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.
Should the NY Knicks target Aaron Nesmith via trade?
The former Vanderbilt sharpshooter would be a welcomed addition to this young Knicks squad.
The Boston Celtics’ rookie has underwhelmed in his limited playing time so far this season.
He’s only gotten action in 18 games so far this year and is currently sporting averages of 16 minutes per game, 4.2 points, and nothing much else that’s notable whatsoever.
The only statistic that he’s doing somewhat well with is his 3-point shooting percentage which currently stands at just under the league average at 35%.
It was widely accepted that Nesmith was the best shooter in the 2020 draft class with Knicks’ rookie phenom, Immanuel Quickley, being a serious darkhorse.
Pairing the two on the Knicks would be a ton of fun moving forward.
Frankly, the Celtics should have never made a selection themselves with any of their 3 first-round picks in this past year’s draft as they’re clearly competing for a title and it’s a bit puzzling as to why they wouldn’t trade any of their picks for veterans that would help them win more games this season.
Here’s the trade I thought up:
Aaron Nesmith adds a young shooter to a Knicks team that lacks exactly just that; shooting.
RJ Barrett is shooting much better as of late and Julius Randle must have drunk some of Steph Curry’s secret stuff before the season began because even he is shooting around 40% from deep this year, but still, it’s not enough.
Coach Thibs may still opt to start Reggie Bullock on the wing for his defense over someone like Nesmith, but I could still see Nesmith getting a nice amount of playing time off the bench at either the 2 or 3 spots.
This trade also thrusts Derrick Rose into the starting spot, something a lot of Knicks fans desperately want to happen.
As far as the Celtics’ side of the trade, they’d be bringing back Elfrid Payton who would immediately become Kemba Walker’s primary backup on day one.
I know I talk a lot of smack about Elfrid but in reality, I don’t hate the guy…I just think he’s far better suited as a backup point guard in this league, which is exactly what he would be on the C’s.
Elfrid would happily waive his no-trade clause to go to another competitor that’s farther along in their building process where they could somewhat compete for an NBA championship today.
Boston also receives a 2021 selection which will be in the very low 30s and a future 2nd to boot.
Good deal if you ask me.
Would Deni Avdija be a good fit on the NY Knicks?
I loved Deni Avdija coming into the draft, was really hoping the Knicks took a look at him.
Really didn’t think he was going to make it to the Knicks pick at 8, let alone past the pick entirely.
I knew the Luka Doncic comparisons were a bit shortsighted, but I do still think he can be a really solid player in this league.
He played a little ‘point forward’ for Tel Aviv and the Knicks could surely use as much playmaking as they can get.
I could see him slotting in really well at the starting 3-spot and with his shown ability to shoot from 3, which he’s shooting at 37% on the year, the fit makes sense.
Here’s the trade I worked out:
Washington needs to do anything and everything they can to try to keep winning like they have been to keep Bradley Beal happy.
They’re in this weird place where because the East is so competitive, although they were basement dwellers a few weeks ago if they string together a few winning streaks during the 2nd half of the season they could find themselves in the playoff picture.
If it means sacrificing a struggling draft selection to put more veteran pieces around Beal, they should do whatever it takes at this point, because if they don’t continue their winning ways, I could imagine him leaving by next summer at the latest.
I think the trade works out really well for both teams because, on one side, it provides the Wizards some solid pieces off their bench which is currently a weakness for the team, and they receive a lottery-protected 1st in 2022, which would surely change hands because unless the Knicks completely implode next year, their pick will most definitely not be in the lottery.
The way I see it, 3.5 years of having Deni on the team should be better than whatever player they get with a pick in the 20’s next year.
Onyeka Okongwu to the NY Knicks would be epic!
I wrote about a trade with the Atlanta Hawks almost a month ago now where Okyeka Okongwu was coming to New York.
If the Knicks were to pull off this trade, it would solidify their frontcourt for the next 7-10 years potentially.
Here’s the deal:
I can’t think of many reasons why the Hawks do this trade aside from being in absolute love with Kevin Knox and have someone in mind that they want to target with that Detroit 2nd rounder.
The way the team is built, they should probably continue to focus on trying to win now.
But, alas, they are a very poorly run organization that just fired their head coach and have no real direction whatsoever.
Okongwu has not lived up to the hype he received coming out of USC, but anyone who gets compared to Bam Adebayo deserves a closer look at if ever available.
This trade could make Obi Toppin and/or Mitchell Robinson expendable in the near future if Okongwu started to pan out as expected.
Both of those players could be useful for the Knicks if they were to try to acquire a superstar to pair with Julius Randle and if both of them are included in a trade, New York may get away with keeping RJ Barrett in a swap for a Bradley Beal for example.
Wishful thinking but probably not the case.