The New York Knicks are a far different team than they were a year ago, or even two years ago when they secured the No. 4 seed in the East. Led by Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, the Knicks have clawed their way to being one of the top teams in the East.
After deciding to not trade for Donovan Mitchell over the summer, New York’s front office is still in search of the next star to make a move for. As of right now, there’s no way of knowing which star players (if any) will request a trade during the upcoming offseason. A lot of it will depend on how the rest of the regular season and the playoffs will shake out.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five players that could possibly request a trade over the summer. This is all speculation, but if one of these five players were to request a trade, it wouldn’t be surprising. Will the Knicks make a major move during the offseason?
5 possible star players Knicks could trade for during 2023 offseason
5: Zach LaVine
Knicks fans are still scarred from thinking that the front office was going to trade for Zach LaVine ahead of the trade deadline in February. With Chicago being at risk of missing the play-in tournament, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if the Bulls decided to retool their roster during the offseason.
LaVine has been connected to his former head coach Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks for a couple of years now. He was set to become a free agent in 2022, but he signed a five-year, $215 million max contract with Chicago last July. However, there’s a real chance that a year after signing his name to a new deal last year, he could soon be on the move.
He’s downplayed the trade rumors that were circling around his name before the deadline, but those rumors will pick right back up if the Bulls aren’t able to at least secure a playoff berth via the play-in tournament. That outcome isn’t so likely.
New York was right to not seriously pursue LaVine leading up to the deadline. His contract and injury history are both red flags. Those two things don’t change the possibility that he could be the next big-name player available, though.