The Knicks reached a decision on Wednesday to acquire Kyle Lowry from the Raptors, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. However, Knicks owner James Dolan had second thoughts about the trade on Thursday and has vetoed it for now, Isola says. In addition to second-guessing the move, Dolan was “enraged” that details of the proposed swap had been leaked to the media, according to the Daily News report.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported on Thursday that the Knicks and Raptors had discussed a package of Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace, and a 2018 first-round pick for Lowry. Assuming that was the deal the Knicks were prepared to make, the club couldn’t have finalized it until Sunday, when World Peace becomes trade-eligible. That means Dolan could reconsider the move by then, and eventually approve it if the Raptors are on board, but for now he has “cold feet about trading a future asset,” according to Isola.
“There are two problems,” said Isola’s source. “Dolan didn’t like that someone from his group leaked it to the media, and the other problem is the Knicks seem to have too many (people) involved with making decisions.”
The source added that while the two sides had a deal ready to go, Dolan “didn’t want to get fleeced again by Masai [Ujiri],” which echoes what we heard from Wojnarowski. The Yahoo! scribe wrote that Dolan is sensitive to the public perception that Ujiri has gotten the best of the Knicks in trades that sent Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani to New York — the current Raptors GM was the top decision-maker for the Nuggets when Denver traded Carmelo to the Knicks in 2011.
The Raptors are said to be seeking either Iman Shumpert or Tim Hardaway Jr. if New York is unwilling to include a future first-round pick in its offer. Assuming Dolan and the Knicks don’t decide to move forward with a trade for Lowry, it could open the door for the crosstown Nets to land him. However, Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that Brooklyn has resisted offering a first-rounder or Mason Plumlee for the Raptors’ point guard so far.
Metta seems like the kind of player who would demand a buyout if he was traded to the Raps…
The Bargnani trade was highway robbery, but I think the Melo trade was a win for NYK. Pretty much impossible to get fair value in a trade for a superstar if you are the seller.
I agree that the Knicks have made out fine in that deal up until this point, but don’t forget New York hasn’t paid its whole debt on that trade yet — if the 2014 first-rounder the Knicks owe Denver ends up being a top-five pick, or even just a lottery pick, that could shift the balance considerably.
— Luke
I totally agree, but I think the Knicks failings are more a result of their other moves than this one. For *most* franchises, if you have a player of Melo’s quality you can count on not picking in the lottery, much less the top 5. If they do end up giving even a top 10 pick up, that would showcase their management’s truly monumental incompetence. It’s one thing for a team like the Bucks to unintentionally tank, but a big market team with a superstar? Ugly.