The New York Knicks are well-positioned to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference for years to come. But this summer, the Boston Celtics are going to trade Jaylen Brown, which could set them up well. And if Nikola Jokic decides not to extend with the Denver Nuggets, he could be a trade target for them next summer, and they may have the assets to make it happen.
Let’s say the Celtics trade Brown to the Portland Trail Blazers this summer. In theory, they would get back some great draft capital, including some future Milwaukee Bucks swaps and an Orlando Magic pick. If Jokic becomes available at any point in the future, that would give the Celtics some serious ammo to get a deal done.
And the Knicks don’t want that to happen.
Knicks need to root against far-fetched Nikola Jokic-Celtics reality
Obviously, a lot would have to break in a very specific set of ways for Jokic to end up in Boston. It seems extremely unlikely. But at this point, nothing is impossible. Just ask Luka Doncic.
Jokic deciding not to extend in Denver, or at least considering it, is very interesting. Because throughout the course of his entire career, it’s just seemed like he would always be a Nugget.
And it still feels that way. Last year, Jokic wanted to wait a season to start up extension talks, and now that the time has come, the two sides still aren’t going to begin those talks.
It’s interesting. It’s enough to spark far-fetched rumors – a trade to the Celtics being one of them. But if there were any team built to trade for Jokic, it would be a Boston team with the assets from a Brown trade.
Again, a trade with Portland is a perfect example. The Nuggets would love to get their hands on future Bucks picks (and probably some other picks from the Celtics, too).
If Jokic ever decided to leave, it would probably be in the Nuggets’ best interest to hit the reset button and completely rebuild their roster. Adding significant draft capital would help them do that.
Pairing Jokic with Jayson Tatum would be great for the Nuggets, especially if they maintained some of the rest of their current core to give them depth.
But if the Knicks want to remain atop the East, they need the Celtics to misread the tea leaves. The far-fetched tea leaves that could lead Jokic to Boston a year from now.
However unlikely, New York better hope it doesn’t happen. Because a Tatum-Jokic duo would be absolutely lethal.
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