NBA Trade Rumors: Nets Looking to Acquire Hawks' Josh Smith; Knicks Shopping Iman Shumpert?

The Brooklyn Nets might be close to pulling the trigger on some big trades, including one that made the Atlanta Hawks competitive for years. 

Sources told ESPN this week that the Nets are aggressively looking into the possibility of trading with the Hawks for Smith, who leads Atlanta in scoring at 16.9 points this season.

It is uncertain what the Nets would have to give up to get Smith, but if successful, the trade would reunite Smith with Brooklyn's Joe Johnson. The two paired together in Atlanta for several years, leading the Hawks into the playoffs several times.

But that's not the full extent of where Brooklyn is looking as the Feb. 21 trade deadline looms closer. ESPN reported Friday that the Nets are also looking into whether they can trade valuable sub Kris Humphries to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for shooting guard Ben Gordon.

However, the Nets could likely only do one of those trades, as Humphries is also one of the players being discussed in the Atlanta trade scenario for Smith, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season. Sources told ESPN that there is a 60 percent chance that the Hawks will trade Smith before the deadline so they don't lose him for nothing.

This marks the second year in a row that the Nets have been aggressive with the trade deadline looming, as last year's rumors were dominated with speculation of Howard possibly going to the Nets, then of New Jersey, in a trade with Orlando, Howard's former team.

Meanwhile, the Nets aren't the only New York team with trade rumors circulating about them, as the New York Knicks are reportedly in discussions regarding trading defensive specialist and starting shooting guard Iman Shumpert to the Phoenix Suns for Jared Dudley.

Shumpert, who recently returned after tearing his ACL in Game 1 of the opening round of the NBA Playoffs last year-the same day that Derrick Rose tore his ACL-has been struggling since his return, and is admittedly not happy with his performance of late.

"It's definitely frustrating to have to jump back in the middle of the season," Shumpert told ESPN recently. "In your mind, you don't think it's going to be that hard at all. But when your mind and your body's in two different places, it's a little hard. But I'm just going to keep working, getting adjusted to it. Playing a little more (small forward) this year. So I'm just getting adjusted to it, I'll figure it out." 

However, despite the rumors, Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks superstar, appears against the Knicks trading Shumpert and sources close to the team say a deal involving Shumpert is "unlikely" at this point.