NY Knicks: Should Knicks trade for Myles Turner at the deadline?

Recent reports out of the Indianapolis Star have mentioned that the NY Knicks are interested in acquiring the Pacers’ star center, Myles Turner.

Among the Knicks are the Lakers, Clippers, Hornets, and Pelicans who have explored whether Indiana is willing to part with the league’s leading shot-blocker and legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Turner is no stranger to the trade rumor mill, as he’s been in discussions for the last couple of years ever since the emergence of Domantas Sabonis as a legitimate All-Star caliber talent.

As recently as this past offseason, Myles Turner was reportedly close to being traded to the Celtics in exchange for Gordon Hayward, but Boston’s GM Danny Ainge “got greedy” and the deal fell apart.

The main reason Indiana would like to move on from Myles Turner is that it’s causing the aforementioned Sabonis to play out of position at the Power Forward spot.

It is also assumed that the Pacers would like to shed some salary as well, so Turner may be the contract that ends up being dumped.

Should the NY Knicks consider pursuing Myles Turner at the deadline?

In the case of the Knicks, Indiana may need to decide whether dumping salary or making a trade that allows Sabonis to play Center is their priority.

Here is the trade I thought up:

This trade solves 2 problems for the Pacers; provides them with depth at the 3 and 4 spots, and saves them $10 million towards their cap-space in the summer.

Of course, this trade would continue to force Indiana to play Sabonis out of position but that’s just the price they’ll have to pay if they want to make this trade.

In my opinion, the Pacers aren’t losing much talent-wise in this swap, but they do gain plenty of cap flexibility.

As far as the Knicks, Turner is a bit of an upgrade on defense but a huge upgrade on the offensive side of the ball.

There have been some recent reports suggesting that the Knicks are the frontrunners in a trade for Andre Drummond, but acquiring Myles Turner may make a lot more sense.

Drummond is an elite rebounder and adds more scoring at the 5 than either Robinson or Turner does, but Turner and Robinson are leaps and bounds better on the defensive side of the ball, a characteristic that Coach Thibodeau values the most.

What separates Turner from Robinson is shooting. Turner is a 35% shooter from deep for his career.

This would help add an element to the Knicks’ offense and help to bring them into the 21st century on offense.

Mitchell Robinson’s calling card is his rim-protection and if the Knicks trade for Myles Turner, they’d be getting the BEST rim-protector in the NBA as Turner leads the league in blocks per game at an outstanding 3.4 per.

Myles Turner turns just 25 years old on the day before this year’s NBA trade deadline. Mitchell Robinson is about to turn 23, so Turner’s age still fits within the timeline of the Knicks’ current rebuild.

The most valuable aspect of the Knicks acquiring Turner would be his contract where it’s extremely team-friendly over the next 2.5 years.

Turner is set to make just $17.5 million per season through 2023 which gives the Knicks plenty of flexibility to make moves this upcoming summer and next.

If this trade is proposed to Leon Rose, I say get it done.