports this weekend that the team has had internal discussions about a potential trade pursuit of Memphis Grizzlies veteran guard Marcus Smart. Pursiainen notes that the Knicks have had interest in Smart before but that no deal is imminent.
Indeed, we had heard previous reports dating back several years that the Knicks were supposedly eyeing Smart on the trade market.
The 30-year-old Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, arrived in Memphis last summer as part of the three-team Kristaps Porzingis trade with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. He is owed roughly $41.8 million over the next two seasons.
The Knicks already made two major trades this summer in acquiring Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets and then Karl-Anthony Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves. But those moves also cost the Knicks some defensive depth at guard (like Donte DiVincenzo and Shake Milton).
Smart was a 15-3-4 guy last season for the Grizzlies (though an ankle injury and then an unusual hand injury cost him all but 20 games). While he might cost the Knicks something like young guard Deuce McBride and some filler, Smart could just be there for the taking at this point.
