Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague has emerged as an appealing trade target for the New York Knicks, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Knicks, leading into Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, are calling all over the league in an attempt to upgrade at point guard.
Teague's name has surfaced as a prime target given the Knicks' increasing fears that their longstanding top choice -- Toronto's Kyle Lowry -- will not be made available before the deadline, according to sources.
The Knicks have been chasing Lowry all season, as ESPN.com first reported in November. But sources indicate that Lowry and his advisers expect to finish the season in Toronto with the playoff-bound Raptors before he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Teague's name has thus surfaced as a prime alternative, provided that the Hawks are willing to part with him.
The Hawks would have to be interested in Iman Shumpert -- and eager to shed Teague's long-term contract -- to give New York any hope of assembling a package to land the point guard.
But there are other potential complications beyond the Knicks' lack of draft assets. Teague has three seasons left on a four-year, $32 million contract that would slice into the Knicks' projected 2015 salary-cap space.
Teague also has the right to approve or block any trade through mid-July because he signed an offer sheet with the Milwaukee Bucks last summer as a restricted free agent that the Hawks matched.
The Knicks, though, are clearly determined to try to import a floor leader before the trade deadline. Sources say Denver's Andre Miller is another target, but New York is said to prefer a younger guard such as Lowry or Teague.
