Kudos to the New York Knicks for acquiring so many additional second-round picks during the NBA draft. The ability to include those in trades might help them find a suitable Mitchell Robinson replacement.
To be clear, nobody’s advocating for the Knicks to let Robinson walk. Depending on how much he costs, they should be willing to enter the second apron to re-sign him.
And yet, it sounds like owner/lifetime party-pooper James Dolan has other plans. Unless those change, New York will need to fill Robinson’s spot with someone else. Its freshly replenished second-round stash can help.
The Knicks are not limited to free-agency options
Suggestions for Robinson stand-ins are already available in ample supply. Most of them gravitate toward potential free-agent options. But we shouldn’t rule out trade possibilities.
Although staying out of the second apron allows the Knicks to aggregate two or more players in a deal, they aren’t teeming with expendable players. They also cannot take back more money than they receive.
This essentially leaves them to scour the market for backup bigs making less than the $3 million Pacome Dadiet is owed next season. They could look to pair him with Tyler Kolek as well, and take back a center in the $5 million range. But until they know whether Landry Shamet is sticking around, attaching second-rounders to Dadiet is their best hope of doing anything of note on the trade market.
Regardless, the players New York would offer don’t have a ton of standalone value. That changes if Deuce McBride is on the table, but dangling him for a backup big man makes little sense.
Enter draft picks. The Knicks landed six extra seconds across two nights of action, on top of selecting Jack Kayil at No. 39 and Tyler Nickel at No. 47. They can now throw three or more of those alongside Dadiet and/or Kolek without even blinking.
New York’s maneuvering at the draft could go a long way
Shopping in the $5 million-or-less bin to help replace Robinson isn’t ideal. It is not impossible.
While pickings are slim, they aren’t totally barren. Names like Ryan Kalkbrenner ($2.4 million), Jonathan Mogbo ($2.3 million), Mo Gueye ($2.4 million), Jay Huff ($2.7 million), and Micah Potter ($2.8 million) could all technically be had for Dadiet, and as many seconds as it takes.
Throw Kolek on top of Dadiet, and players such as Kyle Filipowski ($3 million), Yves Missi ($3.5 million), or Thomas Sorber ($4.9 million) could enter the mix.
Once more, with feeling: Offering Dadiet and/or Kolek alone isn’t getting any of these transactions over the hump. But the surplus of second-rounders the Knicks shrewdly accumulated during the draft just might.
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