Last season Iman Shumpert wasn’t happy with the position he was playing in after coming back from injury. This time? It’s not confirmed, but there seems to be mutual displeasure from both the player and the team about each other, which might eventually lead to a trade that everyone thought was coming last season.
According to recent reports, Shumpert isn’t very happy with what the Knicks have done this offseason: Re-signing J.R. Smith on a big contract that limits them even further; Andrea Bargnani being traded to the Knicks from Toronto and the addition of Metta World Peace.
Maybe Shumpert isn’t happy that some of these moves might eat away at his minutes, especially if Mike Woodson prefers playing him at Small Forward (which probably will not continue), or simply because he thinks the Knicks aren’t heading anywhere special with the current lineup.
But there’s also another option, which makes sense considering what we know about James Dolan. The Knicks wanted Shumpert to train with the Summer League team and he wasn’t very happy about it. According to these same sources, this infuriated the Knicks’ owner to the point where he now wants to trade Shumpert. With Dolan having plenty of media connections, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to think that the stories of Shumpert not being happy with the Knicks’ moves are planted.
Dolan has a history of making moves based on personal, rather than professional, motivations. It wouldn’t be too surprising to learn that one of the few players the Knicks currently have under contract which doesn’t create any cap problems and is on his way up as a basketball player might be leaving because he doesn’t cater to Dolan’s personal taste.
Dolan wants an NBA title, but he wants to be credited for it. When players don’t exactly do what the plan he laid out says, it becomes their time to go, even if it’s for the very wrong reasons, and actually takes his team back a step or two.