Losing to the Kings at home was not a great way for the Knicks to quiet speculation about coach Mike Woodson‘s future heading into the All-Star break. Their turmoil continues, and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News doesn’t expect an end to the “nonsense” until owner Jim Dolan gives full autonomy to a head coach (via Twitter). Let’s take a look at more from the messy division:
- Dolan would rather keep Woodson for the rest of the season and does not want to make a change now, per Marc Stein of ESPN (via Twitter). Stein isn’t sure that he won’t be swayed by recent losses to the lowly Bucks and Kings, though.
- The Knicks are still targeting Rajon Rondo as their preferred upgrade at point guard according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, although it’s unclear if Iannazzone is passing along new information or working from previous reports of the Knicks’ interest in Rondo. The Celtics have sent consistent signals that they wouldn’t give up Rondo for the kind of value the Knicks could offer.
- In the same piece, Iannazzone speculates that every Knicks player outside of Carmelo Anthony could be available, and thinks any one of Iman Shumpert, Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih could be in their final days with New York.
- Celtics power forward Kris Humphries wished team employees good luck heading into the All-Star break, “in case I don’t see you again,” as quoted by Scott Souza of MetroWest Daily News (via Twitter). The nine-year veteran is on an expiring $12MM contract, and is one of many Celtics players rumored to be available as Boston seeks to be active at the trade deadline.