After emerging as one of the New York Knicks’ most popular trade targets in recent weeks, Yves Missi must now apparently come off the team’s wish list. No, the New Orleans Pelicans are not sending him elsewhere (yet). But they’ve made it clear they won’t accept what New York has to offer.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, the “Pelicans have signaled that they’d want a first-round pick to consider parting” with their 21-year-old big man. The asking price will sound high to some, but Missi is young, capable of logging real rotation minutes, and most importantly of all, on the books for just under $5.6 million next season.
Unless something dramatically changes, the Knicks won’t be landing his services. They do not have a single first-round pick to trade, so they’ll need the Pelicans’ asking price to considerably drop.
The Pelicans effectively booted the Knicks from the Yves Missi sweepstakes
Spoiler alert: New Orleans’ asking price isn’t suddenly going to implode. It is under no obligation to move Missi, who’s giving the team plenty of good minutes off the bench. And even if it (inexplicably) approaches his future with urgency, it has little incentive to settle for what New York can offer.
Dangling the Washington Wizards’ 2026 first-round pick is a good place to start for the Knicks. It is under top-eight protection, so it’s not going to convey. But it still turns into Washington’s 2026 and 2027 seconds, the first of which would currently convey at No. 32 in June’s draft. That’s practically a first-rounder!
While true, though, New York is up against two major obstacles. First and foremost, the outgoing salary it’d fork over isn’t particularly palatable. Guerschon Yabusele is the starting point, and the player option he holds for next season is a big turnoff for prospective trade partners.
On the off chance the Pelicans don’t mind, the second, equally critical problem arises. Trading Missi for Yabusele and seconds would vault New Orleans into the luxury tax. Anyone who follows the Pelicans knows they aren’t paying the tax.
Though New York can expand the deal to include more players, salaries, and even teams, it doesn’t have the endless supply or caliber of assets to readily flesh out more complicated constructions. The Knicks must also be cognizant of how much they’re surrendering for a backup big man—or anyone else. Giving up too much damages their inevitable, if not desperately ongoing pursuit, of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Toss in the fact that Scotto says Missi is also drawing interest from the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls, we already know how the Knicks’ pursuit of him will end: unsuccessfully.