Is there a worthwhile trade for the New York Knicks to make with Mario Hezonja?
With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching on Feb. 7, the New York Knicks have already been big players this year by trading franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks. This transaction has set up the ball club with a blank slate for the 2019 free agency period, having cleared almost $75 million in cap space to sign not one but two potential max contract players.
Despite the mass scale of this move, there’s an argument to be made that the Knicks should continue to make some noise in the next week to acquire some more assets for their rebuild by trading more of their current players. One overlooked option during the Porzingis craziness? Mario Hezonja.
Why trade Hezonja? He’s quietly playing his best basketball of the season. Since the start of 2019, he’s posting career-best averages in points (10.0), rebounds (4.4) and steals (1.8) and tied his career assist average (1.2) coming off the Knicks bench. With this in mind, in stands to reason that the Knicks could get the best return for Croatian now, and strike while the iron is hot to get a good asset in return for their future rebuild.
What is the best trade for Hezonja in this scenario? A plausible, worthwhile transaction has been outlined below, that’s beneficial for both teams involved:
Minnesota Timberwolves receive: Mario Hezonja
New York Knicks receive: Anthony Tolliver, 2nd round 2022 pick
Why Should the Knicks Do This Trade?
The Knicks are currently owners of the worst record in the NBA. Their eyes should be set on the future – this means looking ahead to this year’s draft and trying to secure the best draft pick possible (widely believed to be basketball prodigy Zion Williamson) as well as trying to gather as many future assets to develop or even strategically trade away again in future (Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer thinks the Knicks are in position to trade for Anthony Davis already – this draft pick could be thrown in to further sweeten the deal).
This deal accomplishes both of these things by trading away a productive player that would contribute to more unwanted wins this season that would affect their first-round draft pick standing as well as getting back a valuable future asset in form of a future draft pick. Anthony Tolliver is an expiring contract to make the money work in the deal; he can be waived immediately to not take up any minutes in the Knicks’ rotation or provide mentorship to younger forwards like Noah Vonleh as a 10-year veteran.
Why Should the Timberwolves Do This Trade?
The Wolves are only a few games out of the 8th seed and can use all the help they can get. They need some more talent to help sneak them into the playoffs for a second straight year and they can do this via a trade prior to the trade deadline.
Currently, the Wolves have the 26th worst bench point differential in the NBA. This trade is a calculated risk – discard a future asset but in return, upgrade production with Mario Hezonja on the bench as opposed to Anthony Tolliver. As previously discussed, Hezonja is playing the best basketball of his career currently – he could be just the spark the Wolves need make the playoffs. Plus, the team has an extra second-round pick in 2022 to play with in the event things don’t work out.
This is a trade that works for both the Knicks and the Timberwolves’ future plans. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens prior to this year’s trade deadline.