During the 2024 draft, the New York Knicks selected Kyshawn George with the No. 24 overall pick, and then traded him to the Washington Wizards.
They’re living to regret the decision now.
George is in the middle of a breakout campaign for the Wizards. The 21-year-old is averaging around 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block per game, while 56.5 percent on two-pointers, and 53.8 percent from long distance.
This efficiency won’t hold for George. But the growth he has shown, particularly as an on-ball scorer and passer is real. The Wizards are having him run more of the offense, and he looks up to the challenge.
Standing 6’7”, he’s also someone Washington has liberally moved around the positional spectrum on defense. Even as the Wiz continue to bottom out as a unit, George keeps holding his own.
It’s all enough to make you wonder: What if the Knicks just kept him?
The Knicks did not have a great reason for trading Kyshawn George
The Knicks’ reasoning for shipping out George was purely financial. It flipped him for a package that became Dillon Jones (No. 26) and a second-round pick. They then moved Jones for a smattering of seconds, including what became the No. 50 pick in 2025 (Kobe Sanders), which they used in a subsequent trade that left them with Mohamed Diawara (No. 51).
This order of operations allowed New York to purge a first-round pick’s salary from last season’s ledger. George’s $2.8 million cap hit isn’t much, but the team was toeing a fine line following the trade for Mikal Bridges—not unlike it is now.
Pacome Dadiet, selected with the No. 25 pick in 2024, is arguably only on the Knicks because of this logic. They drafted him at least in part because he was willing to sign for 80 percent of the rookie scale, rather than the usual 120 percent.
Dealing George suggests he wasn’t willing to do the same. And the difference in his salary versus Dadiet’s last season was about $1 million. Given that the Knicks closed 2024-25 within $55,000 of the second apron, you can understand why they went this route.
Then again, can you? The Knicks could’ve offset the difference elsewhere. They didn’t need to hand Precious Achiuwa a $6 million salary. Or give Tyler Kolek a record-setting deal for a second-round pick.
Kyshawn George would be a perfect weapon for the Knicks now
Many will point out that the Knicks may not have selected George if they kept the pick. Even if they did, they may not have played him. Kolek and Dadiet barely played as rookies, and both are hard-pressed to get minutes now.
Spotlighting their reluctance to develop young talent isn’t a good excuse. It’s the exact opposite. Youngsters need reps so teams know what they have in them, for better or worse. It is harder to do as a contender facing Finals-or-bust expectations. But it’s crucial to optimizing, if not prolonging, a franchise’s competitive life cycle.
The player George is now would be perfect for the Knicks. He is yet another tertiary passer who could help paper over the absence of a reliable backup floor general. His defensive malleability scales to the point of attack. Oh, and he’s a wing. New York’s bench doesn’t have a ton of those. Unless Dadiet or Diawara is suddenly ready, it’s drawing blank after Josh Hart.
Hindsight is fickle business. It’s easy to play the what-if game with George balling out now. But hitting on enough of these wild-card swings is part of the gig. As the core gets more expensive, it's even more important for contenders to mine cost-controlled gems.
George is currently looking like he could have been one for the Knicks. Instead, he's shaping up to one that got away.