9:22am: Grantland’s Zach Lowe suggests the Heat, who have the 26th overall pick, are in play for Shumpert.
8:40am: Iman Shumpert was a frequent subject of trade rumors for much of last season, but it appeared that the arrival of Phil Jackson had ended such talk, as his name was on a list of Jackson’s favorites and a report indicated that he was in the team’s long-term plans. Still, Jackson’s Knicks have explored the idea of swapping Shumpert for a late first-round pick, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Knicks have apparently been aggressively seeking a first-rounder, but they have only $1.8MM in cash to dangle instead of the full allotment of $3.2MM because of the Andrea Bargnani trade.
The Knicks came close to a deadline deal that would have sent Shumpert to the Clippers, and they rejected another proposal from the Thunder around the same time. That deal with Oklahoma City reportedly would have involved one of their two 2014 first-round picks. The Thunder have picks Nos. 21 and 29, and the Clippers hold No. 28, but it’s unclear if either team would be willing to give those picks up at this point for Shumpert or another player the Knicks could offer.
Shumpert, who turns 24 on draft day, averaged 6.7 points on 37.8% shooting this past season, both career lows. Still, his calling card is on the defensive end, and he still has one season left on his rookie scale contract, at slightly less than $2.617MM.