5 Superstars Knicks should spend the season quietly recruiting for 2024-25
By Tyler Watts
2. Luka Doncic
The Mavericks crashed out of the playoffs in 2023 after trading for Kyrie Irving. It was so bad that Dallas tanked their final two games to keep the Knicks from getting their first-round pick. The Mavs now owe their 2024 first to New York from the Kristaps Porzingis trade back in 2019.
Dallas re-signed Kyrie and upgraded their roster this summer, but was it enough to make them contenders? They reached the conference finals in 2022 with Jalen Brunson, but things have nosedived since he arrived in New York. Nobody was happy at the end of last season, and a Luka Doncic trade request could be around the corner if the Mavericks missed the playoffs again.
The 24-year-old is a four-time All-Star and four-time first-team All-NBA selection. He proved he can win next to Jalen Brunson in Dallas, and Doncic has only improved. Luka averaged 32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in 36.2 minutes per game last season. He is one of the best players in the world and would instantly make the Knicks a title contender.
Luka Doncic has a player option in 2026, so the New York Knicks would be getting two prime years of an unstoppable force if they traded for him in the summer of 2024. Leon Rose and the front office should begin the recruitment now because there will be no shortage of suitors if Luka asks to be traded.