With all this talk (mainly from me) about the NY Knicks acquiring a superstar over the next 12 months, it seems like some of the fanbase has forgotten (also mainly me) that the Knicks are executing a rebuild as we speak.
While making a big splash in the trade market this year could help the team win an extra playoff game or even a series that they wouldn’t have before, maybe taking a look at some promising rookies in bad situations to help further along the rebuild would be wise.
The only player that’s got some buzz that actually fits the Knicks’ long-term timeline would be Lonzo Ball.
Terry Rozier is turning 27 in a few days and Victor Oladipo turns 29 in May and is also due a big fat contract at the end of the year that the Knicks may want to avoid paying.
When you comb through the Knicks’ roster, you see RJ Barrett who’s improved leaps and bounds over the last 2 months but is still just 20 years of age.
Immanuel Quickley is just 21, Mitchell Robinson is 22, Obi Toppin just turned 23, and Julius Randle turned 26 back in November.
The true core of this team, while it’s good and exciting to watch, is still made up of some puppies.
Of course, the Knicks’ front office could take the ‘win now’ approach and I’m all for that as long as any trades they make are extremely calculated.
Too many times the Knicks have acted out of pure desperation and this would lead to the team being “OK” for a year and then complete ‘dog poop’ for lack of a better term the following 5 seasons.
Would it be wise for the NY Knicks to trade for a 2020 rookie?
The smarter approach today would be to continue to acquire young, promising players and once there’s just too many to handle all on the same team, then make a big splash.
The team doesn’t have many young assets to send out in a trade as is without completely gutting the roster.
Here we explore three 2020 rookies the Knicks could swing trades for.