Getty Jordan Clarkson drives to the basket.
The New York Knicks’ pursuit of a guard who can score the basketball at a high level off the bench should come as no surprise. When the Knicks traded Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors, in a deal involving RJ Barrett for OG Anunoby, the bench took a big hit.
Since the deal, the Knicks bench has struggled even more and it’s been a call for concern. Quickley’s production must be replaced before the trade deadline. Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News linked the Knicks to five potential Quickley replacements. These five names have been linked to New York in the past, but Winfield adds context around the potential of adding one of them.
“Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray, Charlotte’s Terry Rozier, Portland’s Malcolm Brogdon, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson and Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic have been regularly linked to the Knicks in trade rumors with the deadline mere weeks away. A deal for any one of those players will come at the cost of valuable first-round draft pick capital. As it stands, the Knicks have enough draft assets to acquire not just one, but two marquee, star-level players should they become available via trade.”
As Winfield notes, adding one of these five players won’t be cheap. At the very least, each player will cost a first-round pick, if not more. However, due to the assets that the Knicks have, a first-round pick can be moved with no issues for them.
The Knicks Have Stiff Competition for These Players
While the Knicks’ interest is well reported and the team will do what they have to do to pursue these options, others continue to show interest in them. Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks will be a tough get for New York as other teams will potentially overpay for his services.
Of those teams, the Los Angeles Lakers are the ones who could possibly trade their top assets away to land the All-Star guard. According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers have shown interest in Murray, but don’t want to add Austin Reaves to the deal.
“Los Angeles has continued to tell teams it doesn’t want to part with Austin Reaves, sources said. There does seem to be a pathway for a Murray-to-Los Angeles deal if the Lakers would be willing to include Reaves, sources said, although that would require the Hawks to send back more value for Los Angeles’ liking. Around the league, D’Angelo Russell’s $17 million salary has not been viewed as a valuable trade chip for the Lakers to bolster their roster behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”
New York Knicks Have Options
If there’s one thing that the Knicks have this trade deadline, it’s options to make the team better. That’s why it’s important to recognize that no matter who they end up with, it’s likely going to make their team better.
Despite the Lakers and other team’s interest in these five players, as long as the Knicks land one of them, they’ll be in a good position. The bench has been an issue and fortunately for them, they had the chance to realize that before it’s too late. Now the ball is in the front office’s hand to get a deal done.