Getty Head Coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks reacts to a call during the first half of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
We’re just six games into the 2022-23 NBA season and already fans and media pundits alike are thinking up ways that, in their eyes, could help improve the roster for the New York Knicks.
The most recent suggestion came on November 1, as Fastbreak’s Ben Stinar penned a piece discussing how he believes Leon Rose and company should consider pursuing Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers.
“I think they should make a trade that would improve their shooting from deep and also help them solidify themselves as a playoff team this season,” Stinar wrote “Buddy Hield is currently on the Indiana Pacers, who are in rebuilding mode, and he is off to a sensational start to the new season.
“The former Oklahoma star is averaging 17.8 points per contest on 42.7% shooting from the three-point range (on 9.4 attempts per game).”
After having traded franchise cornerstone Domantas Sabonis last season to the Sacramento Kings and considering they’re rumored to be looking into offloading Myles Turner, it’s rather evident that the 3-5 Indiana Pacers are gearing up for the future and, thus, a 29-year-old Hield with two years and nearly $40 million remaining on his current contract may not be of much use to them moving forward.
With this, Stinar believes that the wing could be a solid target for the Knicks to pursue, for, in his eyes, his skill set could help complement the club greatly.
Knicks Need to Improve Shooting
As things currently stand, the Knicks find themselves ranked 23rd in three-point percentage in 2022-23. Considering the modern-day NBA offense is heavily reliant on long-range shooting, this is certainly not the desired placement for Tom Thibodeau’s squad.
It is because of this that Stinar believes that a guy like Buddy Hield would be a quality acquisition for New York.
Since entering the league back in 2016, the former Oklahoma standout has established himself as one of the most trusty scorers in the association, boasting career averages of 16.0 points per game on 39.8% shooting from deep.
Thus far into the season, Hield is off to a rather efficient start as he is posting stellar all-around averages of 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and just shy of a steal per game on 46.4% shooting from the floor and 42.7% shooting from deep.
Stinar believes that a package consisting of Evan Fournier and “multiple upcoming first-round picks” could be enough to entice the Pacers to execute such a deal, and stated that adding Hield to a core of Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, and Jalen Brunson could make the Knicks a “very dangerous” team in the Eastern Conference.
Exec Fears Knicks Big Could Request Trade
Heavy Sports’ NBA Insider Sean Deveney recently asked an anonymous Eastern Conference executive what players they believe could realistically ask out of New York in the near future. In response, the exec mentioned third-year big man Obi Toppin as being someone people should “worry about.”
“I think Obi is the one you worry about because he has done everything a guy like him can do to get more playing time, he has gotten better every year, he deserves to get more of a look on the floor, but as long as they have Julius Randle there, they’re stuck,” the exec told Deveney.
“[Thibodeau] does not play Randle at center at all, so you can’t ever have Obi and Randle out there at the same time. They will have an extension due for Obi next summer and they probably won’t give that to him but, obviously, they need to decide what they’re going to do with him. If they want to package him and move him, they could. A lot of teams like him an awful lot.”
Despite his impressive and efficient start to 2022-23, where he’s posting averages of 9.5 points (career-high), 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists on 56.1% shooting from the floor and a highly efficient 50% shooting from deep, Toppin still finds himself struggling to come across playing time within New York’s rotation, seeing just 15.5 minutes a night.
So long as Julius Randle remains in tow with the Knicks, the 24-year-old will continue to struggle to find a prominent spot within the rotation despite only proving to shine when given an increased role (averages of 20.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and just shy of a block on 57% shooting from the floor and 43.6% shooting from deep when serving as a starter).
It is because of this that the executive fears that Obi Toppin could ultimately request a trade out of the Big Apple.