It’s been eerily quiet in New York lately as the Knicks teeter on the edge between a viable playoff threat and a dark-horse title contender. But as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski explained this week, the franchise has been preparing for years to make a big-name trade and there is a sense around the league that they could be the next team to pull it off.
“The Knicks have been preparing themselves with draft assets and the development of young players to make the kind of big trade necessary to move into the elite of the Eastern Conference and NBA,” said Woj.
As it stands, the Knicks don’t have what it takes to compete for a title. Even with guys like Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett, they lack the kind of superstar player that every contender needs to make a deep playoff run. So far, the Knicks have not found that guy and it seems they could be speeding up their search to find him.
Knicks Are On The Rise
After years of irrelevancy in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks finally found some semblance of success last season when they made a run to the Conference semi-finals. After finishing 47-35 in the regular season, they proved to be formidable on both ends of the floor and that success is carrying over into this year at 13-9 on the record. Thanks to the starters, the Knicks are looking like a sure-fire top-six team again but where exactly is their ceiling given what they have?
As long as Jalen Brunson is the best player (a guy who helped Luka Doncic lead the Mavericks to the Conference Finals), the Knicks will always be a step or two behind the Celtics and Bucks, who have MVP-caliber superstars in their prime. The question for the Knicks is who could become that guy for them, and what will it take to get him on the team?
New York Knicks Trade Targets?
While the market is admittedly low for sellers right now, the Knicks have the assets to make a move and they are financially flexible enough to make a pretty sizeable trade offer without giving up their core guys in Brunson and Randle. Zach LaVine, while not a popular name in New York, could be an interesting fit with the team given his offensive fire-power in the backcourt. Of course, there are concerns about his defensive capabilities. Another name could be young Jazz star Lauri Markkanen. While you could make the case that he and Brunson are on the same level, sliding him in at center might just provide enough spacing to make them a serious problem for opponents.
Perhaps the biggest target for the Knicks going forward is Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who is reportedly growing restless with his situation. He’s the type of talent who could take this team to new heights in the postseason, but he won’t come cheap and the Cavs will have plenty of offers. For now, the best course of action might just be to wait on Mitchell, or another star, to make his way to town instead of going all in for an unproven name who may not live up to expectations.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
