Another offseason is here. The New York Knicks have already been linked to the two available stars on the trade market, but trading for Damian Lillard or James Harden wouldn’t be a good idea. Some fans are desperate to see the front office make a move for a star and would be content with Lillard or Harden, but Leon Rose and Co. being patient is actually a good thing.
The Knicks are coming off a season where they finished fifth in the East and made it to the semifinals before being ousted by the Heat. More importantly, Jalen Brunson solidified his spot as the player that New York should build around.
Although he didn’t receive All-NBA or All-Star honors, the Knicks have their star in Jalen Brunson. New York doesn’t seem inclined to trade Julius Randle, who did receive All-NBA/All-Star honors in 2022-23 for the second time in three seasons.
With the Knicks still in the market to trade for a star, there’s a chance that the front office could decide to hold off until the 2024 offseason when big-name players could be on the move.
4 superstars the Knicks could wait until 2024 offseason to trade for
4: Luka Doncic
The Knicks have been collecting Villanova pieces with ties to Jalen Brunson, but it would be major if New York managed to bring in the point guard’s former Dallas teammate.
After the 2023-24 season, Luka Doncic will have two more years on the five-year, $207 million supermax extension that he signed in 2021. Depending on how the Mavericks season shakes out, Doncic could request a trade.
Dallas is coming off a wildly disappointing season where it purposely tanked at the end of the regular season to avoid the play-in tournament and get the No. 10 pick in the draft. Doncic said that he “didn’t like the decision” to throw the season away with two games left, which wasn’t something that the Mavericks wanted to hear from their franchise player.
So far this offseason, Dallas drafted Dereck Lively with its first-round pick, re-signed Kyrie Irving to a three-year, $126 million contract that could come back to haunt them and re-signed Dwight Powell, and signed Seth Curry and Dante Exum. If the Mavericks aren’t able to not only get back to the playoffs but make a deep enough run to satisfy Doncic, the 24-year-old guard could shake up the NBA with a trade.
Mark Cuban would likely rather do anything but send Doncic to the Knicks, but between New York’s assets and the appeal of playing with Brunson again, it’s an idea that shouldn’t be counted out.