The Houston Rockets are at least listening to Victor Oladipo’s exchange offers.
The Knicks are still interested, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Oladipo, however, remains at stake for the Knicks, as the Rockets must change him in the deadline, as they fall by the wayside. Oladipo will be a free agent in 2021 and is supposed to want to sign with the Heat. This would make Oladipo a rental company, while the Knicks seek to increase their offer to break a seven-year playoff drought.
Knicks general manager Scott Perry, while with Magic, called Oladipo into second overall in 2013, and he has been a proponent of a potential trade. But Perry is no longer the main decision maker.
It is Leon Rose, who also realizes that Oldipo and the emerging RJ Barrett have the same role in the attack. He also knows that Oladipo did not return to his All-NBA form after the injury; recently, he missed a few games with a foot injury (the last in a series of injuries) and, although he averages 20 points per game, he is shooting only 33.1% out of three. The Knicks would also need to give up multiple players to match Oladipo’s $ 21 million salary (Frank Ntilikina, Alec Burks and Austin Rivers for Oladipo might work, but would the Rockets want those players?)
The big question is: can the Knicks rehire Oladipo if they negotiate for him? For a long time, the rumor surrounding the league is that Oladipo wants to go to Miami as a free agent; the Knicks may have to pay extra to maintain it. In addition, New York would not want to give up too much to rent Oladipo for a tiebreaker attempt this season.
The Knicks want to make it to the playoffs and are considering an exchange that will help them in the short term. New York may well be active on time.
Whether that would include Oladipo is another question.