S-Rod rumor emerges from Spain (UPDATED)

I'm always wary of some of these reports from some European media outlets....What we have is this story from Eurosport Yahoo! that says, loosely translated, the Knicks already have a deal in place to acquire guard Sergio Rodriguez from the Trail Blazers on draft night. The story doesn't explain any detail of the deal and is mainly about how Rodriguez, who we know is unhappy with his role in Portland, would love to play in New York. What we don't know is how he gets here with a contract that has one year left at $1.8M (perfect for the Knicks short-term, cost-effective goals) before he becomes a restricted free agent. Updated 4:06 p.m. - After a few calls this afternoon we can say this report is inaccurate. There has been interest in Rodriguez throughout the season, but as far as there being a deal in place? No. Is Rodriguez available? Yes. Are the Knicks interested? Depends. Clearly, if this is remotely accurate, there will be other principles in the deal. We know the Knicks have had their eye on Rodriguez all season and have had discussions with Portland about him and Travis Outlaw (going in to his final year at $4M). Those talks involved David Lee, but Lee can not be traded on draft night. Could this involve a move out of the No. 8 spot? Portland has a plethora of picks, from No. 24 in the first round to No. 33, 55 and 56 in the second round. There has been talk that the Blazers are very high on Stephen Curry. Still, the Knicks can't take on salary without giving some up. There is no one-for-one salary match, but perhaps the Knicks could send two of their 10-day guys (Saer Sene and Joe Crawford, for example) as fillers. Both were signed through the end of this season with a partial guarantee for next season just for these purposes. As far as moving the pick, I find it hard to believe they would have already agreed to something like this before seeing any of the prospects in the individual workouts, which start tomorrow. Remember, there was a ton of talk about the Knicks and Danilo Gallinari right after the lottery last year and the Knicks weren't really that high on him. But then he came in and shot the lights out in his workout and really blew Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni away with his skills. It's up to Curry, or perhaps someone else, to do the same. * - The Boston Globe this weekend cited an NBA executive who said Donnie Walsh was already shopping David Lee as a sign-and-trade. Nothing really earth-shattering there. While we maintain that Lee is more likely to stay, it doesn't mean Walsh shouldn't test the market to see what might become available to him with Lee as as asset. But anyone who thinks the Knicks dump David and keep Nate are misguided, especially if the above item on Rodriguez has any merit to it. I believe both are being shopped to see what kind of value can be had. * - As for the talk about Marcin Gortat....seriously, I can not see them giving up the valuable mid-level exception for Marcin Gortat. Sure, there is interest and the Knicks like what he can do, just like a lot of teams do. But some guys are what they are and Gortat, I believe, is a backup center and, therefore, exactly where he should be. That money can be better spent elsewhere. * - As for a great deal of the rumors you see online, let us give you another taste of perspective by offering this link from DallasBasketball.com regarding the Rajon Rondo/Ray Allen/Amare Stoudemire trade rumors. When reading your gossip online, always proceed with caution. Photo credit: NBA.com