Getty Grayson Allen and Jalen Brunson could become teammates.
The New York Knicks find themselves at 25-23 following their latest loss to the Toronto Raptors, and a trade might be what it takes to save their season.
According to Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto, the Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks have discussed a trade that would land them controversial guard Grayson Allen.
“With trade talks surrounding Reddish ongoing, the Knicks have expressed interest in Bucks starter Grayson Allen, a career 39.5 percent three-point shooter, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto reported.
Allen is player who can be a real pest on defense, and he also provides some much-needed shooting from deep. If the Bucks are willing to move on from the guard, it certainly makes sense for the Knicks to be interested.
Allen is Building a Reputation
Dating back to his days at Duke, Allen has created a reputation for himself as a dirty player. A notable incident from a season ago is when Allen was suspended for a game after committing a foul on Alex Caruso that led to the Bulls guard undergoing surgery for a fractured wrist.
Another incident with the Bulls back in December had DeMar DeRozan angry with the Bucks guard after being shoved to the ground by Allen.
DeMar DeRozan was not happy with Grayson Allen after this play.
His run-ins are well-documented, but his talent has been something that keeps him around as teams figure the dirty plays now and then are worth putting up with. Allen’s profile fits with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau as he’s a gritty player who can play solid defense while also chipping in on the offensive end.
With Quentin Grimes entrenched as the starter, Allen would likely settle in as a bench player, but that would be a perfect fit for him. The 27-year-old is averaging 10.7 points per game in 42 games this season for the Bucks, with 40 of them being starts. More importantly, he’s shooting 40.2 percent from three.
Scotto notes Allen has been discussed in packages for Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder and Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon, so there’s a decent chance he’d end up with one of those teams over the Knicks.
“Given the frequency of trade concepts Allen has been linked to involving Crowder and Gordon, it appears more likely he’d be moved – if at all – for one of those players rather than Reddish,” he wrote. “However, the Bucks and Knicks have also discussed other concepts involving Reddish going to Milwaukee that wouldn’t involve Allen, so a trade between the two teams could still happen.”
Reddish Can Still Be Moved
The Knicks have three candidates for a trade before the February trade deadline. Derrick Rose, Evan Fournier and Reddish are all outside of the active rotation, so the feeling is that one of them fill be moved if the Knicks make a move.
Reddish is a name who has gotten interest from teams around the league such as the Bucks and Lakers, but there hasn’t been a ton of movement as of yet. As the trade deadline approaches and teams finally start making moves, that might be when the dominoes start to fall.
The former Atlanta Hawks lottery pick came over in a trade last season, but he’s never been able to land a consistent role with the Knicks. As a result, Reddish will likely have to continue his NBA career elsewhere. The writing was on the wall for him after the team decided to not offer him an extension, so he is set to hit restricted free agency.
Any team that decides to trade with him will have to keep that in mind, so it will be something that’s kept in mind before giving up too many assets for Reddish.