Boston Celtics Offseason: Scenario Number 1

This is the start of a series of post about Celtics offseason moves. Some moves are very realistic and some moves are very unlikely. I'll start by saying I have a couple of Kevin Durant scenarios but don't make a significant move right away, they have no chance of getting Durant. Also I have the Nets draft pick that the Celtics owns being the third overall pick. The draft lottery could fall in the Celtics favor by giving the first or second pick, but they are more likely to get the third. First let's talk about the Celtics needs. The first is they do not have a superstar player. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics in points per game, assists per game and free throws per game. He was an All-Star for the first time and he did all that at 5'9". He may be an All-Star but there are too many things he can't do. Getting another scorer on the team would take the pressure off Thomas and he'd end up taking more high quality shots. In my opinion however that is not the Celtics biggest problem. They have three bigger problems that need addressing in order to get a superstar. Those are 3-point shooting, offensive rebounds and rim protection. This scenario will cover all of those problems. Also this scenario does not end with the Celtics getting Kevin Durant. That's for another time. I'll start with the three trades. The first target is Jimmy Butler. The Bulls are a team that I believe should start the rebuilding process. Jimmy Butler will net them enough draft pick and players to accelerate the rebuilding process. Danny Ainge is very crafty and knows the relationship between Jimmy Butler and the Bulls head coach isn't the best, so I believe he won't have to give up an arm and a leg to get him. I see him trading Avery Bradley, James Young, the Nets pick & the Celtics pick for Jimmy Butler. The Bulls will ask for Jae Crowder but I believe they will give in if this is the deal.
Next is a trade for Kenneth Faried. Faried was had the second most offensive rebounds per game this season only behind Andre Drummond. The Nuggets have a lot of holes they need to fill but also a lot of draft picks. I believe they can package Danilo Gallinari with pick they can get the superstar they need. They'll need role players to surround that superstar with though. So the Celtics would trade Marcus Smart, Jared Sullinger and the right to swap with Nets in the 2017 Draft for Kenneth Faried. This fills the fixes the offense rebounding problem the Celtics have.
The last trade is pretty minor. Since they trade Marcus Smart away, Terry Rozier would move in as the back up. I'm not sure how I feel about that so I have the Celtics trading R.J. Hunter and a second round pick to the Knicks for Jose Calderon and cash. This helps with shooting off the bench and he's a better at the assist than Marcus Smart. With those trades there are still holes to fill but letting Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko go would allow for one more big contract and a medium contract. They start with Al Horford. If the Hawks are smart they will not resign Horford. He's great on defense and a great mid range and perimeter shooting. His rebounding and lack of low post skills is a huge problem for a team like the Hawks. If you pair him with Faried however you have a devastating combination. The medium signing is of course Evan Turner. His ability to do everything well and his love of Boston makes it almost impossible not to re-sign him. There are also a handful of smaller signings that would help and provide insurance. Re-Signing Tyler Zeller for a two year deal would be beneficial. If he asks for too much money however, they can sign someone like Kendrick Perkins. He loved playing in Boston and would come back if Danny called. Now the Celtics also have the Mavs pick to fill a few other roles. I'd also be happy to see Paul Pierce come back if he doesn't retire. So let's at the line up.
Starters

1. Isaiah Thomas PG
2. Jimmy Butler SG
3. Jae Crowder SF
4. Kenneth Faried PF
5. Al Horford C

Reserves

1. Jose Calderon PG
2. Terry Rozier SG/PG
3. Evan Turner GF
4. Jordan Mickey PF
5. Kelly Olynyk FC

With Brad Stevens defensive coaching style and ability to make adjustments depending on opponents and situations, these Celtics could challenge the Warriors and Cavs for the NBA Title.

The Disaster That is WrestleMania 32

WrestleMania 32 will be my first WrestleMania since I started watching wrestling again. This WrestleMania may get me to stop watching again. The passed two WrestleManias the WWE has tried to push a garbage main event on the fans but bailed themselves out at the last minute. At WrestleMania 30 when Daniel Bryan won the right to make the main event a triple threat and at WrestleMania 31 when Seth Rollins cashed in Money in the Bank. This year the WWE had another chance to fix the mess they made with Roadblock. Make the matches the fans want and cut out the crap. They could've even compromised with the fans. Make Dean Ambrose the WWE Champion going in and have him lose to Roman Reigns at Mania. Instead we Triple H vs. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar. Every match announced for the card makes me not want to watch. If I didn't have the WWE Network, I wouldn't spend money on this event. Why? It is because WWE is pushing everyone the crowd dislikes. That is not an exaggeration. Let's look at the matches.

1. WWE Champion Triple H vs. Roman Reigns
2. Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon in Hell in a Cell
3. Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose in a Street Fight
4. Kevin Owens defends his IC Title in a multiman ladder match (Rumor)
5. US Champion Kalisto vs. Ryback
6. WWE Tag Champs the New Day vs. League of Nation in a 4 on 3 tag match
7. WWE Divas Champ Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
8. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho
9. The Usos vs. the Dudley Boyz
10. Andre the Giant Battle Royale

Let me start with the IC Title Match. Why is this the ladder match? WWE could have easily made this a triple threat between Kevin Owen, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho. This match could've been AJ's big WrestleMania moment or Jericho's tenth IC Title Reign. Instead we get match where Owens will lose it to Ziggler or Miz or Zayn or Sin Cara. He could retain it, which is my preference, but I bet Ziggler wins to stick it to the Authority.
The Kalisto/Ryback match will be announced on the March 17th edition of Smackdown (Spoilers.) I understand that this is to build up Kalisto as the next Rey Mysterio but why can't this be the multiman ladder match. Stick Ryback in the Battle Royale until they can come up with a good gimmick for him.
The New Day vs. League of Nations is a thing still. Let me start by saying I love the New Day as heels. They are really good at it. So let's turn them face and have them face the most boring stable in WWE. Who the hell is booking for the WWE? Is Vince the head booker now? I'm not even done with all the matches and I'm annoyed. Anyways, a handicap match for the titles is something I've never seen, at least not recently. This could have been Enzo & Cass' big chance to win gold, but no we get the League of Nations. The Bullet Club could've debuted and brought chaos, but no we get the League of Nations.
AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho, this match just doesn't make sense to me unless they're burying Styles on the grandest stage of them all. I love heel Jericho but I just don't care about this match again.
The Usos vs. the Dudley Boyz, I'm just going to say no thanks and move on.
The Divas Title Match, may be the show stealer. The three best woman on the main roster battling for gold on the biggest Pay Per View of the year, this match screams great. Any outcome would be fine with me but I'd prefer Sasha Banks come out as champion. I love Becky Lynch and would love her as champ too. Charlotte is kind of getting old and I'd like to see her fight her way back up. This will be match of the night.
Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose in a street fight. I know exactly how this is going to end. Dean's going to kick out of the second F-5, but finally gets pinned after a third one. Brock Lesnar picks him up and raises his hand earning the Beast's respect. Then they're both attacked by the Wyatt Family before they carry Brock away. The Wyatt's don't have a match for WrestleMania and will probably compete in the Andre The Giant Battle Royale. The Wyatt's could also cost Lesnar the match and Dean could win that way but either way this match is lame.
The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon is another match just to get people to buy tickets. Shane is going to lose. It's as simple as that. WWE isn't going to make the Undertaker lose at Mania again.
Then there is the Main Event. Roman Reigns challenging Triple H for the Title. As predictable as they come. Roman Reigns is the new John Cena, minus the fact John Cena is good on the mic and some fans actually like him. This will be the first WrestleMania that will end in boos, beers being thrown from the crowd and the Champ being rushed to the back so he isn't attacked by fans. Triple H will have to win after big interference for the crowd to put this match over.
This may go down in history as the worst WrestleMania yet. They've had some bad ones but this one could take the cake. You've been warned.

How I Would Book the Bullet Club in WWE

I am not very happy with the WWE right now. It is mainly due to WWE shoving Roman Reigns down our throats. I honestly don't hate Roman Reigns, but I don't want him as my number one contender and I certainly don't want him as my champion. WWE however doesn't care. Roman Reigns is going to win the title at WrestleMania against Triple H. Sorry to Dean Ambrose, unfortunately you are probably going to lose at Roadblock. WWE also has no plans for turning Roman Reigns or Dean Ambrose heel. This leaves a big hole for a new heel to take on Reigns for the title after WrestleMania. I would love Bray Wyatt to do so, but that probably won't happen. The Raw after WrestleMania sees Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose celebrating in the ring when they are confronted by Finn Balor and the debuting Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. That's right the Bullet Club or in this case the Balor Club. Before I go further they could also use AJ Styles for this role if they want to keep Finn Balor as NXT Champion. Balor challenges Reigns for his title and when Ambrose tells him to get in the back of the line, Gallows and Anderson attack them. After a bit of a stalemate the main event is book for Reigns and Ambrose in a tag match against Gallows and Anderson. During the main event Gallows and Anderson control the majority of the match, but when Reigns finally fights back Finn Balor interferes and the referee calls a DQ. The Balor Club proceed to beat downs Reigns and Ambrose before stealing Roman's title. The next several weeks have Roman Reigns trying to get his belt back from Finn Balor, who keeps escaping with it until the week before the PPV after WrestleMania. (I honestly have no idea which one that is.) Finn Balor tells Roman Reigns he can have it back if he beats him at the PPV. Reigns says if Balor Club can beat his team he can have the belt. Balor Agrees and the Balor Club begin their beat down on Reigns and Ambrose until the returning John Cena makes the save. The three stand tall as the Balor Club live to fight another day. When the PPV rolls around, footage is shown of John Cena being attacked before the match. Reigns and Ambrose decided to go on with the match and have it be a handicap match instead. The Balor Club control the whole match but towards the end Reigns mounts a comeback. He takes out Gallows and Anderson, but is blindsided by Finn Balor. Out comes John Cena, miraculously healed and jumps on the ring apron reaching for Reigns to tag him in. Reigns fights Balor off long enough to tag Cena in. Cena stares down Balor, but quickly turns and F-U's Reigns. Notice I said F-U and AA. Balor proceeds to cover Reigns 1-2-3. Balor grabs the belt and a microphone and hands them to Cena. Cena holds up the belt and declares, "The Champ is here!". Now because a John Cena heel turns is like an urban legend, no one will see this coming and the crowd will be left in shock. This will be the birth of Hollywood Cena. In my opinion this would increase viewership tenfold. People have been wanting a John Cena heel turn for a while now. This could also build up for Seth Rollins' return as a face and could lead to a Shield reunion in an attempt to take out the growing Balor Club, which will not be renamed Cena Club. It could also lead to a completely dominant run that leads to an implosions. Now I know people say a Cena heel turn will never happen because it's bad for business, but what would WWE rather have? A face that some people will pay to see win or a heel that everyone will pay to see lose?

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Let me start by saying that I do not believe the Pirates are going to be a bad team this year, however they didn't make significant additions but lost key players like Neil Walker and Pedro Alverez. I believe they are going to be the third place team and I apologize to all Pirates fans. Don't worry they'll be back in the spot light soon. Now onto the battle for first place.
The Cubs are the favorites to win the NL Central and the World Series. Now if you've read my blog before you'll know I am a Cubs fan. I'm going to stay as unbiased as I can because the Cardinals are a good team. So let's start with the additions, subtractions & re-signings for both teams.
Cubs Additions & Re-Signings

1. Jason Heyward OF
2. Ben Zobrist 2B
3. John Lackey RHP
4. Adam Warren RHP
5. Rex Brothers LHP
6. Trevor Cahill RHP

Cubs Subtractions

1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. Starlin Castro SS/2B
3. Chris Denofia OF
4. Austin Jackson OF
5. Dan Haren RHP
6. Tommy Hunter RHP
7. Jason Motte RHP
8. Fernando Rodney RHP

The Cubs additions are significant, especially for the Cardinals. They pouched the Cardinals two best players from 2015 in Heyward and Lackey. Adding Zobrist as well gives them a switch hitting On-Base threat that can play almost every position. The addition of Adam Warren will have him competing with Kyle Hendricks for the fifth starter spot. He did very well for the Yankees in an AL hitter friendly ballpark. I believe Warren will end up taking the fifth spot at some point. The subtractions are also fairly significant. Dexter Fowler was a great lead off hitter but a bad defender. His lose is a win-lose, but the addition of Heyward makes it lean towards a win. The lose of Starlin Castro was had me fairly disappointed. He was a fan favorite of mine and going to the Yankees makes it cut a little deeper. Javier Baez' transition to the outfield this winter will make up for the loses of Denorfia and Jackson. He's should play better in the outfield with his range and throwing arm. John Lackey is a vast improvement over Dan Haren and they already have a stacked bullpen to make up for those loses. I would have liked them to have added another lefty in case Brothers falters. The Cubs still have plenty of prospects to add if someone gets hurt.
Now to the Cardinals.
Cardinals Additions & Re-Signings

1. Jedd Gyorko 2B/3B
2. Brayan Pena C
3. Mike Leake RHP
4. Jonathan Broxton RHP
5. Adam Wainwright RHP (Return)

Cardinals Subtractions

1. Jason Heyward OF
2. Mark Reynolds 1B
3. Jon Jay OF
4. Pete Kozma 2B
5. Peter Bourjas OF
6. John Lackey RHP
7. Steve Cishek RHP
8. Randy Choate LHP
9. Carlos Villanueva RHP
10. Lance Lynn RHP (Tommy John) 

The Cardinals additions are not significant but their loses are huge. The return of Wainwright to replace Lackey is an improvement at the top of the rotation. I have previously stated that I don't think Cardinals pitching is very good. I predicted it would be their downfall in the NLDS against either the Cubs or Pirates because of their WHIP. I was right. Wainwright makes a big difference because Lackey's WHIP is not good for a number one especially compare to Wainwright. Mike Leake as the replacement was not my favorite move. I Cardinals missed out on David Price, but I was disappointed that they didn't have a better back up plan. Leake has the same problem the rest of the Cardinals rotation have and that's a high WHIP. If the bullpen fixes that it won't be as problematic. I did however have trouble building the deeper part of their bullpen. Tyler Lyons and Tim Cooney break the bullpen but they are primarily starters so they'll have to make a transition. Jordan Walden and Miguel Socolovich didn't pitch at much last year and will need to prove they still can go. Then there is Sam Tuivailala. He's flame throwing rookie who had is cup of coffee last season. He also has a big WHIP issue but he's young and will make adjustments. The rest of the bullpen I have issues with, mainly WHIP like I've been preaching. Trevor Rosenthal is a good closer, but he get's in jams too often and it will come back to haunt him. I like Kevin Siegrist as a set up man, but I don't like Jonathan Broxton for the 6th or 7th inning. He did better for the Cardinals than the Reds so it's a wait and see for him. The rotation is still an issue for me as well. You guessed it, WHIP. I believe Michael Wacha's will go down as he gets older. I prefer him as a three but he's a fine two. Mike Leake is their three and Carlos Martinez is probably their four. Jaime Garcia did well in his return from injury but got lit up in the NLDS. He can be a good three but will have to work his way back up.
To finish this off let's highlight strengths and weaknesses.
Cubs Strengths

1. Power Hitting
2. On-Base Percentage
3. Clutch Hitting
4. Starting Pitching
5. Bullpen
6. Management

Cubs Weaknesses

1. Outfield Defense
2. Reliance on the Long Ball
3. Striking Out
4. Experience

Cardinals Strengths

1. Clutch Hitting
2. Lead Off Hitting
3. Number 1 Starter

Cardinals Weaknesses

1. Power Hitting
2. Starting Pitching
3. Bullpen
4. Management

Let me clarify a few things. Strength and Weakness not listed for one team means it's neutral. A good example is the Cardinals On-Base Percentage. It's fine probably middle of the pack or a little higher. As for management, I don't like Matheny. He doesn't like change and doesn't make enough adjustments when it comes to young players.
 The Cubs have more strengths than the Cardinals and a little of that is probably bias, but the Cardinals are neutral in a lot of category. So I have the Cubs winning the NL Central. I have the going to the World Series. I believe they can win, but the defending champion Royals, the youthful Astros, the revamped Red Sox and power hitting Blue Jays can give them trouble. Plus the Mets stopped them last year before they could reach the World Series. With all that said, Go Cubs Go!!

Boston Celtics Double Blockbuster Trades

The Celtics have 13 of their last 17 games before the All-Star break. While this makes me quite happy I am skeptical that they can keep it up. So I've come up with a double trade that could push them to become the best team in the Eastern Conference.
First is to acquire Dwight Howard from the Rockets. This shouldn't actually cost the Celtics a lot in all reality. Dwight Howard is going to opt out of his contract with the Rockets at the end of the season and he will likely do so with any team that acquires him. I do believe that if the Celtics make run or even reach the Finals that he'd likely come back. So the Celtics would give up David Lee, Tyler Zeller, their 1st Round Pick and Dallas' First Round Pick for Howard. Lee and Zeller are both expiring contacts and trading Lee would also absorb some of Howards contract. As for the picks, neither are in the lottery but the Rockets could flip the picks with their own for a lottery pick or better players.
Second is to acquire Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks. Carmelo has a no trade clause and believes in New York, but the appeal of winning a title and playing for Brad Stevens could make him waive it. This trade would require the Celtics to give up more talent. They would give up Amir Johnson, James Young, Marcus Smart and Brooklyn's First Round Pick for Carmelo and Jose Calderon. Giving up Amir Johnson is mainly to absorb some or Carmelo's contract, plus he has a none guarantee for next year. Marcus Smart has a very high ceiling and already is a plus defender. I also believe James Young has an equally high ceiling. He's barely 20 and is already a great shooter. He really just needs more consistent playing time. Then of course there is Brooklyn's unprotected pick. Brooklyn is the third worse team in basketball and that pick has a legitimate chance of becoming the first pick. That pick could land them Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram who are both going to be elite NBA players, in my opinion. As for the Celtics they will also acquire Jose Calderon. Calderon is a better facilitator than Smart and is a better shooter. He also plays the same amounts of minutes and would make the bench better offensively.
With Carmelo Anthony I believe he is having one of the better seasons of his career when it comes defense and sharing the ball. His scoring is a bit down, but he's taking less shots however he's finding his teammates and making them better. Dwight Howard is in a similar situation when it comes to taking less shots. The difference is James Harden is a ball hog and takes a lot of bad shots. Howards offensive production is up despite taking less shots this year. He's averaging 12 rebounds a game and is still a great defender who would flourish in Stevens system.
So the Celtics would look like this.
Starters

1. Isaiah Thomas          32.5   21.5/3.0/6.6 (2.0 3PTM)
2. Avery Bradley          33.1   15.1/2.7/2.1 (1.6 Steals, 2.1 3PTM)
3. Jae Crowder             32.1    14.1/5.6/1.9 (1.8 Steals, 1.7 3PTM)
4. Carmelo Anthony     34.8   21.4/7.9/4.0
5. Dwight Howard        32.3   14.6/12.0/1.5 (1.3 Blocks)

Bench

1. Jose Calderon           27.6   7.5/3.1/4.1 (1.3 3PTM)
2. Evan Turner             27.1   9.9/4.7/4.4
3. Jonas Jerebko           13.8   3.9/3.4/0.7
4. Jared Sullinger         23.4   9.9/8.5/2.3
5. Kelly Olynyk           20.3   10.1/4.3/1.6 (1.3 3PTM)

Now Crowder and Bradley will likely take less shots and Carmelo and Dwight will play slightly fewer minutes in Brad's system because they have such a strong bench. A bench that will get even better with Jared Sullinger on it. Both Sullinger and Olynyk have surprisingly great defensive ratings. Evan Turner plays a facilitator roll at the small or two guard, which would give Calderon the ability to shoot more. I truly believe this team would beat the Raptors and the Cavaliers to make the Finals. Can they beat the Warriors? Well, anything can happen is sports.

Why I Stopped Watching Wrestling and Started Again.

Now I never intended on talking about professional wrestling on this blog but I recently got back into it and decided I give it a shot. First I'm going to explain why I left and why I came back. I got into wrestling around 2005. It wasn't the greatest era for professional wrestling but it sucked me in none the less. I loved the violence, the over the top storylines and the ridiculous soap opera-ness of it all. Plus it didn't hurt that the WWE Champion at the time was billed from the town next to mine. That's right I was a John Cena fan. I started watching every week and eventually bought my first pay per view event, WrestleMania 22. It was a grand spectacle with the Money in the Bank Ladder match, flaming tables, the Ultimate Underdog Rey Mysterio winning the World Heavyweight Championship and John Cena defeating Triple H in the Main Event. From then I would get every pay per view, sorry Dad. After awhile I started to branch out and came across TNA, Total Nonstop Action and was immediately hooked on that. Then when WWE decided to go from TV-14 to PG for business reason and because TNA was getting really big, I jumped ship. By 2009 I put all my faith into TNA. I stopped watching WWE all together, stopped ordering their pay per views and was loyal to TNA. It didn't hurt that their pay per views were ten dollars cheaper. Then 2010 rolled in and so did Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff and several other legends who wanted to build the next big wrestling company. In my opinion however they ended up killing the company I had put all my faith in. I realized this when Hulk Hogan got rid of TNA signature six-sided ring. The thing that made TNA unique from the other American wrestling companies was gone. From then on the storylines were pretty lame, personas didn't match wrestlers and I had lost faith. By 2011 I stopped watching wrestling altogether. I did read what was going however. I was happy when one of my favorites would win a title. This year was different. I was reading what was going on and said to myself, I'm watching the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble was always my favorite pay per view, next to TNA Lockdown because I was there when Samoa Joe defeated Kurt Angle at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell. Anyways, I ordered the Royal Rumble and I honestly had fun with it. The triple threat match for the WWE Title between John Cena, Seth Rollins and Brock Lesner was great. The other matches were decent and the Royal Rumble match itself could only be describe with one word, disaster. It was incredibly predictable. The crowd turned on the match relatively early. The ending was very lackluster and boring. Even the Rock couldn't save it. It was back to back years of really bad Royal Rumbles, but I still decided to watch Monday Night Raw the next night. I continued watching from there almost entirely because of one man. The Eater of Worlds, Bray Wyatt. Not since Raven, my favorite wrestler, had I seen someone that fun to watch. He is unmatched on the microphone and unorthodox in the ring. His storylines a breath of fresh air in a stagnant company. The fact that he has never won a title makes my legitimately angry. While Bray Wyatt kept me convinced to keep watching RAW, it was the developmental show NXT that made me started really loving wrestling again. Only an hour each week, they put on better matches and have better promos than the main roster. It becoming so popular that the indie circuit wrestlers are finally coming to WWE. The men Vince McMahon refused to acknowledge are main eventing his development show. Plus their woman can actually wrestle and aren't used as objects instead of athletes. Now that I'm back into wrestling I may or may not post some of my crazy ideas. Most likely I will but we will see. Thank you for reading this crappy post and see you soon.

Knicks Mid-Season Trades

My fascination with the New York Knicks has continued this season, more so than before with Kristaps Porzingis exceeded expectations. So I thought it would be appropriate to look at how they can improve this season and possibly make the playoffs. We are almost at the halfway mark of the season so trades are going to start heating up. Now if we look at the Knicks they been quite surprising. They haven't been great but they haven't been bad either. The main issue they are having is their guards. Arron Afflalo is their lone bright spot, with Lance Thomas being able to switch between small forward and shooting guard. The play of their point guards however has been lousy. Jose Calderon has good field goal percentage and 3 point percentage. Unfortunately he doesn't take enough shots or get enough assists. Rookie Jerian Grant hasn't adjusted to the NBA level yet and the Knicks are paying the price. Then there is Langston Galloway, who was promising early but has dipped significantly in field goal percentage and assists. So what the Knicks need to do is trade for a starting point guard and preferably trade for a backup combo guard. Let's start with the point guards. Four names come to mind for trade targets. Ty Lawson, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Jennings and Ricky Rubio. If this was a free agency list I would have Rajon Rondo or Mike Conley at the top. Realistically Ty Lawson would be the cheapest option. The Knicks would really only have to give up Calderon and maybe a throw-in like Kevin Seraphin or Cleanthony Early. Ty Lawson is having a poor season but I blame that almost entirely on James Harden. He's been a plus assist man in the past, including last season. He does have off court issue and playing in New York might not help that so the Knicks need to be cautious.
Jarrett Jack is the type of player that I believe would fit well with the Knicks style of play. His field goal percentage is lackluster and he can't shoot 3s consistently, but his mid range jumper and ability to make assists is really what the Knicks need. Even with his below average season and because Brooklyn is not tanking, he would be more expensive. Jose Calderon would go in the deal and maybe Derrick Williams or Lance Thomas plus a throw in.
Brand
on Jennings would be an interesting pick up. He has yet to play an NBA game this year but has play a game in the D-League. He seems very eager to get back on the court but Reggie Jackson is clearly blocking him. If Jennings can bounce back he brings the assist the Knicks desperately need, explosiveness and the ability to hit 3s. He is very streaky however and is not know for his field goal percentage. I do believe that his style of play would fit nicely with the Knicks. He may also be expensive with the Pistons looking to grab a playoff spot. Jose Calderon would be a good backup for them as well as Langston Galloway to fill in for the injured Jodie Meeks. Throw in Kevin Seraphin and you have a deal.
Ricky Rubio is the most unlikely to get traded. The Timberwolves still have high hopes for him. The Knicks also don't have much to offer because the lack draft picks. Phil Jackson is crafty and the Wolves like Zach LaVine who has vastly improved and in my opinion has outplayed Rubio.
As for their choice in combo guards/backup shooting guards I can really only see one good fit and that's Jamal Crawford. He's not having the best season, especially shooting the 3 but a change of scenery from the fluctuating Clippers might be just what he needs. His experience and clutch scoring are what the Knicks really need coming off the bench. He shouldn't be too expensive either. He's going into free agency and the Clippers are very crowded in the backcourt. Trading Kevin Seraphin, Derrick Williams (Who I want the Knicks to keep) and a future pick should land them Crawford. Galloway might have to go as well if they haven't already traded him.
With additions to the team I believe the Knicks can sneak into the playoffs, if not they can definitely play spoilers to teams who are trying to.