In my opinion, the Knicks need to commit to an identity. Either offense or defense. Offense entails focusing on getting 3 and d wings to surround Kat at the 5 while defense entails getting more rim protecting centers to put Kat at the 4 almost full time.

This trade accomplishes defense, and here’s why I think each team may do it.

Knicks: already explained. Hart is extremely valuable and a better player than Kessler, but when he’s in the court teams ignore him offensively and he’s been at best an avg defender this year. Hart, a protected first that will turn into 2 high value seconds, and a young player in kolek is a lot to give up, but depth wise it’s a 1 for 1 swap. Kleber gives emergency depth and Knicks also free up money to sign someone w part of MLE.

Lakers: they need a center, this trade doesn’t not accomplish that. But this trade does get them more depth and an amazing rebounder, a guy that should thrive playing next to Luke and LeBron in fast breaks. They also only lose one …

Leon Rose said at the start of the season no one outside of Brunson is untoucable. The Celtics made a very similar move at the start of last season, when they traded Marcus Smart(the heart of their team) for KP at a discounted price.

The Knicks would be doing a very similar thing here. Lonzo is obviously a huge injury risk and is having a good but still relatively down year(shooting 33% from three only). Ayo is also having a pretty down year compared to what he has done in the past. Not that these guys have low value(Josh Hart is a very good player), but it should mean that they are both moveable.

Now, the Knicks have struggled offensively since January(they are about 10th in offensive rating over the last 2 months). A lot of this can be attributed to Josh Hart shooting 23% from three and Thibs being extremely stubborn about playing the starting 5 as the main lineup together by far. The Knicks have seen immense benefits by putting McBride in the starting lineup instead of both Hart a…

Here is the idea, if you don't want to read it all check the TLDR at the bottom.

Why Houston does it: Pretty obvious, booker, unlike anyone on this team right now, is a proven number 1 option on a championship team. He is a great offensive playmaker both scoring and passing the ball and not a liability defensively even if hes not like all defense level. Giving up Green is probably more of a blessing than a curse due to his inconsistent play. Giving up Bari is more challenging, but imo Tari has been a lot of what the Rockets want Bari to be anyway, so this shouldn't be too big of a loss. Rockets would need to throw in some salary filler as well, which could be steven adams, jeff green, or if they are low on reed sheppard, reed sheppard. Rockets could move on from fred this offseason or keep him around, same idea with brooks, assuming Brooks stays but Fred is gone they run a starting 5 of something like this.

Lineup: Amen, Booker, Brooks, Tari, Sengun.

The rest of this trade is certai…

I think both teams go for this. Mitch is a rim protecting five who will hopefully be entering the offseason healthy and playing well(and making ~12 mil next year). Zo is making 10 mil next year and the Bulls are swamped with guards. I doubt Zo is a long term play, they likely just think Zo can fetch more value with a full year under his belt on a lower contract.

In general, I think the Knicks will trade Mitch this offseason and hopefully his value will be substantially better with half a season and a playoff run of playing under him…

Knicks have looked really solid recently and all news reports seem to push towards the Knicks keeping Mitch(a great thing considering where his value is right now). Precious has been great and Hukporti has firmly taken the backup center spot from Sims. This trade makes sense, and it probably makes sense only including 1 second tbh. Duop is a stretch 5 who can give ok bench minutes in a pinch. More importantly, Blazers are a tanking team that needs draft capital, though to be fair they have been on fucking fire in their last 10 games.

Portland trades a bench warmer for seconds while the Knicks trade a bench warmer for a guy who will probably warm the bench but maybe he will do more than that….

Listen, getting Austin Reaves would be really cool. But in reality we already have Jalen Brunson as a creator, and than creation by committee in Josh Hart, Mikal, Og, and Kat as well as bench guys like Payne and McBride that has pushed this team to 2nd in offense in the league.

Instead of that, the Knicks get another defensive wing in Vanderbilt and a potential depth piece in Wood while the Lakers get the first of probably multiple rim running centers, rim protecting centers to pair with Luka. Charlotte is included for salary reasons and they get a second for their time. For more in depth breakdown read below.

Knicks: Vanderbilt will help greatly to fill the void while Og is injured, especially since he is just coming back. His 3 point shot is shit but his has decent success next to Kat before and his certainly more offensively gifted than Mitch is. Wood may find minutes, may not, but hes a nice scoring punch to have and tbh would probably replace some of Shamet's minutes, especially…

I don’t know where this came from, yes players take a physical before getting traded. It is there so that the other team understands the full extent of a players health. The trade can still, and often does still, go through if and when the physical is failed.

For a recent big example look at the IT for kyrie trade with IT’s hip. The Cavs actually didn’t know how serious it was and IT failed the physical, and yet the trade still went through after the Celtics added additional draft capital.

Weird to block someone when ur wrong but it is what it is…

2 notes:

This under the assumption that each of these 4 guys would go for 1-3 seconds and salary filler in Sims. I don't think thats a crazy assumption by any means. I am also under the assumption that it is pointless to trade Mitch or Precious at this point which how solid Precious has been recently and how low Mitch's value is rn.

Here are my thoughts on each guy.

Burks: Maybe the worst of the 4, but a guy that can handle the ball, shoot the 3, and has ok size to play the 2 or 3. Maybe most importantly, somebody we know that Thibs will play and somebody that has played real playoff minutes. Doesn't exactly fill a need unless you think the second best offense in the league needs a scorer off the bench, but overall not a bad choice.

Yabu: Big PF with size. Kind of like the opposite of Precious as his best traits are offensively with his three point shot and finishing while his defense is sub par, but his size allows him to be serviceable, especially when surrounded by other good de…

This team is far from title bound, but the way that the team, and mainly the bench, has played the last few games makes me want to ride this team out this year, see Mitch healthy, and then make adjustments in the off season.

I think a guy like Duop(or maybe Javonte Green) are the only minimum players who MAYBE could make the rotation on this team without getting rid of any of the top 9 guys. Something like this is not even necessary but at this point its the only thing I'd want to see. Im fully for riding this out and seeing what happens, and so for that reason thats my last Knicks trade for a while, Ill still react to all the rest of your dumbass trades though…

These three guys are all really solid players but making significantly more than they will likely sign for next year. I don't know the exact cap situation for the Knicks aside from the fact that they are just barely below the first apron next year. However, the Knicks have the salary capabilities to do sign and trades either using existing salary like Mitch or using a guy like Precious to a do a double sign and trade of some sort.

I don't think its necessary for the Knicks to make any moves at this trade deadline. When this team is on they look like a contender, but when they are not they look average. Nothing we can do this year will really change that considering our best option seems to be Valuncianas. I really like the idea of hoping Mitch stays healthy this year when he comes back, see what a full year together can do for this team and then make adustments in the offseason.

Let me know if you think getting any of these guys is a great decision, if I'm delusional, or if there are…

I've been working at this for a while and I can't figure out a great way to get it done. Hornets take back more money then they want and the Knicks probably dont get back enough here. I'd love to do something like Precious and a vet min for Josh but the money just barely doesnt work.

Either way Okogie is a phenonomal defenisve wing and hes been shooting the 3 at a career rate this year(both a good and bad sign). I think a guy like him would be a great backup wing for the Knicks, and he is also someone who played(briefly) for thibs in Minnesota. Hornets could use another center now and Mitch, when healthy, is far better than Nick Richards was so they prob see this as an absolute win aside from the money aspect.

Once again I think a better world has this deal involving Precious and salary and more draft capital(2-3 seconds) but I couldn't figure that out, but just got an idea so gonna make another deal…

Assuming Miami moves on from jimmy, they get back some draft capital for 2 older vets. Knicks get guys that Thibs can trust in the rotation to provide 5-15 min a game.

The wizards take in a young guy making under a million dollars just to make contracts work.

Idt the Knicks should trade Mitch at this point with his value so low. Better to just wait till he comes back and see him w this team. I think the real impact moves for the Knicks in the future will be w rookie development and offseason/next year trades. Therefore this year they get some weak but playable bench pieces and see if the extra bit of help can be enough to make them a competitive team come championship season….

Like, why not. Can Johnson rumors r floating around, why not overpay for herb instead and now u have possible the 3 best POA defenders in the league and 2/5 best rim protectors and they r all rly good offensively too. They can just be unfair man…

Miami gets some draft capital, Knicks get 2 guys in burks and love as veteran presences and guys that can play rotation minutes.

Kings r involved for salary purposes basically but they get a decent player in Richardson for their troubles….

I really like this for all 3 teams. Let’s break it down.

Knicks: clear depth issues are fixed here. Haywood Highsmith is a really solid 3 and d player. Just gotta hope that it’s not the heat effect which has him playing well but he’d be the extra bench wing the Knicks need. Kevin love the kind of guy Thibs has trusted and played in the past and I’d imagine he’ll find end of bench rotation minutes now. Tho old hes still solid and a great veteran presence, which the Knicks could use. Christian wood has been good sometimes and has been awful sometimes. He’s currently injured and he wouldn’t find a spot in the Knicks rotation but is a good security piece.

Lakers get a proper center to backup AD as well as a guy in burks to help w creation. He’s not a pg but he’s kind of close to one. Giving up Vanderbilt and wood might hurt a bit as well as that protected pick but I think it’s worth it for them.

Miami resets a bit. Love and Burks r older veterans who don’t fit on a retooling team as muc…

I can’t imagine Ayo is available, but the bulls have Coby white and traded for Josh giddy, that doesn’t leave much room in the backcourt for Ayo. He could play a small 3 but then ur guards and sf r very small and tho Ayo is a good defender giddy and white r sub par at best, leading to a very weak defensive front.

Bulls have needed a rim protecting big since they got vucevic. Mitch fits that rly well and can be the backup once he gets back from injury and start once vuc is likely traded. He’s injured but Mitch is a very good player when he’s in the court, single handedly outplaying both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley as recently as the 2023 playoffs.

Hornets r in this trade to continue the rebuild and get draft picks. Duarte is simply salary filler if u want that to be another player totally fine.

Knicks answer some dire depth needs and keep their rookies to hope they develop come next gear…

Knicks have a depth issue. The issue is NOT that the Knicks have an incredibly weak bench. Their bench is weak, but it’s not the worst. The issue is that Thibs will not play players who r below a certain talent lvl, or at least not play them meaningful minutes. This is not meant as a hate on Thibs it’s just a fact. This means the Knicks have to find talent that Thibs will play.

Introducing Aaron nesmith and Nick Richards. Nesmith is a rly solid 3 and d player who played great defense on Brunson in last years playoffs and shoots 40%+ from 3. Richards is a rly solid backup center who, if not anything spectacular, can give a rly solid 10-15 min behind kat and offers real size.

Pacers need a big, and nesmith is currently injured. Injured player for injured player and nesmith has fallen out of starting 5 w mathurin going in.

Hornets r rebuilding, they clear salary space and get some draft capital for a backup player thats a W.

LMK what u think??…

Im not sure how much I like this trade for anyone tbh. But its interesting and works. Let me know your thoughts….

Simplifies the ideas a bit and cleans up some stuff(Also Knicks lineup breakdown at bottom since I'm a knicks fan)

To break down the value I am going to split this up into parts.

Part 1: Knicks trade Sims and 2 seconds for Richards. This makes sense for the Hornets to get draft capital for a backup center in a dissapointing season. The Knicks get a better backup doing this who can replace Precious or play alongside him,

Part 2: Hornets trade Mark Williams, Sims, and 2 seconds for Aaron nesmith and a 2028 first. Pacers fix their center issue for now and hopefully the future. They need a backup, Williams can do that and could potentially even play next to turner due to spacing. Sims as a lob threat would likely do great next to Haliburton as well, and if Turner walks next year Mark is a high upside gamble with injury history. This move is questionable from the Hornets side, but with Marks injury history getting an unprotected first is really good value, and ofc Nesmith is a valuable a…