The NY Knicks‘ season is in turmoil with a current record of 13-17 which is good for just 12th place in the East.
The team has won just two games out of their last ten, and with Covid seemingly taking out half of the team’s players, winning ball games is going to become even more of a task.
The Knicks’ front office is being faced with a very tall task, as today’s team looks nothing like the team from the second half of last season that eventually secured the 4th seed in the East and hosted a playoff series.
Today’s team may not even make the play-in tournament if we’re being honest with ourselves.
Leon Rose and Co were faced with a huge decision this past summer, and that was to either consider last season to be a fluke and continue trying to build the roster from within or to double-down on the team’s success and try to replicate the success from 2020-21.
Would you consider this Jalen Brunson trade to the NY Knicks?
Obviously, they chose the latter, and here we are.
With a bunch of young, promising players on the roster like RJ, Grimes, IQ, Obi, and McBride, along with no real path towards serious contention unless the team somehow turns things around entirely, tanking and building around that core might be the way to go.
But if that’s not an option, there are a few trades that the team can consider that could turn the immediate future around a bit.
One of those trades would be for Indiana’s Myles Turner, but that trade may cost the Knicks a couple of first-rounders.
Another trade that I think is very realistic and helps all teams involved is the one below.
As we can see, Kemba and Mitch get shipped off to Dallas, OKC sends Mike Muscala to New York while the Knicks acquire Jalen Brunson and send out two 2nd rounders to the Thunder.
As some of you may know, Jalen Brunson has many ties to the Knicks, President Leon Rose, and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau.
Let’s take a look at why each team involved does the deal.