What trading Obi Toppin in a Donovan Mitchell deal would mean for the Knicks

What trading Obi Toppin would mean for the Knicks

Trading Obi Toppin would not exactly declare defeat for Leon Rose and his scouting department, but it would question where they are at with him as a player and how they value Donovan Mitchell and Julius Randle. There are a few modes of thinking for wondering why the main player offered was Toppin.

Knicks value Toppin as their best young player and Randle as an unmovable option

Mode one is that they value him as their best young player, but believe acquiring Donovan Mitchell by himself is enough to bring relevancy to New York.

In this scenario, they believe they cannot find room for Toppin behind Randle and that Randle is not tradable. So rather than sit on a now depreciating asset, they should sell Toppin for a player they believe is a key to contention. This ultimately would show that the team is not confident in the strength of Randle’s extension and would believe that it is in their best interest to assume he will be with the team long term due to a lack of suitors.

This is a hopeful mode of thinking without much of a plan, as the franchise has to really bank on Mitchell propelling them by himself while regulating Randle to a lesser role in hopes of waiting for another trade to come along.

This is most likely not a successful short-term ideology for New York, as bringing in another star while not putting more faith in Randle would ultimately lead to a further fall from grace for him.

This would place the Knicks in an awkward situation in between being a rebuilding team and a playoff team. Getting Mitchell here feels forced, as it could cost them their best young player. This has a strong “Carmelo Anthony” vibe to it.

If New York is not confident in Randle, they should not force a trade to get Mitchell, as it may not solve anything in the short or long term. It leaves the team without much direction and with Mitchell set to be a free agent in three seasons, it could be a massive blunder.

Knicks value Toppin as their best young player, but value Randle as a playoff piece

Mode two is that they believe Toppin will find his groove in the league, but they see him as a project player. The team would be confident in Randle having a bounce back year and values a tandem of Mitchell and Randle over one where they try to make Toppin and Randle work.

Randle is an All-Star caliber talent and perhaps in a new role within the offense, he would flourish. This ultimately shows that Leon Rose is satisfied with the improvements he’s made and that he’s ready to cash in his chips for the big prize.

This trade shows more confidence in the front office’s moves (Randle and Brunson) than in their youth assets and proves that the direction of the franchise would be to win now.

This could lead to more trades valuing established players over draft assets and young players and would define where the team is at. If this is the mode of thinking, they should absolutely go get Mitchell and continue to be aggressive in landing more established talent to build around their new core.

Knicks value Toppin as their worst young player

This mode of thinking is an admittance that Toppin has not panned out and that the team is ready to move on from him after two seasons. This leaves a lot to be desired as far as the direction of the team is concerned and would put the Knicks in a more desperate situation.

Regardless of how they feel about Randle, their lack of confidence in Toppin here would reveal a weakness in the team’s ability to gauge top-level draft talent. This could be viewed as a concern, as a major point to build on for this front office has been to get better in the draft.

The franchise is too accustomed to draft busts in recent memory, and by trading away their most recent lottery selection, it could be a saving-face type of move.

One missed draft selection does not define an entire front office tenure, but the question would become — Is the team more eager to get Mitchell or trying to move on from a miss before it comes back to bite them?