3 trade packages for Bradley Beal to juice Knicks backcourt
The New York Knicks are hunting this offseason. They have gathered their gear, packed a lunch, loaded their gun, and are out in the woods settled into their deer stand. Their desire to make a trade is not just conjecture; if a trade target sufficiently raises its head, they will pull the trigger.
Who will that trade target be, though? Last summer it wasn’t Donovan Mitchell, as the Knicks got close but ultimately eased off the trigger. They reportedly talked about Zach LaVine at the NBA Trade Deadline. Damian Lillard, Brandon Ingram, Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Trae Young — the names continue to swirl.
Can the Knicks go after Bradley Beal in an offseason trade?
The latest name has hit the rumor mill hard, and that’s Bradley Beal. The former All-NBA guard is reportedly open to discussing a trade with Washington Wizards officials, with the hopes of finding a landing spot that’s amenable to both sides. Beal has a full no-trade clause, so he will have to approve of any deal directly.
Could the Knicks be on Beal’s list? And who would they need to give up to land him? It’s impossible to know what the going rate for overpriced stars is, as Beal is both very good and very expensive. Let’s look at three different kinds of trade constructions and see which would be best to land Beal in the Big Apple.
Trade package No. 3: Giving Washington a true draft haul
The New York Knicks have amassed a large collection of draft picks, with four extra firsts on top of their normal set of picks. That gives them a lot of ammunition in a deal. It could mean that they split up their young players and picks to make two separate trades to add big-name talent. The other path, however, is to use the picks for one big swing, commit to Julius Randle as their third star as well as their young depth to be the right players to see them to a championship.
In that scenario, the Wizards might be the team to target as they start their rebuild. Their cap space isn’t vital to them right now, and if the Knicks push enough draft picks into the middle of the table, the Wizards may take on empty salary to allow the Knicks to keep all of their depth. Here’s what that trade might look like:
The Knicks would opt into Derrick Rose’s contract for next season, which is a massive overpay but allows them to keep RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, one of whom would have to be in a Beal trade otherwise. Hartenstein is the only rotation player necessary, and with Jericho Sims in the wings, it isn’t much of a hit, especially with the free-agent market flush with veteran bigs.
The Knicks would have an insanely deep roster. Their backcourt would have Beal, Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley, and Quentin Grimes; the frontcourt would retain Barrett, Randle, Obi Toppin and Robinson, and should be able to squeak Josh Hart back in under the tax apron. It’s a very expensive team moving forward, but it’s flush with the necessary talent.
For the Wizards, they effectively rent their cap space out to the Knicks and get off Beal’s contract, and in return get a whopping five first-round picks in return. That would naturally include their own protected 2024 first-rounder, as well as a pick each from Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee and New York. It doesn’t give them a young player to hang their hat on, but now they get a number of shots at finding that player themselves.