It looks like the KAT trade may actually be official. However, if the Knicks decide to do one more move, this would be one I would be in favor of. It also would put them further away from the 2nd apron and if there are any holdups in the KAT trade, this could help as they actually save $4.1 in salary (I believe it was $8.8 million they needed to use Charlotte to absorb).

Knicks: The Knicks lose Mitch, which would be a tough blow, but they get 2 players who can play center (and I'd rather see Aldama at the 4) and who don't have his injury history. I don't have them parting with any draft capital because they're sending recent 2024 FRP Dadiet to the Grizzlies, but it's possible they may have to send at least 1 second rounder to the Rockets (more on that below). Landale hasn't been spectacular by any means, but the Knicks will hope that his play in the second half of the season and at the Olympics is more of what they'll get. Aldama could also be more of a stretch 5 or they could move him to the 4 to get some more size. Both rebound well, a requirement of any Thibs center, and have decent if not spectacular rim protection abilities.

Rockets: The Rockets brought in Steven Adams towards the end of last season to serve as more rough and tumble center who can focus on grabbing rebounds above all else. So why would they swap Landale for Mitch? Well, despite his showings in the second half of the season and in the Olympics, it just doesn't seem like the Rockets will be using Landale much (if at all) this season. This is because of the addition of Adams, Tari Eason coming back from injury (he played mostly at the 4, which would have been where they could've tried to get Landale some minutes), and the emergence of Jabari Smith Jr. at center as well. They take a low-cost gamble on Mitch getting healthy and buy low on him. When healthy (obviously a big if), he's dominant on defense and can hold down the paint against even the top centers of the league. They have the room to take on his contract and what it also gets them is a very tradeable contract in case they need to make the numbers work in future trades. One of the downsides (a very enviable downside) of having so many young players is that most are still on their rookie contracts. So if the Rockets wanted to make a move, they could use Mitch's salary to help get them there. In short, Mitch is a gamble worth taking if they're only shipping out a center who likely won't see much playing time, and a second round pick which is re-routed back to the Grizzlies.

Grizzlies: Similar to Landale, once the Grizzlies have their team at full strength (as I'm typing this it's recently come out the Jarren Jackson Jr will be out for a few weeks and GG Jackson hurt his foot over the summer), Aldama will likely not see much playing time. They tend to play Brandon Clarke and Jake LaRavia more at the 4 and 5 and the emergence of GG Jackson has made Aldama more expendable, even in the midst of a solid season where he shot and rebounded well. In this case, they also gain a bit more cap room, add a player who they don't have to worry about an extension for several seasons (they have several players to make decisions on and it's doubtful they can keep all of them). Dadiet is still very raw, but he's a FRP and has the potential to grow. He has the potential to be a 3 and D wing and like I said, is on a rookie contract for several more seasons. They also get their 2027 SRP back which doesn't hurt.