NY Knicks: When should a trade for a Superstar happen?

My answer to the headline of this article is “Who cares when it happens? The NY Knicks are building something special and that’s all that matters.”

Generally, I enjoy articles by Marc Berman of the NY Post and aggregate a lot of content from them.

But this time around, unfortunately for Marc, I gotta rip him apart a little bit.

First off, the title of his article is “The ‘big’ Knicks question if they can’t pull off blockbuster trade” and it’s got very little to do with if, when, and for whom the Knicks eventually consolidate some assets for in a trade.

It’s got much more to do with how the Knicks can remain competitive and what players will play the biggest role in the team’s success and progression.

So a little misleading if you ask me.

When is the right time for the NY Knicks to strike on a big trade?

Whether or not the team gets any better than they were last year relies pretty heavily on both Derrick Rose and Kemba Walker’s health, I think we all can agree.

Berman went on to say:

"If the Knicks don’t pull off a blockbuster trade this season, they will go as far as the knees of their 30-year-old-plus point guards take them.Though Evan Fournier was their most expensive free-agent acquisition, team president Leon Rose’s decision to ink Kemba Walker and re-sign Derrick Rose will decide whether the Knicks progress off 2020-21’s rousing 41-31 campaign.Point-guard play has been the Knicks’ death knell during their 48-year championship drought. The health and productivity of Walker, 31, and a resurgent Rose, 32, will determine everything."

If we’re being honest here, things can’t get a whole lot worse this year considering that the Knicks accomplished more last year with a constant net negative on the court for the entire season in Elfrid Payton.

Even if one of Derrick Rose or Kemba Walker went down with some sort of injury, I still think they’d do just fine subbing in rookie Deuce McBride at the point for some minutes.

But one thing I’m definitely not worried about is a Superstar trade happening. I know it’s going to happen sooner than later.

My apologies to the fans who don’t think the Knicks are setting themselves up for a huge acquisition via trade and will continue ‘building organically’ because the writing is on the wall.

What I am worried about is who they eventually deal for and when.

If the Knicks are going to blow things up a bit and move some of the young players we’ve grown to love and some of the draft capital the front office has been stockpiling, the last thing I’d want them to do is trade for the wrong player.

Whether it be a player who comes to New York and doesn’t immediately buy into the culture that’s been developing for well over a year.

Or a guy who just doesn’t fit and mesh with whoever’s leftover after the trade.

More importantly, I don’t think the fanbase is in any rush for the Knicks to win now, but more so for them to continue a slow, gradual climb toward the top.

So as far as Berman’s initial question, if the trade doesn’t happen this season, which I personally doubt it does anyway…I think I speak for the entire fanbase in saying that I’m totally fine with that being the case.

If I had to throw a prediction out there, I think the Knicks make a move either in the summer of 2023 or 2024.

I think they’re gonna wait until the latter as names like Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns will all become unrestricted free agents.

On top of that, players like Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell as just two examples will be in the final year of their current contracts which means that the Knicks could potentially sign a Superstar in free agency and subsequently make that huge trade for another big name.

We’re in the era of “Big 3’s” so making that huge trade means little to nothing without the signing and vice versa.

The goal until then should only be to remain a viable and attractive destination for these players so that they want to come here when the time is right.