NY Knicks: 1 Trade NY should have made and 1 they shouldn’t have

Should the NY Knicks have made the pick swap with Charlotte or not?

I’m not even going to begin to discuss why I think the Knicks could have been better off selecting Kai Jones themselves instead of trading that pick away to Charlotte.

That’s not what this is about in the slightest.

The fact is, the Knicks made this move to clear up even more cap space for free agency, so moving the pick forward a year makes sense.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, the Knicks are highly unlikely to actually use Charlotte’s pick next year, or whichever year it eventually conveys itself.

It’ll eventually be used in a trade anyway and that’s why I’m not all too worried about the details.

But what if the Knicks somehow get stuck having to use the pick?

The pick is top 18 protected for 2022 and the protections reduce each year after that for a few seasons.

And let’s say Charlotte improves drastically over last season and that pick ends up being in the 19 to 21 range.

Then the Knicks traded the 19th pick in an absolutely loaded draft for essentially the 20th pick in a draft that’s not being considered nearly as strong as of now.

I’m not opposed to the trade itself and I get exactly why it was done. But why not make a deal with a little more upside?

Let’s just hope Charlotte doesn’t improve much at all next year and when the pick is eventually conveyed, it becomes a pick just outside the lottery in a few seasons.