ATLANTA — With J.R. Smith making his first start of the season Wednesday night in Atlanta, the future of Iman Shumpert remains up the air.
Though Shumpert started and scored five points with nine assists in a 95-91 win against the Hawks, the Knicks will likely move him to the bench when injured center Tyson Chandler returns in a few weeks.
According to sources, Knicks general manager Steve Mills has spoken to several teams about Shumpert, looking for frontcourt help. But those conversations are preliminary and the Knicks’ long-rumored interest in Denver’s rebounding power forward Kenneth Faried, who has been shopped since October, went nowhere, according to sources.
When asked if the Knicks talks with Denver were completely dead, a source close to the situation told The Post, “They were never alive.’’
Though the Knicks recently approached the Nuggets, the Nuggets have no interest in sending Faried, a Newark native, to the Knicks for Shumpert. The Nuggets just lost center JaVale McGee to a stress-fracture, giving them a lack of depth up front.
However, Knicks coach Mike Woodson, who has appeared to be down on Shumpert since the summer, did nothing to quell the possibility the guard eventually could be dealt somewhere.
“I’ll mention it to him [but] it’s a part of our business,’’ Woodson said. “I always try to tell young players if your name is being floated in trade rumors, that’s a good thing. It means someone wants you. It’s not bad. The best players get traded. At the end of the day, you still got to play. You’re still in a Knick uniform.’’
Sources say the whole scenario has been Knicks-driven as the Nuggets want more attractive assets before parting with Faried. To the Knicks’ chagrin, the Nuggets will want a first-round pick if they deal Faried and the Knicks don’t have any upcoming first-rounders to offer.
Faried was drafted in Shumpert’s class in 2011 and their salaries match up. On Oct. 21, The Post reported new Nuggets personnel director Jared Jeffries was in Green Bay, Wis., scouting the Knicks just as the Faried rumors were heating up and had dinner with Mills before the preseason game.
But Mills is in a tough spot as he looks to make any deal because of the Knicks’ draft situation. Denver already has the Knicks’ first-round pick this year from the Carmelo Anthony trade. The Knicks traded away their 2016 pick in the Andrea Bargnani deal. Under NBA rules, they are forbidden from trading their 2015 or 2017 pick. The earliest first-round pick they can deal is 2018.
The Post reported in July Woodson was ticked at Shumpert for leaving Las Vegas after just one summer league game to go to China. Knicks owner James Dolan also was said to be irate because Shumpert originally didn’t want to show up to Las Vegas, and Dolan threatened to have him traded.
Woodson has been critical of Shumpert since the preseason, calling him a young player with a lot of room to grow offensively. Woodson also has made it a point to say repeatedly how stacked the Knicks are at the shooting-guard position, calling it at times a “logjam.’’
During training camp, Woodson mentioned Shumpert still had some knee soreness over the summer. Shumpert had knee surgery 19 months ago after tearing his left ACL in the 2012 playoffs. He also missed part of training camp with various ailments.
“It wasn’t so much the knee,’’ Woodson said. “He had a calf injury that slowed him down. He’s still trying to find his way. He’s still a young player whose trying to establish a game in this league. Somehow I have to help him. That’s why he’s still starting because I still believe what he does on the floor. I just expect a lot from him. Maybe too much at times.’’
Former Knicks executives Donnie Walsh and Glen Grunwald passed on Faried in the draft to take Shumpert at No. 17 because they didn’t feel Faried had the length to be a top-notch rebounder. But Faried has proven to be strong on the glass, with career averages of 8.6 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.