There was a good article in the Athletic today about potential trades for the Knicks to get another center in the lineup. I appreciated the perspective that it offered that they weren't necessarily trades that the Knicks would want to do, but rather the types of ones that are available to them because of the new CBA and its restrictions. In that vein, here's a modified trade that the Knicks could do with the Pistons that might be more palatable to Knicks fans (although less so to Pistons fans).

Knicks: The Knicks do have a center issue going into the season, I'm going to say that right away. Not having their top 2 centers from last year in Mitch and Hartenstein is a big loss. While Thibs has shown that he's more flexible than ever and has even acknowledged that Randle may spend time at center ---- it still wouldn't be ideal for a player who's working his way back to 100% to match up against bigger centers from jump. To that end, Stewart would be a great addition to the Knicks, not only because of his durability and toughness but because his mentality matches up perfectly with this Knicks team. Stewart is willing to mix it up and wouldn't back down to centers like Embiid (still can't believe there hasn't been more talked about how he truly caused Robinson's injury and faced no consequences). While he isn't the rim protector that Mitch or Hartenstein are, with the addition of Bridges, this Knicks team may not need as strong of a rim protector simply because less players will get through the defense that the combo of Bridges and OG provide. He also provides more of a stretch 5 role than Robinson did and would open up the floor for players like Brunson and Randle since he wouldn't need to be anchored in the paint like Mitch was. The Knicks give up 2 centers in this trade so they also sign Bismack Biyombo who is a serviceable 3 string center behind Achiuwa. The other part of this is that the starting center is locked down for several more seasons at a very affordable salary which gives them more room for trades and extensions in the future.

Pistons: This is the much harder case to make as the original trade in the Athletic had Deuce going their way. He would have been a great fit on the Pistons with his great defense and solid 3 point shooting to stretch the floor. However, I'm being selfish (and probably unrealistic) in wanting to keep him so Sims also goes to Detroit in this trade. The Pistons can afford to wait for Mitch to get healthy as they aren't trying to truly compete any time soon and are still rebuilding. When Mitch is healthy, he's a DPOY candidate who rebounds and blocks like few other players. They also get Sims, who's mostly here for salary matching purposes but is still young on a cheap contract who might be worth kicking the tires on. In terms of picks, they get their protected 2025 FRP and 2 SRPs back. I actually was a bit hesitant to include the 2025 FRP because I think there's a chance of it conveying this year. The Pistons signed some solid vets in Harris, Hardaway and Beasley and still have Cunningham who can be a star and several solid to great prospects like Ausar Thompson, Holland and Duren. Given the state of the other teams in the East, it's not unthinkable for them to make the play-in. Given that the 2025 draft is such a strong one, they wouldn't want to miss out on it and this allows them to know that no matter what, they'll be getting a FRP in this draft.

So there you have it! Like I said, I still don't think this happens, but I'd be very happy if it did. Pistons fans, I doubt you share my sentiment and I understand that completely.

Note: for some reason, Biyombo disappeared once I submitted this, but I would have the Knicks signing him (or keeping Morris).