Knicks owner James Dolan was apparently willing to trade Iman Shumpert because the shooting guard didn't want to partake in the NBA's summer league, according to ESPN's Steven A Smith.

Smith made the revelation to Dwight Howard during an outtake from their July 13 interview on ESPN. The footage was leaked in a viral video, which recently hit the web.

"And by the way, Dolan was ready to trade him, because he didn't want to work out in the summer league," Smith said of Shumpert's near exit from New York. "Dolan's talking about trading him. I said, 'Trade who? You better hold onto that boy. You better not lose Iman Shumpert. That boy can play.'"

Shumpert did compete in just one NBA Summer League game against the New Orleans Pelicans and failed to make a field goal in 27 minutes of play. Still, the 23-year-old guard is a fan favorite and has shown flashes of brilliance during his two-year career.

He scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in last season's Game 6 clincher over Boston, and dropped 19 points, on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc, in the Game 6 second-round loss to Indiana. Both games were the most important of their respective series and Shumpert showed his ability to elevate his play when it was needed the most.

With news that the Knicks secondary scorer J.R. Smith will need as much as four months of recovery, after undergoing knee surgery, Shumpert will be one of the players expected to take on some of the scoring load in Smith's absence.

In June, when the Knicks were facing the possibility of losing Smith to free agency, Shumpert expressed his willingness to improve his play and replace his teammate, if needed, as part of New York's one-two punch with Carmelo Anthony.

"I think I can be [a secondary scorer],'' Shumpert told the New York Post. "I've always accepted all challenges. I'd take that as another challenge.''

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New York Knicks