NY Knicks: 3 Draft “busts” the Knicks could trade for

NY Knicks Trade #3: Kyle Anderson

Kyle Anderson to the Knicks could be a stretch, but worth Leon Rose and company to investigate.

Anderson was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey, so it would be a cool story for him to come home and play basketball in front of his family and friends.

Kyle Anderson was selected to the San Antonio Spurs with the number 30 draft pick and never really had a breakout season. When Gregg Popovich can’t get it out of you, it generally is not a good sign for your future.

However, Anderson is having a career year so far with the Memphis Grizzlies and is averaging a career-best in nearly every stat imaginable, starting to dismiss the bust labels that have been put on him.

Anderson is listed as 6’9 but always considered himself a point guard creating those mismatches.

While he may not be playing so much point guard anymore, he still can handle the ball and facilitate quite well.

Will Anderson continue this type of play? Based on his previous years the answer might be no. The Grizzlies could potentially sell high on Kyle Anderson and get a nice return on him.

Why would the Knicks want him?

As most Knick fans are requesting, I mean demanding that Elfrid Payton does not start, we need to find out who should.

The most likely candidate is Derrick Rose, but in that second unit, Kyle Anderson could fit in very well. Anderson does just about everything very well, not amazingly, not poorly, but very solid. Who wouldn’t want a “swiss army knife” type player…seems like he is right up Thibodeau’s alley.

The biggest takeaway from Anderson’s career so far is how much he is adapting to today’s NBA, aka shooting the three-ball.

Anderson has shot an average of 0.72 three-pointers in his first six seasons, but now in his seventh season, he is averaging 4.1 threes attempted.

What do I see when I look at that stat? He is coachable, which Thibodeau would LOVE.

Would this make sense for the Grizzlies?

Memphis is in a situation similar to the Knicks with young players building their core and a few veterans there to compliment them. Being in the competitive West is not helping them, they aren’t in rebuild mode but likely could miss the playoffs too. This could be a time to experiment for the Grizzlies.

If Kyle Anderson does keep up this level of play, he could want a bigger salary than just $9.5 and $9.9 million over the next two years. Memphis might not be interested and could look for other players on cheaper deals to help them.

Whether they keep Austin Rivers or not, Kevin Knox could be a nice player for Memphis and theoretically replace Kyle Anderson long term.

Unfortunately out of the Knicks rotation and rumored to be on the trading block, Knox still can provide three-point shooting for whatever team he is on. J

Jaren Jackson Jr. will be coming back from injury eventually, and their lineup will inevitably change, plug Knox in wherever and he can contribute.

If you look at their recent draft history, they have nailed their picks including Ja Morant and Jarren Jackson Jr.

It also includes players like Dillon Brooks and Brandon Clarke who other teams drafted, but got traded to Memphis shortly after.

Memphis clearly finds talent very well no matter where in the draft. By receiving the Knicks 2022 and 2023 second-rounders, they should feel confident those players available can contribute the same if not better than Kyle Anderson while being younger as well.