Getty Immanuel Quickley could be on the move.
The New York Knicks are on a five game win streak ahead of their game against the Chicago Bulls on December 16, and there are a lot of reasons for their surge.
Julius Randle is having a good season, Jalen Brunson has been solid at point guard, and RJ Barrett looks to have broken out of his early season slump, and the results have been promising.
One interesting move made by coach Tom Thibodeau has been removing Cam Reddish, Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose from the rotation entirely and the move has paid off so far. Somebody who hasn’t been removed from the rotation is Immanuel Quickley, but that hasn’t stopped him from coming up in trade talks.
“The Knicks have shown a willingness to discuss Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley in trade talks, league sources say, as a way to sort out the team’s glut at the guard position over the course of the season,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported in November.
The Dallas Mavericks signed former Knicks guard Kemba Walker, but they’ve also been linked to adding Rose and now there is talk about them going after Quickley as well.
Mavericks Making a Move?
With news that Maxi Kleber is out indefinitely, the Mavs are short-handed going forward. This is a team with championship aspirations, so they can use all the help they can get, and although Rose and Quickley don’t play the same position as Kleber, they could both chip in.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus reports some NBA executives believe Dallas should look at acquiring Quickley.
“Some competing executives agree that the Dallas Mavericks should target Quickley, if available,” he wrote.
Charania’s report that Quickley was available came in November, so there’s no telling if the Knicks still feel like he is expendable considering New York has since went on a win streak and find themselves holding down the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Quickley is averaging a career-high 23.6 minutes per game with the Knicks this season, so he’d leave a big hole in the lineup if he were to be moved.
Do The Knicks Have Anything Planned?
This was a season that looked like it was trending toward the Knicks being sellers, but now there’s a chance they could be buyers before the deadline and add pieces to go on a run.
Dumping Quickley to the Mavericks wouldn’t be something that do if that’s their plan, and with Dallas not exactly having many players the Knicks would want in return, it’s tough to imagine that trade happening.
A player New York has repeatedly been linked to is Kyle Kuzma, currently having a career year with the Washington Wizards.
Kuzma is on an affordable contract and can chip in with a lot of scoring at either forward position for the Knicks. With Obi Toppin hurt and having a down year, Kuzma could step in and provide right away. That likely wouldn’t be a move that turns them into a championship contender, but it could be enough to get them out of the first round for the first time since the Carmelo Anthony days.