Preseason has been interesting for the Knicks and the Pelicans. The Knicks have looked solid and their backups even showed out tonight in Charlotte. The Pelicans however, are doing reasonably well but are also getting beat badly on the boards, losing the rebounding margin and by a good amount each game. Here's a two team trade that may help, although I think the Knicks would have to give up more.

Knicks: The Knicks have looked promising in preseason, but I'm still a bit worried about the team once the actual season starts. The Knicks have a team who could even challenge for the title this year, but they also are already down one center and have two key players (OG and KAT) who have injury histories that the Knicks will want to be wary of. This trade gets them another great defensive wing in Herb Jones. His scoring has gone off a cliff, but on defense, he's still a real contributor and would fit right in on this team. Duop Reath is also a recent success story and can rebound and even stretch the floor with some decent 3 point shooting. As a backup center, he's a great fit. He's not the defensive force that Mitch is, but he's healthy and plays hard. Achiuwa has also looked great so far and Hukporti has also looked promising. Despite losing both Mitch and Sims, I think this would be a great trade for the Knicks because of Jones great defense.

Pelicans: This is the harder case to make. Jones has been a key member of this team for several seasons now but his offensive production has really fallen off. The Pelicans have also seen players like Trey Murphy III and Jordan Hawkins put in some great seasons as well. Both are younger and will be looking for extensions as soon as this season or next. While the Pelicans could still trade Ingram, this would be a solid return at a huge position of need and would get them some draft capital. I will acknowledge that 3 second round picks may not be enough but Mitch when healthy is an all defense level player. Having a player like Mitch who can anchor the defense and is on a good contract, would be a great pickup. Sims would be a bonus who can help provide some decent rebounding if necessary.

Blazers: The Blazers are mainly in this deal to absorb salary. I doubt that Robinson Earl would be long on this team but who knows. They might need more than a second rounder, but they also probably have little to no playing time available for Reath in the regular season. They have Ayton, Williams III and Clingan to make minutes for. A second rounder is another asset for them and that's what they're aiming for at this point.