I figured the team that makes the most sense here would of course be the team who showed the most interest in trading for Robinson at this year’s deadline.
As per Ian Begley of SNY, Detroit made a strong push for the 23-year-old but talks came to a screeching halt due to the Knicks wanting Pistons’ rookie center Isaiah Stewart in the deal.
The details of the trade that Detroit had in mind have never come to the surface, but it’s quite puzzling why the team would be interested in rostering both Stewart and Robinson. I feel like the two of their skillsets don’t differ enough for it to make sense.
But if they were interested then, they’d likely be interested now. They have the money to blow but since the Knicks have Robinson’s Bird Rights, it’ll be hard to sign him away from New York for nothing.
This trade is unlikely to happen for several reasons, but humor me for a second. Let’s say that when the draft lottery takes place, Detroit’s pick slips outside of the top three.
Then, let’s just assume that the Knicks’ pick, which is currently slotted in the 10th spot, moves up to seven or eight. Yes, losing Robinson hurts but in this scenario, he’s either leaving for nothing or New York will have a chance to get a top-five pick in this year’s draft.
I know a lot of fans want the Knicks to tank for Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and here’s their chance to get him even without necessarily tanking.
Ivey isn’t your prototypical pass-first point guard by any means but he’s been drawing comparisons to Memphis’ Ja Morant. Pairing a guy like that with RJ Barrett would be lethal.