NBA trade news: Knicks convinced PG trade will boost title hunt

Despite having plenty of trade pieces, the New York Knicks have yet to make a splash before the deadline.

The Knicks have been linked to the rumour mill several times in the past, although the team has not started shopping in the market yet for players who could help them in their playoff run. However, the team believes that acquiring the right point guard would give them a chance to be legitimate title contenders, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.

“There is a growing sense that adding the right point guard either in trade or in free agency could turn the team in the direction they want to go and that’s competing in the playoffs and maybe competing for a championship,” Kyler wrote.

New York, who currently holds a 22-25 record, is just two games behind the Indiana Pacers to enter the playoff picture. If the Knicks are ready to neglect the chances of making it into the playoffs, they may have to wait until next summer's free agency to net a marquee-signing point guard. But if they are serious in getting to the postseason, a trade seems to be the ideal move.

The Knicks have very limited options in the market for a quality point guard, but one name that remains available is Detroit Pistons' PG Brandon Jennings.

Jennings has been rumoured to be the Knicks’ target this season, but no such deal has yet emerged from both teams.

Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy remains reluctant to deal away Jennings because of what he brings to the team. “You never have too many good players. From my standpoint, Brandon coming back to help things, if there’s a way we can work it to have him back, I would love that…” Van Gundy said, reports the Detroit Free Press.

But according to Aaron Ferguson of Hoops Habit, one of the best deals the Pistons could get for Jennings if they put him on the trading block is the Knicks’ Jose Calderon and Derrick Williams. Ferguson added that Calderon would solve the Pistons’ backup point guard problems, while Williams would serve as a stretch-four. Calderon is on the final year of his contract, while Williams has a player option next season, making it an enticing deal for the Pistons.

While such trade would succeed in ESPN’s trade machine, the Pistons would probably look for a more considerable deal for Jennings, with Detroit trying to secure a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.