While Giannis has dominated the headlines and many mock trades (including 2 of my own), I thought it was time to start looking elsewhere. Word is, the Knicks like their team as is and they keep playing well and even more time together should pay off. Still, there is still room for improvement and a team with championship aspirations like the Knicks needs to hit on as many of their roster spots as possible. Team by team below.

Spurs: The Spurs are an ascendant team, but also one with a lot of time to keep developing and improving. Perhaps their one regret (and one that I've seen in some Spurs blogs) is using one of the first round picks on Jeremy Sochan. This is not to say he isn't a good player but there were several players available then who've been far bigger hits for their team (Jalen Williams being the big one). Sochan has seen his minutes decrease drastically and as he's hitting an extension year, the Spurs may not want to pay him what he wants as a former first round pick. This trade sees them cut their losses and replace Sochan with Yabusele. They have similar profiles and although Yabu is currently struggling on the Knicks, with more minutes and rhythm, he could very well replicate the form he had for France and the 76ers last season. He's also been a solid 3 point shooter and that's something this Spurs team does need more of and something that Sochan is not good at. They also get Dadiet who is mainly here for salary reasons but with the Spurs record of developing players, it could pay off in the end. Finally they get 3 second round picks (that protected Washington first will likely turn into 2 second round picks unless something absolutely crazy happens).

Knicks: I want to start off by saying that I actually still believe Yabu comes good and does well for the Knicks, but we're almost in 2026 and December 15th when Yabu can be traded is rapidly approaching. While Sochan has seen his minutes decrease, he's a great defender (although not great on offense) and could soak up more minutes than Yabu has been. While it didn't go that well in San Antonio, with a better 3 point shooting team, he may even be able to play some small ball center. At the very least, the hope would be that he can contribute more than Yabu has (and Dadiet has barely seen the floor). The Knicks shooting coaches have also done well with Deuce becoming a great 3 point shooter and Hart looking much better this year so who knows, maybe he even shoots well from 3. But the main part is that he could be a backup wing to OG and be a gret defender who can soak up minutes so he and other players can rest. The only other downside to this trade is that it puts the Knicks at 13 players on the roster and while it does reduce their salary, they'd only have enough to cover a prorated minimum salary for the 14th roster spot and wouldn't be able to fill the 15th spot. I'm guessing they'd try to get another backup PG or more center depth. The depth charter is below, I have Hart in the starting lineup as it looks like that'll be the one going forward but I still believe Deuce would be the best fit there.

PG: Brunson, Kolek

SG: Bridges, Deuce, Clarkson

SF: Hart, Shamet

PF: OG, Sochan, Diawara

C: KAT, Mitch, Hukporti