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3 All-in trade packages New York Knicks could make for Trae Young

By Josh Cornelissen

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 15: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks and Julius Randle #30 of the New York Knicks battle for a loose ball during the first quarter at State Farm Arena on February 15, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 15: Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks and Julius Randle #30 of the New York Knicks battle for a loose ball during the first quarter at State Farm Arena on February 15, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, New York Knicks. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Trade Package No. 3: Stacking young studs

The draft-pick-heavy deal would allow the Atlanta Hawks to reset; the trade sending Julius Randle would let them continue competing around Randle and Dejounte Murray. This final option is something of a middle ground for Atlanta; the question is whether the Knicks are comfortable pushing all of these chips into the middle to build the most win-now version of their team they can.

If the Hawks want to completely rebuild the young core of their team, this is one way to go about it:

Would the Knicks make this deal? On the one hand, it completely erodes all of their young talent. Yet they have drafted so well that they still have depth pieces around their veteran core, and they retain all of their draft picks to make smaller deals to restock the depth or even another big trade for another fringe star.

Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, Josh Hart, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson is an intriguing starting lineup, and the Knicks would have Miles McBride, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Evan Fournier to fill in behind them. They could use a couple of picks to add a player like Dorian Finney-Smith on the trade market. What about signing a Dillon Brooks or Jae Crowder in free agency?

Could they package picks and the contracts of Fournier and Derrick Rose to go after another player? They could throw picks at the Toronto Raptors for OG Anunoby; would a dead salary plus five first-round picks be enough? What about three firsts, Fournier and Isaiah Hartenstein for Andrew Wiggins if the Warriors need to offload salary? Losing their young core would hurt, but keeping the draft picks to remake the back end of the rotation gives them a different kind of flexibility.

Trae Young is not the most natural fit on the Knicks, but that doesn’t mean New York won’t go after him. Each of these trades seems at least reasonable enough to be discussed, and any one of them could intrigue Atlanta enough to make a move. Which gives the Knicks the best chance to compete for a title?

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