This Bleacher Report Knicks-Wizards trade couldn’t be more ludicrous
The 2022-23 regular season just started, but there’s already talk about players that could be traded over the next few months. Unsurprisingly, Russell Westbrook is the most talked about player that could (and should) be traded, but Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz went through and wrote about one trade that all 30 teams could make.
Now, Bleacher Report isn’t known to create trades that necessarily make sense, and the same can be said for the deal that Swartz believes New York should make. If there’s one player that Knicks fans want to see gone, it’s Evan Fournier, so that’s perhaps the only good thing about this trade.
Here’s the trade that Swartz suggested for New York:
The Knicks should not trade for Wizards’ Bradley Beal and Taj Gibson
If this deal were to happen (and it’s a BIG if), it couldn’t happen until Dec. 15 since Bradley Beal signed the second-largest contract in NBA history during the offseason at five years, $251 million. On top of that, Beal has a no-trade clause in his new contract, so the guard has the ability to prevent a trade from happening. Bleacher Report noted that in the piece.
It’s clear that the Wizards are all-in on Beal, so not only would it be unbelievable if he were to be traded to the Knicks, it’d be unbelievable if he were traded to any other of the 28 teams this season. That in itself makes this trade have a 0.1% chance of happening.
Would it be nice to see Taj Gibson back in New York? Of course, but he left for a reason. After the Knicks waived him this past summer, Gibson opted to sign with the Wizards instead of re-signing with New York on a lesser deal. And with all due respect to Taj, New York doesn’t need him.
As mentioned, it would actually likely be beneficial to the Knicks if they traded Fournier. It’d open up minutes for younger players like Quentin Grimes and Cam Reddish, who was included in this hypothetical trade. And speaking of Reddish, he had a huge opening night for New York, so the front office shouldn’t be wanting to give up on him just yet.
Derrick Rose’s leadership is valuable to the second unit and him being healthy this season could end up being a game-changer, so it’d be hard to see him leave, but it wouldn’t be detrimental to the Knicks if he were to go.
And as for the three first-round picks that New York would be sending to Washington, those need to be saved for a younger star. Beal’s dealt with injuries in the past too, so trading for him would be a huge gamble for the Knicks.
In case it isn’t clear, this is a trade that New York shouldn’t make, and it’s a trade that Bradley Beal likely wouldn’t consent to, either. Next!
