Jeremy Lin (Photo : Getty Images)
Derrick Rose (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The NBA Free Agency will also be shaped by the big trades that could happen around the league.
Both teams in New York, the Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, are seeking point guards but with the market for playmakers thin, they may have to get creative via trade.
The New York Knicks may have given up on the pursuit of free agents like Mike Conley or Jeremy Lin as Ian Begley of ESPN reported that they are in talks to trade for Derrick Rose, the former league MVP currently with the Chicago Bulls.
The New York Knicks are looking to upgrade their backcourt, and one player on their radar is Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose," Begley reported. "The Knicks have had internal discussions recently about trading for Rose, league sources tell ESPN."
This is in line with incoming head coach Jeff Hornacek's pronouncement that they need a "bridging point guard" between rookie Jerian Grant and aging Jose Calderon. Rose would fit the description.
Begley admits that the Knicks do not have too many assets to offer the Bulls aside from Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, neither of which would be traded for Rose, if at all.
With this probability, the Knicks would probably bow out of pursuing Jeremy Lin, who's officially a free agent. The Brooklyn Nets desperately need a point guard but they have even less assets than their in-state rivals. They need to attract free agents somehow.
Lin was also rumored to return to the Knicks as this was the team where he first gained fame, but the rumors that Carmelo Anthony and owner James Dolan are still not favorable of a Lin return may have them looking elsewhere.
There is no such issue for the Brooklyn Nets who will also welcome a new coach in Kenny Atkinson. It is speculated that one of the probable reasons behind hiring the former assistant with the Knicks and Atlanta Hawks is to recruit some of his former players.
In a Sporting News feature, Mitch Lawrence mentioned that Atkinson could recruit his former wards to Brooklyn, one of them was Jeff Teague. The dilemma for Teague is that he's still under contract with the Hawks and the Nets would have to trade for him.
Without any assets to offer Atlanta, the (better) alternative would be to sign Jeremy Lin. Lawrence recalled that "Atkinson also had great success developing Jeremy Lin when the two were with the Knicks." He also declared that the Charlotte Hornets "are not expected to try to retain Lin."
Lin has been outspoken about his praise for Atkinson and he in a recent interview, claimed that he valued being happy to play for a team with regards to free agency. The coach is a factor for that and Lin would probably welcome working with Atkinson again.
