The New York Knicks and Lakers were reportedly close on a trade

The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly very close on a trade hours before the trade deadline, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Charania recently appeared as a guest on the “Real Ones” podcast with Raja Bell and Logan Murdock of The Ringer, where he discussed both his career and some behind the scenes of this past trade deadline.

Charania mentioned that the New York Knicks were involved in deadline talks despite not getting a deal done, with one deal getting close with the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.

New York Knicks reportedly had “hiccups” in trade with Lakers

Charania talked about a 3-team deal involving the Los Angeles Lakers, the Toronto Raptors, and the New York Knicks and said that most of the framework was in place.

The deal framework, for the most part, was as follows:

Apparently, the Lakers were the aggressors in trying to get this deal done, a deal that ultimately fell short, with the “hiccups” happening on both the Knicks and Raptors end. The Lakers were apparently willing to add another draft pick as part of the deal.

We know the Knicks were trying to offload some of the struggling veterans.

I wrote about this just after the deadline had passed, and this should be clear by now — The New York Knicks have tanked their players’ value. Outside of RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson, it feels like every single player has potentially negative trade value.

What’s troubling is this idea that Reddish was available so soon after the team traded a first-round pick to acquire him.

It’s another sign of something very obvious — the front office and head coach not being on the same page. The Knicks went out to trade for Cam Reddish, a young player who will be up for an extension soon, only to not give them any significant playing time.

Getting a 2nd round pick and Goran Dragic certainly doesn’t feel like a lot, and almost feels like a “save the season” desperation move.

Sure, Dragic can play point guard, a position NY desperately needs, but holding onto Reddish appears to be a wiser decision. Not to mention, Burks is still a good player on a fine deal, he’s just been forced to play out of position for the past few months.

What do you think Knicks fans, would you have made this trade?