NBA Rumors: New York Knicks still after Kenneth Faried

On Tuesday afternoon, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported the New York Knicks were still in pursuit of Denver Nuggets’ forward Kenneth Faried. 

In the evening, Stein went more in depth on his earlier report.

"One source close to the situation said the most likely trade scenario — if it ever progresses to a serious stage — would package Shumpert and Beno Udrih to Denver for Faried and Jordan Hamilton. But that’s the issue; New York simply hasn’t been able to get Denver to seriously consider the idea."

The Nuggets obviously don’t see a Faried-Shumpert swap as a fair deal so they’d need the Knicks to give up assets or take on a bad contract, which is something the Knicks may not be able to do.

"That would quickly lead you to presume that Denver would insist on adding a long-term contract it wants to shed to any deal if it’s going to consent to parting with Faried before next Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. The Knicks are wary of taking on any long-term money for short-term gain — no matter how short-handed they are in the frontcourt with Andrea Bargnani and Kenyon Martin — since they’re determined to maintain financial flexibility for the summer of 2015 in hopes of getting a re-signed (by then) Carmelo Anthony more quality help."

Faried is averaging 10.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 assists per game while Shumpert is putting up 7.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.