Times have been rough for New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert as he's struggled at both ends of the court and has been involved in a lot of trade speculation throughout the league. However, one good thing for Shumpert is that his teammate Carmelo Anthony supports him and doesn't believe that the Knicks guard should be traded.
Shumpert, whose foul after the whistle led to another Knicks loss Wednesday night 103-96 in overtime to the Indianapolis Pacers, has been the subject of trade rumors lately, but Anthony believes he is an important part of the Knicks present and future.
"I think he is; I believe so," Anthony said via ESPN about Shumpert being part of the team's future. "We have a lot of expectations for Iman, especially the way he played tonight."
Shumpert committed a foul on Pacers forward Paul George as he attempted a 3-point shot, which led to three free throws for George with just five seconds to play in the game. George drained all three free throws to nod the game at 89-89 and bring it into overtime, where George scored nine points to lift the Pacers to a victory and a 10-1 record.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson didn't exactly back his player, who the team is reportedly looking to ship out, after the game. Woodson explained that the strategy on the Pacers' final possession was to commit the foul if they had the opportunity to and contest a 3-point attempt if they couldn't get an early foul. Shumpert contested the shot which led to the referees calling a foul on him for hitting George's elbow.
"Iman, being a young player, it was a foul that we didn't need at that particular time," Woodson said per ESPN. "I looked at the tape. He got him on his elbow and [the referee] made the correct call."
Shumpert finished with four points, five steals and four rebounds, but didn't say much about the foul after the game.
"It doesn't matter, they called a foul. The play is over," he told ESPN.
Shumpert also wasn't interested in talking about trade rumors either after the game, as he'd rather focus on turning around the Knicks 3-8 record.
"It's about winning games. It's not about me getting traded," Shumpert told ESPN. "There's nothing I can do about that anyway. We've just got to win games."
It was rumored that the Knicks were hoping to send Shumpert to the Boston Celtics in a deal that would bring Rajon Rondo to New York, but the Celtics reportedly denied the deal. The Knicks are still talking to teams about Shumpert, but it remains to be seen if he'll be moved.
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