New York Knicks: Five reasons to not trade 2019 draft pick

3. This draft pick can pair with superstar acquisitions in free agency

The beauty of free agency: teams don’t have to surrender players or draft picks to sign whoever they desire. Sign-and-trades still exist, but not as frequently as earlier this decade, when the original jockeying for superstars began, around when the Miami Heat assembled their unit.

Even with assuming a high first-round pick into the salary cap, the New York Knicks should have room for two superstars in free agency. Pair them with one of two studs, along with the other developing pieces in place, and this suddenly becomes an intriguing squad.

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving with Zion Williamson offers enormous upside. These three scoring talents can rise in the Eastern Conference and keep the Knicks a known commodity for years. Add Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Dennis Smith Jr.’s development around them, and it makes this a suddenly deep, young unit, with veterans added to supplement them.

If not Williamson, Ja Morant can become the point guard for Durant. RJ Barrett can slide between Durant and Irving. Either scenario gives the Knicks a strong foundation to work with in the next five years,

The possibilities, and intrigue, are endless. That leads into another point, however, of keeping this potentially deep unit together.