The Knicks and Lakers are eyeing Miles Plumlee as the trade deadline approaches, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter links). Amick suggests that Plumlee would welcome a trade from the Suns, which seems in line with the notion that agent Mark Bartelstein has been working with the team to try to find a trade partner, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last month. The Suns have also sought a first-round pick for the center, Stein also heard, a return they’ve seemed highly unlikely to obtain. It’s unclear whether the Knicks and Lakers are willing to pay that price.
Neither New York nor Los Angeles wants to compromise cap flexibility for the future, but Plumlee is due to make only about $2.109MM next season in the final year of his rookie scale contract, as Amick points out. He’ll nonetheless be extension-eligible this fall, meaning he could command a significant raise for 2015/16 depending upon his performance.
Phoenix recently took the starting center job away from Plumlee to give it instead to former No. 5 overall pick Alex Len after Plumlee started 78 times last season. He’s seeing just 18.6 minutes per game this season.