The NBA trade rumors took a fiercer tone as a major sports outlet has confirmed that the Atlanta Hawks are listening to trade offers for one of their major players.
Paul Millsap is probably the Hawks' best player today and now that he's available for trade, teams with an eye on playoff contention are taking notice. ESPN, through writers Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein confirmed the Hawks' amenability to a Millsap swap.
"The Atlanta Hawks have begun listening to trade pitches for All-Star forward Paul Millsap in recent days, according to league sources," the report stated.
"Sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks, fearful of losing Millsap in free agency without compensation in the summer, are not openly shopping him but are taking calls on the 31-year-old and other pending free agents, notably sharpshooter Kyle Korver and swingman Thabo Sefolosha," concluded Stein and Windhorst.
The usual suspects were mentioned..the Toronto Raptors' only hole is in the power forward position, but to trade for someone of Millsap's caliber, they may have to part with another starter.
One team that could crash the party off left field is the New York Knicks. In a recent piece, Fox Sports teased the idea of trading Carmelo Anthony again?
While the article did cite the feud between Anthony and Knicks team president Phil Jackson, there are legitimate basketball reasons for the Knicks to pursue Millsap. A frontline of Millsap and Porzingis a solid combination, but can the Knicks pull it off if Carmelo Anthony is not a trade piece?
Probably not. The Knicks do not have desirable trade pieces aside from Porzingis himself and Anthony to a lesser extent. Also, Anthony has a no-trade clause and it's unlikely he will waive that for Atlanta.
Thus, it seems like the Knicks are stuck with Carmelo Anthony unless they involve the one city where Anthony and specifically wife Lala would agree to move: Los Angeles.
If the Lakers take interest with Carmelo Anthony (as they did before) and they trade some young pieces (D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram) that the Hawks could take as rebuilding pieces.
This is purely a speculative trade but it is a possibility when a star like Millsap is placed on the trading block. The Lakers are probably not pursuing Melo anymore and the Hawks may not be in rebuilding mode, even though the report stated that they are also interested in trading Korver and Sefolosha.