The New York Knicks have had a very active night for the 2022 NBA Draft. The only problem is that they haven’t drafted any players and kept them on their team so far. It started with the Knicks selecting 19-year-old forward Ousmane Dieng from France, one of the highest potential players in the Draft, and trading him away to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks have received a gaggle of protected first-round picks from the Thunder for the same. OKC has sent over three 2023 first-round picks that include a protected 1st rounder via Detroit, a protected 1st rounder via Washington, and a protected 1st rounder via Denver.
The Knicks have clearly loaded up on trade assets and cleared salary cap space for this off-season by moving on from all their draft picks. The Knicks also traded for Jalen Duren to use him as trade bait for the Detroit Pistons so that they could offload the Kemba Walker contract. These moves are being made due to the Knicks’ interest in Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson this off-season.
The Knicks are trading the No. 11 pick to OKC, who will select Ousmane Dieng, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2022
Dieng has an extremely high upside in the league and one can tell that OKC values him. This is the first trade where the Thunder have actively given away first-round picks since they began their rebuild in 2019 with the Russell Westbrook trade.
Adding Dieng, Chet Holmgren, and Jaylen Williams shows that the Thunder are not afraid to get as many actual players on their team to evaluate which ones have the most potential.
The Knicks should be worried if they fail to entice Brunson away from the Mavericks, as the Mavs have already expressed their intention to offer Jalen more money than any other team. Since Brunson is an unrestricted free agent, the Mavs have no matching rights on his contract. Even if the Knicks miss on Brunson, they are equipped with cap flexibility and picks for the future.
