Getty Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be the next domino to fall.
The New York Knicks may have already set their sights on another star following the whiff for Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell ended up being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers which means the Knicks will now be seeing a lot more of him since he’s in the same conference as them now. To make matters even worse, it looks like the Cavs will end up being a strong playoff team now while the Knicks could still be on the outside looking in.
With a wide selection of draft picks and young talent in New York, the possibility for a big trade remains there, but it comes down to whether the Knicks will want to open up the vault.
While they ultimately missed on Mitchell because of possibly not offering enough, there’s still a chance they could lure Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the team in a deal if they come with the right offer.
SNY’s Ian Begley believes it could happen, and the Thunder will be a team to look at going forward.
The Star Push Begins
Speaking to Jonathan Macri, host of the Knicks Film School podcast, Begley says Gilgeous-Alexander makes a sense for the team.
“The reason why, just logically, it seems to add up to me is just look at what OKC is doing,” he said around the 26:00 mark. “Look at what they’ve done. They’re stockpiling picks. You know, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, you’re incredibly young, incredibly talented, yet you can see a world where like he’s on kind of a different timeline than the rest of the team.”
Gilgeous-Alexander will be a free agent in 2027, so he’s with the Thunder for the long haul, but a trade of him would likely result in many picks for OKC, something the Knicks have plenty of.
Adding him into the mix in New York would also make him around the same age as RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson, two players who just signed new contracts of their own.
For Begley, it might come down to what Gilgeous-Alexander prefers.
“Does a player like that want to just put up numbers on teams that are terrible for the next for years? I think that’s why everybody is keeping an eye on it,” he said.
Can a Deal Happen?
The Knicks certainly have what it’d take to get a trade done with practically any NBA team at this point, but it’s not as simple as that.
With New York having so many future draft picks, they can afford to be patient with their rebuild, or they could speed it up by landing a star like Gilgeous-Alexander or somebody else who becomes available.
If the team is able to keep on developing Robinson, Barrett, Obi Toppin, Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley, the only piece missing might be a star player. By the time this matters, that might be Gilgeous-Alexander, or it could be somebody else entirely.
The Knicks do have a history of missing out on acquiring star talent, so maybe the development route might be the way to go, but only time will tell what the team plans.