The New York Knicks, a 54-win team one season ago, have struggled mightily just to remain in the playoff picture of a dreadful Eastern conference this year, and much of the blame has been heaped on point guard Raymond Felton.
Felton has experienced dips in his scoring, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage during the injury-addled 2013-2014 campaign, and has seen his 3-point percentage plummet from 36 percent a season ago to 29.7 percent now on similar attempts.
Perhaps the reason for his decreased output is stemming from his home life. According to reports, Felton's wife Ariane Raymondo is filing for divorce from her husband of just 19 months, but the grounds for the divorce aren't yet known. The New York Post's Page Six reported that the Knicks' point guard has already been served with papers.
On top of his marital turmoil, Felton's name has been bandied about with reckless abandon in trade talks as New York desperately tries to upgrade the point guard position. His poor performance hasn't helped his stock, but the Knicks are rumored to be chasing Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors and Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics.
"It comes down to, can they talk themselves into getting rid of a first-rounder or Hardaway Jr. for Lowry?" one league source said to ESPN.com regarding Lowry-to-the-Knicks talks. Other rumors have added the Atlanta Hawks to this mix though, with New York winding up with Jeff Teague.
Still in any of those scenarios, the Knicks would need to part with either their 2017 first-round pick or rookie Tim Hardaway Jr., which they do not seem willing to do at this time.
As for Rondo, the Celtics' asking price is said to be exorbitant. Celtics brass apparently wants at least two unprotected first-rounders for the All-Star point guard, whose shooting flaws and recent knee woes make it seem like he'll be staying in Beantown.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
