With the trade deadline passing and the Knicks making a pretty darn good trade, it has us reminiscing on just how bad things used to be in New York. Obviously, it hasn’t always been bad for the Knicks, but I don’t think there are many doubts that it’s been a rough 20 years.
With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the worst trades in Knicks history to show just how good fans have had it in the last couple of seasons.
These trades are not only some of the worst in history, but should also be considered some of the worst in league history. Not only did New York give up picks that ended up becoming incredible players, but the players they received in return simply didn’t live up to the hype.
Reminiscing on the 3 worst trades in New York Knicks history
Trade #3: Disrespecting Patrick Ewing by sending him away
This trade was just wrong on so many levels. Not only did the Knicks send away arguably the greatest player in franchise history, but they also added more than $90 million in contracts through 2004.
With this deal, the Knicks traded Patrick Ewing on the last year of his contract in return for Glen Rice, Luc Longley, and Travis Knight – three players who did absolutely nothing but eat up cap space during their time in New York.
While the Knicks would also receive a couple of first-round picks, they did just about nothing with these picks, making the deal look even worse. Hindsight is 20/20, but this deal just doesn’t make any sense even outside of the disrespect for Ewing.
As for Ewing himself, even he said he was shocked by the deal, stating:
"I was shocked… I’ve been stunned for two days walking around… I never thought I’d end my career anywhere else."
Honestly, the blatant disrespect for Ewing by the Knicks’ front office at the time is annoying to look back upon. If the front office wanted to get rid of Ewing so badly they could have just waited until the end of the season for his contract to expire. However, they instead opted to trade for bloated contracts that led the team nowhere,
Basketball is a business, I understand that, but looking at all the other franchises that kept their cornerstone players around for their entire careers, even when they weren’t that great, makes the Knicks look dumb.
Trade #2: Eddy Curry for two future All-NBA players
When I think of the Isiah Thomas era for the Knicks, it’s usually not good, and this trade is a big reason. This move, partnered with the awful contract Thomas handed to Jerome James, made fans’ lives miserable for a while.
This trade saw Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas, and Jermaine Jackson, alongside two first-round picks leave New York for Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis. While the players the Knicks sent out weren’t anything too crazy, it was the draft picks the team traded that ended up costing them in the long run.
The picks the Knicks sent out were their own 2006 first-round pick and the rights to swap their first-rounder in 2007. These picks ended up becoming Lamarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA member, and Joakim Noah, a defensive player of the year, and two-time All-Star.
Alongside this, the Knicks also obtained Curry’s ridiculous six-year, $60 million contract. Curry wasn’t the worst player during his time in New York, but that doesn’t justify this trade and what the Knicks gave up.
During his five seasons with the Knicks, Curry averaged 15.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks per game. So again, not the worst, but when you trade two first-round picks for a player and pay them that much money, they need to be better.
This trade will always define just how bad of a GM Thomas was for the Knicks. He was a heck of a player, but please never let him in a front office ever again.
Trade #1: Obtaining Andrea Bargnani for some reason
This trade is funnier than anything to look back at, especially because of Andrea Bargnani’s embarrassing missed dunk attempt during his time in New York. However, this doesn’t change the fact that this is very possibly the worst trade in the history of the Knicks.
In this trade, the Knicks sent out Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a first-round pick in 2016, and two second-round picks (one being in 2014 and the other in 2017).
While the pick would end up becoming Jakob Poeltl, who is a very solid player in his own right. However, Domantas Sabonis was available two picks later and would have been quite the game-changer.
What makes this trade a lot worse than the Curry trade, however, is that the Knicks were just coming off a season in which they won 54 games and were looking to make a push as a legitimate contender in the East.
Instead, they made this awful trade and won just 37 games in the following season and have never been the same since. There are so many other trades the front office could’ve made to improve the Knicks and this is the one they went with. A true example of absolute incompetence.
The best part about this trade is that it’s not even like Bargnani was a good player when the Knicks traded for him, and he got even worse in New York. In just two seasons with the Knicks, Bargnani averaged 13.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 30.2% from three on 2.1 attempts per game.
This trade is just an absolute disaster and brought the downfall of the early 2010s Knicks, some of the most entertaining basketball fans had seen since the 90s.
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