The New York Knicks are reportedly planning to clear salary cap space before the Feb. 18 NBA trade deadline as part of the team's preparation to make a move at Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley in the coming offseason.
Conley is in the final year of his five-year, $40 million contract with the Grizzlies this season, which means that he will become an unrestricted free agent this summer and New York will have a shot at offering him something significant to jump ship from Memphis.
NJ Advance Media's Joe Giglio reported that Knicks president Phil Jackson has some serious decisions to make this NBA trade season, which is whether to buy or sell players to try and alter their cap space.
Giglio noted that "if the Knicks do buy, don't expect Jackson to hurt the future cap space of a 23-28 team that likely would be one-and-done in the NBA playoffs. If Jackson chooses to sell, however, it could be with an eye on this summer - specifically a run at Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley".
Some of the top candidates to be traded right now are said to be veteran point guard Jose Calderon and big man Kyle O'Quinn.
Reports were out as early as January regarding Jackson's interest on the 28-year-old fourth overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft with Fox Sports indicating that the "Knicks will be all over free-agent-to-be Mike Conley" during the summer to fill "a probable hole at point guard".
While Conley has never been voted for the All-Star game throughout his entire eight-year career so far, he is still considered as one of the best point guards in the league today because of his defense and his ability to orchestrate the offense.
With the trade deadline only two weeks away, Jackson definitely will have to choose whether to trade in hopes of adding another complementary asset alongside Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis to try and enter the playoffs or sell and clear more cap space to accommodate Conley plus one more superstar free agent in the rich summer of 2016.
Moving in the postseason as the no. 8 seed will most likely mean that they will face Cleveland first and a probable first round exit. Meanwhile, sacrificing this season to improve the team's roster come offseason will give them a chance to have a much better campaign next season, or perhaps a deep run in the 2017 playoffs.