Two things are currently true for the New York Knicks: The rotation would absolutely benefit from, if not needs, a trade. And they should stay far, far, far away from the inevitable Anthony Davis sweepstakes.
Though the Knicks are not being name-checked as the most aggressive possible AD suitor, SNY’s Ian Begley expects them to register some level of interest.
“This is stating the obvious, but I’m sure the Knicks would at least check in with Dallas if/when Anthony Davis becomes available,” he writes. “You may scoff at the idea, but the Knicks want to win a title this season. If Dallas is offering Davis at a below-market cost, I’m sure the Knicks will at least give the move some thought.”
Before we go any further, we must note that the newly involved former majority Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said Davis is not available. We should also note that nobody believes him. Dallas remains stuck in the middle of nowhere, and moving AD to optimize a full-on reset around Cooper Flagg makes the most sense.
New York targeting Davis, though, makes no sense.
The cost of Anthony Davis is going to be too high
“Below-market cost” does not exist as it pertains to an Anthony Davis trade. He is making over $54 million this year. One way or another, the Knicks would have to fork over at least one crucial part of their rotation—and most likely more.
A swap built around Karl-Anthony Towns is among the cleanest pathways to making the money work. Even then, because neither the Knicks nor Mavs can take back more salary than they send out, another team must enter the mix.
To that end, Towns is earning less than AD. Someone else needs to be included to push any deal over the hump.
In the event that “someone” resides at the back of rotation, a deal becomes more palatable. But that is only if you consider AD an upgrade from Towns for New York. That much is debatable—at best.
Towns is maddeningly inconsistent, and it remains to be seen whether he can be the full-time 5 on a contender. Davis doesn’t solve any of those issues. He is more than two years older, historically less available, and where we aren’t sure whether KAT can be an every-possession center, we know AD doesn’t like playing the 5.
Building a deal without Towns, meanwhile, is untenable. Anunoby cannot be included in any package. With or without AD, he is too critical to the defense.
Remove Towns from the table as well, and you’re looking at giving up Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Mikal Bridges, and another salary. There is almost no universe in which this leaves the Knicks better off—not with AD’s track record of availability.
AD is not necessarily a good fit for the Knicks
Some may be willing to roll the dice on Davis so long as it doesn’t include giving up Anunoby, or Jalen Brunson. The defense is beyond shaky, and no one beyond OG is suited to meaningfully improve it. That includes Mitchell Robinson.
AD fixes a lot of the issues—when healthy, which is never a guarantee for him. Beyond that, he will invariably shrink the floor on offense.
He can’t create for himself going downhill or space the floor at the level as Towns. The pairing of him and Robinson up front might wind up being impenetrable on defense, but it’ll congest the paint on offense. That won’t deter Brunson. It’s a different story for everyone else.
Keeping KAT would eliminate layers of concern. Then, though, the Knicks would be even thinner at the wing and ball-handler spots, having needed to fork over Bridges and Hart in any trade.
Any of these issues may be worth weathering if the returning player is Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are not worth it for AD—not to these Knicks, anyway.