15 Way-too-early 2024 trade deadline candidates for Knicks to monitor

Doug McDermott, San Antonio Spurs

The New York Knicks were a below-average 3-point shooting team last season and, unfortunately, that carried over into the playoffs. Even though the Knicks managed to make it to the second round of the playoffs, the Knicks were statistically the worst 3-point shooting team of all 16 teams that participated in the postseason. Was it the only reason why the Knicks lost to the Miami Heat in the conference semifinals? Probably not, but it certainly didn’t help them any as the Heat were bombing 3’s away on a consistent basis in that second-round playoff series.

While the addition of Donte DiVincenzo will certainly help the Knicks’ 3-point shooting, it would be malpractice to expect him to almost single-handedly improve the team’s efficiency in that department. That’s where a potential trade deadline move for Doug McDermott makes some sense.

McDermott is entering the final season of his contract with the San Antonio Spurs and it would almost be surprising if he didn’t emerge as a trade candidate during the regular season, if not before. When given the opportunity, McDermott has consistently been a good 3-point shooter in the NBA. In five of his last six seasons, he’s shot at least 40 percent from 3.