Knicks Roster: Mount ‘Em, Keep ‘Em, or Throw ‘Em Back

The New York Knicks will have to assess every player on the roster as the trade deadline approaches

Growing up in the south, it felt as if a young boy had two leisure activity options: huntin’ or fishin’. I was never a hunter. Truth be told, I was never much of a fisherman either, but I always found it more my speed than the alternative.

Constructing an NBA roster is way more akin to assessing a mess of crappie than you’d think, though. You’ve got to honestly assess the day’s haul that’s resting on the bottom of your boat.

Is this fish young and puny? Does this fish have a little meat on its bones? Or is this fish something different entirely? Is this the fish that hangs in my den until I die? Is this the fish that all my future fishing stories revolve around?

Do I throw ’em back, do I keep ’em, or do I mount ’em?

The Knicks have to ask the same questions as the NBA Trade Deadline rapidly approaches.

Any way you slice it, Leon Rose has a team that is far ahead of schedule. The expectations were low coming into the season. The Knicks needed to lose respectably, develop young talent, and secure a top draft pick.

Now here we sit a week from the All-Star break, and the Knicks are a playoff team and Leon Rose is at a crossroads. Should he make a move or two to solidify that playoff standing or stay the course of the initial expectations and continue to preserve assets for a later splash?

On the roster, the Knicks currently have some players that are “Mount ‘Em” players. These players are the foundational pieces you’d hope to build around.

There’s also a segment of players on the roster that are “Keep ‘Em” players. These players are players that the front office should not be actively shopping, but should also be ok parting ways with if the right deal presented itself before this year’s deadline.

Finally, there is a set of players that are “Throw ‘Em Back” players. These players are not necessarily bad, they just would not disrupt either the short or long-term goals if they were moved. Extract as much value as you can and keep it pushing.

As a point of clarification, I am only discussing players that have logged at least 50 minutes of game time according to NBA Math. So who is Mount ‘Em level, who is Keep ‘Em level, and who is Throw ‘Em Back level? Some of these answers will be controversial