NY Knicks Trade Rumors: Expected to be aggressive, which teams are they targeting?

NY Knicks: The Orlando Magic have a variety of players

The Orlando Magic have been bottom dwellers in The Eastern Conference this season. They’ve had an unfortunate slew of injuries to some of their best players have struggled to get maintain any consistency. That doesn’t mean the team doesn’t have plenty of valuable players to potentially trade.

It seems like a longshot that their All-Star center Nikola Vucevic will be going anywhere, but the Magic have a few other excellent scorers who could be on the table. Aaron Gordon is a player that many teams around the league are interested in.

The 25-year-old has been a solid secondary scorer and rebounder for the last few years, and the Knicks could be gauging Gordon’s price tag. I’m not so sure it’s a perfect fit for the Knicks – Even though Gordon plays plenty of small forward nowadays, it always seems as though he’s more effective at the 4, a position where the Knicks are already heavilty invested.

Gordon would be a fun player to add to the current Knicks squad, but a package for him would likely cost the Knicks a first round pick. With that said, Gordon would fit the bill of a younger player joining the Knicks’ core, so the team will really have to decide if he’s going to be a long-term fit. He’s not the only potential Orlando Magic player available.

NY Knicks: Terrence Ross, Evan Fournier are terrific options

These are two players who I think make the most sense for a few different reasons. I’ve already extensively broke down why Fournier is an excellent fit, but here’s the gist of it: He’s in his prime, adds depth on the wing, adds both scoring AND playmaking, and likely won’t cost much.

The risk with Fournier, is that he’s a free agent at the end of the season and could walk. Fournier’s playstyle is exactly what the Knicks need to help compensate for some of their lack of playmaking. IF the cost is right, a package in the ballpark of The Pistons 2nd round pick, Kevin Knox, and Reggie Bullock, he would be a terrific addition for the team.

With Ross, he doesn’t bring that same level of playmaking that Fournier does, but he would give the NY Knicks a scoring boost. Ross is a microwave scorer, and he could thrive as either a secondary option in the starting lineup or even join the 2nd unit of Rose and Quickley.

The 30-year-old Ross is signed through 2022-23, but his cap hits of 12.5 million and 11.5 million will hurt the NY Knicks all too much. Of all of the teams mentioned, the Orlando Magic make the most sense as trade partners for the Knicks. Keep an eye on these teams in the coming days.

NY Knicks – Orlando Magic Trade Likelihood: 40% Chance