With so many of their previous options seemingly coming off the table, the New York Knicks may have already entered contingency-plan mode in advance of the trade deadline. That’s quite alright, because one of their safety nets is Naji Marshall, a close-to-ideal acquisition—so long as he doesn’t cost Deuce McBride or Mitchell Robinson…which he might.
The 28-year-old combo forward was recently identified by SNY’s Ian Begley as a name the Knicks are keeping tabs on. He appears to be far from Plan A, but the team is quickly finding out its primary targets are complicated endeavors, if not outright no-gos.
New York’s pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo is essentially out of its hands, instead entirely hinging on the two-time MVP exerting his leverage. Jose Alvarado apparently prefers to stay put in New Orleans. The Pelicans, meanwhile, want a guaranteed first-round pick for Yves Mossi, which the Knicks do not have. And in a true bummer, the Keon Ellis ship has already sailed.
Marshall, on the other hand, remains in play. Yet, there is a strong chance that he, too, ends up outside New York’s price range.
The Knicks face an uphill battle landing Naji Marshall
Cast aside the on-court warts for a minute. Marshall doesn’t take or make nearly enough threes, but he’s among the NBA’s best finishers out of drives, and can be moved up and down the positional spectrum on defense. Unless the Knicks believe Mohamed Diawara will be ready for playoff minutes, they could use another wing outside the OG Aunonoby-Mikal Bridges-Josh Hart triangle.
Still, two big problems loom for the Knicks: The Dallas Mavericks’ asking price, and matching salary.
Dallas wants a first-round pick for Marshall, who has another year and a team-friendly $9.4 million left on his contract. The Knicks don’t have one of those to offer. They could sub in the Washington Wizards’ protected 2026 first-rounder, which will turn into two seconds,at least one of which will land in the early 30s. But even if the Mavs accept that, or even if New York includes a third second-rounder, the math remains tricky.
Marshall is on the books for $9 million this season. The Knicks’ widely shopped package of Guerschon Yabusele and Pacome Dadiet won’t do the trick. New York can’t take back more money than it sends out—the same goes for Dallas—and those two salaries combine for just $8.3 million.
Adding a third contract to the equation gets the job done, whether it’s Jordan Clarkson, Landry Shamet, Tyler Kolek, Mohamed Diawara, or Ariel Hukporti. At that point, though, the Knicks will need a third team to join the fold. That could take additional compensation. The same goes for getting Dallas or that third squad to take on Yabusele, and his not-so-desirable player option for next season.
Naji Marshall could cost Deuce McBride
This is a lot of moving parts to juggle using only seconds, and salaries other teams don’t want. If the Knicks want to offset the absence of a first-round pick, they may need to put McBride on the table.
Robinson works as well, and wouldn’t necessarily require the inclusion of other money. But that scenario makes little sense unless New York is also bringing back another big man to sponge up minutes behind—or alongside—Karl-Anthony Towns. Dallas also has little use for another center.
Throwing in McBride likely allows the Knicks to suss out a third party, land Marshall, and get off Yabusele’s contract. Is that return worth the cost? Debatable…at best.
The answer is probably not. New York would be punting on point-of-attack defensive volume and floor-spacing by going from McBride to Marshall. The former, in particular, is not a concession this team has the luxury to make. So if it turns out that Marshall is ungettable without the inclusion of McBride, the Knicks are better off accepting as much, and exploring whatever other alternatives they have on their trade-deadline big board.