Would Knicks make this Kyle Kuzma trade with Wizards?

Knicks trade proposal to add Kyle Kuzma: What’s the trade breakdown?

Building a trade between the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards centered around Kyle Kuzma could happen a few different ways. If the Wizards are interested in Julius Randle, a trade could be built around the Knicks forward. The two teams could just look to find a couple of smaller contracts to match Kuzma’s and otherwise include draft capital going to Washington.

Here we chose a construction with a few more pieces involved:

The Wizards are struggling this season to field viable shot creators with Bradley Beal, Monte Morris, and Delon Wright all missing time. Adding Derrick Rose would give them a proven combo guard who has been marginalized in the Knicks’ recent rotation. Obi Toppin gives them a Kuzma replacement of sorts, and Reddish and the second-round pick provide a little extra value.

On the other side of things, Kuzma comes aboard along with Will Barton, who has been a major disappointment in Washington and would help make the salaries work out.

Why would the Wizards do it?

The Wizards are in something of a bind when it comes to Kyle Kuzma. He can hit unrestricted free agency this summer and the Wizards would lose him for nothing; trading him now for value makes sense. Yet the rest of the league also knows this and will try to negotiate his cost down.

Here they get back plenty of useful pieces for Kuzma, starting with Rose in the backcourt and Toppin in the frontcourt. Toppin’s rim runs will be maximized with the spacing Kristaps Porzingis provides at the 5, and he can pair with Deni Avdija in small-ball units as the two bigs. Finally, this deal sheds a little over $1 million, giving the Wizards breathing room under the luxury tax and a little more flexibility in a subsequent trade.

For a player destined for free agency, it’s not a bad haul and threads the needle for Washington between the now and the future.