C’s Close to Acquiring Nate Robinson?

Posted by Brian Robb on Feb 16, 2010 60947 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F02%2F16%2Fcs-close-to-acquiring-nate-robinson%2FC%27s+Close+to+Acquiring+Nate+Robinson%3F2010-02-17+03%3A17%3A29Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D6094

All of these rumors are getting hard to keep up with. This latest report comes from Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald:

According to multiple sources, the Celtics and Knicks are close to a deal that would bring guard Nate Robinson to the Celts, possibly in exchange for Eddie House.

A league source, as well as a Knicks source, said today that both sides still have interest in the deal that has been discussed in the last month. Two sources in Sacramento, where the Celts played the Kings last night, verified the interest from both sides.

The Celts have narrowed their positional need to a backup point guard who can defend. They have until Thursday’s trade deadline to fill that need.

The Knicks, who are trying to slash their payroll for this summer’s free agent market, are only interested in players with expiring contracts. The Celtics have three players who would match up to Robinson: House ($2.8 million), Brian Scalabrine ($3.4 million) and Tony Allen ($2.5 million).

The Knicks might have particular interest in House, who played for coach Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix. D’Antoni was said to be a fan of House’s abilities at that time.

A league source said any interest the Celtics had in Sacramento forward Kevin Martin expired. A second source said while the C’s have continued interest in Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich, a deal isn’t close.

Wow, A lot to swallow there from Murphy.

C’s have long rumored to be interested in Robinson since December but this report follows up on recent articles out of New York from Frank Isola and Alan Hahn reporting the same recent interest in the deal, so there appears to be lots of smoke here.

Zach Lowe has covered Robinson in-depth here: back in December. Be sure to check that out. I am a bit surprised here that the Knicks would be willing to do a deal for just Eddie House. That makes no sense for me. My guess is a draft pick or two would have to factor into the equation, for it to make sense for the Knicks. Here is what I wrote on the subject earlier tonight:

With the Knicks not wanting to add any more payroll for next year, the C’s really have nothing to offer the Knicks besides taking on their bad contracts (No chance) or giving up a draft pick or two for Nate. The fact Robinson is also a base year compensation player makes any proposed deal tougher to complete under the cap.

I myself, am torn on this proposition, Robinson would bring an influx of youth and athleticism off the bench…..but would it be worth a 1st round pick for just a 3 month rental? I’m not sure, especially since Robinson won’t be the kind of piece that would make or break this team. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News also reports the C’s are still hot on Robinson’s trail so it will be interesting to see how much Ainge thinks Robinson is worth.

Lots of thoughts and analysis on this in the hours to come from myself, Zach, and Brendan.