Armed With Draft Capital, How Will The Knicks Spend It?

Knicks Win Now – Trade for an Established Player

With the trade deadline fast approaching (March 25th) the Knicks trade one of their upcoming first-rounders for an established player.

The starting SG/SF spot is one area of weakness for the Knicks. Reggie Bullock is currently the team’s starting SF and while he has been doing an admirable job, New York needs to upgrade if they are to continue building towards becoming a perennial playoff-caliber team.

Let’s look at a few players at the SG/SF spot that would be a good fit:

Evan Fournier – Orlando Magic

Season Averages (18.5ppg on 45% and 37% on 6.7 3PA)

Fournier would immediately step into the starting SF role and become the Knicks’ second option on the offense. He is a career 37% shooter from three and would provide a boost in spacing and scoring that the Knicks first unit could really use. Players such as Julius Randle and RJ Barrett would really benefit from the spacing he would provide the offense and he would be a real threat on the catch and shoot.

Fournier is in the last year of his contract with the Magic, due to become a free agent in the offseason. Orlando might want to swing for a deal to recoup some value before he leaves in Free Agency. If Fournier agreed to re-sign with New York, a trade might make sense for both teams. Having said that, trading a first-rounder for a player with pending free agency doesn’t come without risk.

Terrance Ross – Orlando Magic

Season Averages (15.2ppg on 40% and 34% on 6.0 3PA)

Another Orlando player, this time it’s the offensive spark plug off the bench. Ross is a legitimate scoring threat each and every night, he’s a volume shooter that when hot is one tough cover for opposing defenses. Ross could be inserted into the Knicks starting 5 to provide an offensive boost and some additional spacing and threat from the perimeter, or he could assume the 6th man role like he currently does for the Magic where he would add instant offense to the bench unit.

Orlando is a team decimated by injuries and is headed towards another lottery pick and a rebuild. Shipping Ross out for a mid-late first would be a good return for the Magic and he’s on a nice team-friendly deal of $12.5m and $11.5m for the next two years. I would argue Ross doesn’t have quite the same trade value as Fournier and so the Knicks might be able to squeeze something out of the Magic in return as well.

Norman Powell – Toronto Raptors

Season Averages (17.7ppg on 48% and 43% on 5.7 3PA)

Possibly my favorite trade idea for this Knicks team. Powell is a solid all-around player that would be a great fit. He’s a gritty guard that scores in multiple ways and he’s a tough perimeter defender. Powell is perhaps the better three-point shooter out of all three of these potential targets (43% on 5.7 attempts per game). He would slot into the starting two-guard position, moving RJ to the small forward spot, and would provide a dimension to New York’s starting group that it currently lacks – shooting.

Powell has a player option of $11.6m for next season, it’s almost a given that he opts out of that and seeks a more lucrative deal in free agency. Whether Toronto would be willing to part ways with him is uncertain, they’re 5th in the East and fighting for a playoff spot, but they’re in an interesting phase… do they opt for youth and a rebuild around Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet going forward or commit to an aging roster with the hopes of being competitive.

Like Fournier, if the Knicks could agree to a reasonable extension with Powell then this would be a deal worth pursuing.

All three of these players would help improve this New York squad in a variety of ways. What it would take to get a deal done for each is up for debate, however, let’s speculate and say that a trade for one of the above centers happens around the Knicks’ 17th overall pick.

In that scenario, New York retains pick 13 (from Dallas) and still has that 32nd overall pick (from Detroit) too which they use to add some more youth to the roster.

On the next slide, let’s look at some prospects who might be available around that 13th pick range.