The New York Knicks made a string of trades during the 2024 NBA Draft that ended with them landing Kevin McCullar Jr. And while he still hasn’t had enough time to be labelled a steal or a bust, they could have had Oso Ighodaro, who would be a perfect rotation center for them right now.
Most of the moves New York made on draft night were with finances in mind. Aprons and trades (Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, etc.) were in focus, and their draft-night shenanigans were a part of that. Picks were traded, traded back, and traded again, but by the end of the evening, New York had sent out the Ighodaro pick and ended up with McCullar.
Right now, one would be much more useful than the other.
Knicks should have kept Oso Ighodaro
As noted, McCullar still has time to pan out for the Knicks. He’s dealt with injuries throughout the course of his young career and could potentially still end up being a useful piece for them.
But right now, as the Knicks are looking to compete for a championship with Jalen Brunson at the helm, Ighodaro would be the far more useful guy to have in their rotation.
Towns is obviously the star of the show at the center position, and right behind him are Mitchell Robinson and Guerschon Yabusele. Mike Brown has even rolled out double-big lineups of Towns and Robinson for some of his starting groups this year.
Ariel Hukporti has given the Knicks some minutes, too, but Ighodaro could have been a perfect piece for Brown to utilize in this rotation, especially in the context of double-big lineups.
His athleticism, passing, cutting abilities, and ball-handling would all be ideal skills to pair alongside Towns, which would help make up for Robinson’s poor injury luck and also give him some extra time to rest.
Ighodaro would also be fully capable of playing in one-center lineups while Towns is on the pine, or perhaps even pairing up with Yabusele, who could play down to the four.
Right now, he’s playing 17.1 minutes for a Phoenix Suns team that has surpassed most expectations set for them so far this year, and his multi-tool impact has been impressive.
If the Knicks had the foresight to snag him when they had the chance, their rotation could be that much stronger right now as they surge ahead on their quest to win a title with Brunson and Towns.