Minnesota Timberwolves: 8 teams most likely to trade for No. 1 pick
3. New York Knicks
For as much as seemingly all New York Knicks fans want to make Madison Square Garden LaMelo Ball’s new home, it’s fairly unlikely that Tom Thibodeau’s new organization will have the requisite assets to get a deal done.
First and foremost, the Knicks at least have the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft. That selection could be a good spot prior to a run on wing talent. At least four from the group of Isaac Okoro, Killian Hayes, Tyrese Haliburton, Patrick Williams, Devin Vassell, Saddiq Bey, and Aaron Nesmith should still be available at No. 8, and it could be valuable for the Timberwolves to get one player from that group.
But there isn’t enough roster talent — at least not talent on palatable contracts — for the Wolves to jump at the chance to negotiate with the Knicks.
The Knicks actually have a few salaries that could be traded. The problem is that there isn’t a combination of trade-able salaries and actual good players.
Julius Randle is a solid player and would theoretically fit the Wolves. But at $38.7 million over the next two years, the Wolves are going to look for someone who has a better career mark than 29.5 percent on 3-point attempts, and they’d love to have someone with a bit more defensive flexibility.
The Wolves probably wouldn’t be all that interested in bringing him on board, and especially not if the Knicks wanted to include a pick swap. New York has the No. 8 and the No. 27, and the Wolves have No. 1, No. 17, and No. 33, so there’s always the possibility that something comes to fruition on that front.
Here’s a more realistic idea, although Rosas wouldn’t be swayed by it.
This is more an example of the Knicks piecemealing together an appealing offering of role players.
But, reality check: the Wolves wouldn’t make this trade. Why would this offer be enough to slide back seven spots in the draft? The Wolves would essentially be giving up arguably their two best trade assets in the No. 1 pick and James Johnson’s expiring contract for a role players with limited upside, as well as tying up more cap space next year.
The Knicks still deserve to be talked about as a possible trade partner, however, and that’s because of their haul of first-round picks in upcoming years, combined with their array of theoretically moveable contracts.
The Knicks also have all of their own future first-round picks and Dallas’ first-rounders in 2021 and 2023 as a result of the Kristaps Porzingis trade. If New York wanted to throw in some of their picks over the next few years, that could move the needle. But the Mavericks’ selections, which will almost certainly fall in the late first round, are not all that appealing.
Sorry, Knicks fans. The ol’ ‘Bockers just don’t have enough ammunition to get the job done.