The New York Knicks, and every other Eastern Conference team vying to take advantage of a relatively weak playoff landscape, inadvertently ran into some trouble on Friday night. The Knicks didn't do anything themselves. But the Cleveland Cavaliers, now tied for the fourth seed, did. They sent DeAndre Hunter to the Kings, run by former Knicks GM Scott Perry, in a three-team deal that got Dario Saric to the Chicago Bulls and landed both Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis in Cleveland. This is an upgrade and the Knicks might want to factor it in ahead of February 5's trade deadline.
Cavs get better in 3-team deal while Knicks have trade declined by Spurs
The Cavaliers created $50 million in salary and tax savings this season with the trade, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Hunter has been having a rough season for them thus far, averaging just 14 points per game on 30.8% 3-point shooting. While neither Schröder nor Ellis are accurate 3-point shooters themselves, shooting just 34 and 36% respectively thus far, turning just Hunter into both guards could prove to be important to the Cavaliers.
They have second-year swingman Jaylon Tyson to give more minutes to in the wake of Hunter's departure and now have bolstered guard depth, which is significant given starting point guard Darius Garland's injury troubles this season alone. The Knicks have learned the hard way in recent years that injuries can come at the worst times amid playoff runs, so it makes sense to see the Cavs stock up ahead of the deadline.
The acquisitions of Schröder and Ellis won't make the Cavaliers' rotation some basketball panacea that's destined to make the NBA Finals. But it makes them better at a time where they've won seven of their last ten games and have quickly risen the ranks of the Eastern Conference standings.
Meanwhile, the Knicks aren't having as much luck in the trade department, with the San Antonio Spurs reportedly declining an offer they made for fourth-year Frenchman Jeremy Sochan. New York offered Guerschon Yabusele and Pacôme Dadiet to Victor Wembanyama's Spurs in hopes of finding the former a new home despite sacrificing the latter to make it happen.
However, the Spurs clearly didn't accept the offer. This, unfortunately for the Knicks, adds to the case that they'll need to include draft compensation in any deal for Yabusele because of his player option for next season. New York signed Yabusele with the taxpayer mid-level exception, which guarantees the signee a player option for a second season of the deal.
It's not the end of the world that the Knicks might lose a second-round pick or two in a deal for Yabusele, but they should try prioritize a deal where they trade two picks away for an upgrade on the Frenchman as opposed to dealing just one to compensate for his contract.