New York Knicks Trade Rumors: Elfrid Payton Sought Ahead Of NBA Trade Deadline
New York Knicks trade rumors indicate a concerted interest in acquiring Elfrid Payton. The allure for the Knicks may seem obvious, as new Knicks general manager and former Orlando executive Scott Perry drafted Payton. The former first-round pick of the Orlando Magic doesn’t appear to be in the long-term plans of the franchise, making him available before the NBA trade deadline. Enter a Knicks team that could certainly use some help at the point guard position.
A report by the New York Post indicates that Perry wants to complete a deal for Payton without having to part ways with rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina. The plan would be to move forward with both players on the roster for the 2018-19 NBA season. The question, though, becomes how much are the Knicks willing to give up now that Kristaps Porzingis has suffered a “devastating” injury.
The Orlando Magic have made Elfrid Payton available because he is about to become a restricted free agent. The team would have to offer a huge long-term deal to keep him on the roster, which doesn’t appear to be in the plans. It also means that the Knicks would then have to offer him a new deal during the NBA offseason to make sure that he gets locked up for many years to come. These New York Knicks trade rumors definitely make sense for the future.
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During the 2017-18 NBA season, Elfrid Payton is averaging 13.2 points, 6.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Orlando Magic. He is also shooting a nice 51.8 percent from the field and a decent 37.3 percent from three-point range. Those are pretty good numbers, but it might cause fans to balk at the thought of paying him more than $15 million a season. The 23-year-old does have a lot of basketball left in front of him, though, so this could help the overall outlook for the franchise.
The updated NBA standings show how the Knicks have been struggling, as four-straight losses have the team five games back from the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Losing Kristaps Porzingis may force the team to look at unloading pieces and building for the future. A player like Payton could certainly work well, as long as the Knicks don’t have to give up a 2018 first-round pick to make it happen. That pick just increased in overall value with Porzingis going down.
There are going to be a lot of New York Knicks trade rumors in the next 24 hours, including the interest in Elfrid Payton, the attempts to dump the salary of Joakim Noah, and the need to deal with the trade demands of Willy Hernangomez.
