NY Knicks Should Avoid Any Risk at the NBA Trade Deadline

Approximately two weeks away from his first-ever NBA trade deadline as President of the NY Knicks, Leon Rose is playing with house money when it comes to fan capital.

Rose finds himself in a win-win situation.

By making only a few peripheral moves during last season’s free agency, drafting the steal of the draft in the NBA’s consensus 2nd best rookie, Immanuel Quickley, and hiring the right head coach, he has put the Knicks in playoff position well ahead of schedule.

Rose has avoided any major risk up to this point, and it appears to be paying off for him. You get the sense that this team will continue to take care of the teams below them in the standings on a nightly basis.

Still, the second half schedule gets rough.

The Knicks have ten games remaining against teams that are ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. They’ve already played one against the Bucks and looked outmatched. Throw in playing the Lakers and Suns twice each, and it is easy to see how the team could fall off.

The NY Knicks should remain calculated at the NBA trade deadline.

But here’s the thing: that was what everyone expected coming into the year.

Let’s say the team struggles to win ballgames in March and April and slides back into the lottery. No rational Knicks fan should be upset with that result. It’s what we all figured would happen.

The only way that Rose would start to lose the fan capital he has accrued is by taking an unnecessary risk. The backlash would be deafening (with fans in the Garden, I’ll add) if Rose were to package some assets for a win-now move that backfired.

He should take a conservative approach to the trade deadline. Hold the door, Leon!

According to SNY’s Ian Begley, that seems to be his route. It’s the smart money move at this point.

No one is arguing that the team doesn’t have spots that could be upgraded.

How to allocate the Point Guard minutes is definitely a question mark. The Knicks could absolutely upgrade over Elfrid Payton who is in the bottom seven in Total Points Added in the entire league for Point Guards who have played at least 600 minutes, according to the good folks at NBA Math. Lonzo Ball would be a significant upgrade at that position.

Reggie Bullock leaves something to be desired at the Shooting Guard spot. He is shooting 37% on 4 threes per game, which is better than last year, but Rose could potentially improve on that number through trade.

Maybe J.J. Redick helps out there. Or maybe you trade for Victor Oladipo who doesn’t improve the 3 point percentage but does add more than Bullock in other phases of the game.

But every name mentioned above, names the Knicks could seemingly get, comes with its own set of risks. If they don’t pay off, we’ll begin to hear that sad refrain, “Same old Knicks.”

Rose’s best play between now and March 25th is to avoid the craps table, take a dip in the pool, and enjoy the free buffet. He’s a high roller when it comes to fan capital. Why risk it?