Surefire to Long Shot: Ranking chance of 7 NBA stars landing with Knicks

No. 4: The Knicks’ chances with Pascal Siakam

We move now from the longshots to the players with a more predictable path to being available. Pascal Siakam is having another All-NBA level season, but the Toronto Raptors will need to scrap just to make the play-in tournament this season. While Toronto stood pat at the trade deadline, it’s very likely they make wholesale changes this summer.

Siakam is the least likely of their veteran core to be moved, but he’s still the most likely player on this entire list to be traded. The reason he ranks further down the list is twofold: one, he’s a poor fit on the Knicks next to Julius Randle; and two, the Knicks probably want to set their sights higher, as they have been for the past year.

No. 3: The Knicks’ chances with Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard has played his entire career for the Portland Trail Blazers; he’s already one of the two best players in franchise history, and at no point has he said anything but that he loves being in Portland. With all of that being said, every transaction cycle there are rumors about Lillard leaving, fueled in part by private conversations and in part by the public reality of an all-timer playing on yet another mediocre team.

The Trail Blazers are under .500 and clinging to 10th place in the Western Conference; this summer they will need to pay through the nose to keep Jerami Grant, hampering future upgrades, and they just made two “seller” moves at the trade deadline. Can Lillard continue to commit to a team that isn’t going to be competing for a title anytime soon?

If Lillard does ask out, the Knicks are a natural landing spot for him. The Knicks would love to fill up Madison Square Garden with fans hungry for 40-foot rainbows and 50-point explosions.