NY Knicks: 2 Luka Doncic trade ideas worth pursuing
By Mark Nilon
NY Knicks land Luka, Dallas Mavericks bring back a budding star
Just like our belief that the NY Knicks should go after Damian Lillard this summer, the same mindset should be had about Luka Doncic.
A legitimate league MVP candidate over the last two seasons of his three-year career, the point guard is an all-around sensational talent that can turn around a franchise all by his lonesome.
However, partnering him with another MVP candidate from this past season in Julius Randle could prove to be an extremely menacing duo for the rest of the league to go up against, and, with this, the idea must be strongly considered.
Now, of course, getting a youthful star such as Doncic will not be an easy feat for any team to accomplish but, luckily for the Knicks, they have minimal long-term contracts, a plethora of draft capital, and quite a few talented youngsters in their possession to throw into a deal for the Slovenian-born baller.
In this deal, we send arguably the two most promising young talents on the Knicks’ roster in sophomore wing, RJ Barrett, and third-year center, Mitchell Robinson, to Dallas.
This season was a huge step forward for Barrett in his progressions after a relatively underwhelming 2019-20 rookie campaign.
Whilst serving as second-fiddle to Randle, the former third overall pick posted stellar per-game averages of 17.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and three assists on 44 percent shooting from the floor and a much improved 40 percent shooting from long range.
At 21-years-old, it’s clear that the wing has a promising career ahead of him and should be viewed as a budding star who could be the centerpiece of a young franchise moving forward.
Now, with this, many could argue that Barrett may soon develop into the second star this NY Knicks team needs in order to be a legitimate contender. However, to say he’ll ever reach the heights that a guy like Doncic is currently at is a bit of a challenging notion to get behind.
That’s how good the point guard is.
This past season, through 66 games played, the 22-year-old posted unbelievable averages of 27.7 points, 8.6 assists, and eight boards on 48 percent shooting from the floor and 35 percent shooting from deep.
Such a high-profile player could use for a high-profile franchise to back his brand and, with this promising front office coupled with their enviable salary situation and the reemergence of the New York allure, perhaps Broadway could be the right place for Luka.
Partnering him with Randle would give the NY Knicks one of the best dynamic duos in the entire league, and would likely be enough to entice another star to make their way over the New York and, in turn, create their long-desired metropolitan Big-3.
Giving up both RJ and Mitchell Robinson along with a few future firsts is a hefty price indeed, but if it means bringing on the superstar guard, it’s absolutely worth it.