NBA Trade Rumor: Celtics willing to dump salaries on Knicks

Hey, remember that Rondo "trade rumor" from last night?  Didn't take long for someone from the Celtics organization to leak to Chris Broussard that it is no dice.

Sources: Right now, Celtics have every intention of keeping Rondo & seeing if they can build around him.

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) November 18, 2013

That certainly makes sense to me but I think all understand that Danny won't necessarily hang up the phone on all Rondo trade discussions.  Just that the price is going to remain high for the foreseeable future.

What interests me more is the follow up rumor.

While C's not moving Rondo, they would take back Amare in deal n which they could unload longer deals of Gerald Wallace &/or Courtney Lee

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) November 18, 2013

Again, I'm guessing that the source of this is the Celtics themselves.  They are signaling to the Knicks and to the rest of the league that they are willing to dump salary in a backwards short term move.

Report: Celtics would accept trade for Amar'e Stoudemire - CBSSports.com

The move would be a short-term win and a long-term loss for the Knicks. Getting out from under Stoudemire's deal has good parts, but it's only partially guaranteed for next season. Meanwhile, Wallace and Lee are fully guaranteed until 2016. So if you're the Knicks, this team gets better, but you lose the ability to clear space to add another star next to Carmelo Anthony in 2015, a big part of the Knicks' pitch to Melo this summer when he's a free agent.

I'd like to hear more about how Stoudemire's deal is only partially guaranteed next year.  How much the C's would be on the hook for would greatly influence how willing they'd be to make a deal.  According to ShamSports it is an Early Termination year, which means it is the player's option.  I highly doubt Amare is walking away from $23M.

It is difficult to put together a trade that matches salaries and makes sense for both teams, but here's one that I came up with.

-  Wallace, Humphries, and Brooks for Amare and Tim Hardaway Jr.

It is basically a wash this year and the Celtics only pick up a little more long term salary in Tim Hardaway Jr.'s rookie deal (a good young prospect).  They lop off a year of paying Gerald Wallace's deal but lose some of their cap flexibility for this coming summer (assuming Amare's deal can't be reduced somehow).

Anyway, it is interesting, if not all that surprising, that the Celtics are willing to make a deal that would essentially be a step back this year in order to free up future cap room and create more roster flexibility (remember that cap room doesn't always have to be used for signing free agents).

Chances are slim that the Celtics and Knicks can actually work something out, but again I think this is an indication that the Celtics are happy to work with a panicing team to give them a short term bump in talent in exchange for cap flexibility to the Celtics.