As the February trade deadline nears, trade rumors are starting to heat up. The latest trade rumor in the NBA involves the New York Knicks center Joakim Noah, the Sacramento Kings small forward Rudy Gay and the Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio.
Joakim Noah has been mentioned in previous trade rumors before. Quite frequently actually. The New York Knicks center has been a disappointment this 2016-2017 season. Joakim Noah signed a 4 year, $72 million deal with the New York Knicks. So far, he hasn't performed into the level of what's expected from him. In the 15 games that he has played this season, Joakim Noah is only averaging 4.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game. His poor performance coupled with the excellent play of teammate Kristaps Porzingis, has made Joakim Noah the odd man out in the New York Knicks.
The Sacramento Kings' Rudy Gay meanwhile has stated that he will not re-sign with the Sacramento Kings when he becomes a free agent next summer. The Sacramento Kings will surely trade Rudy Gay before the trade deadline instead of letting him walk away next summer without getting anything in return. They'd rather get anything from Rudy Gay instead of ending up empty handed.
Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves on the other hand has been rather playing decently this season. The only problem is that Kris Dunn has emerged as a true point guard making Ricky Rubio dispensable to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Under this rumored deal, the New York Knicks will let go of Joakim Noah, Lance Thomas and Sasha Vujacic. In return they will receive Rudy Gay from the Sacramento Kings and Nikola Pekovic and Cole Aldrich from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Sacramento Kings will get Ricky Rubio from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lance Thomas from the New York Knicks in exchange for Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore.
And lastly, the Minnesota Timberwolves will obtain Joakim Noah and Sasha Vujacic from the New York Knicks and Ben McLemore from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Cole Aldrich.
Based on the proposed deal, it looks like a win-win situation for all three teams. So don't be surprised if this deal pushes through.