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The New York Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 4 to pull themselves to 11-13 on the season, in the play-in tournament conversation but not yet a true contender.
Trading for Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, though, would add a scoring punch that the Knicks are currently missing and would give them a player who seemingly can get a basket at will. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons proposed the trade on the November 29 episode of “The Bills Simmons Podcast” during a segment on “three trades that would save the Bulls.”
“Trade LaVine to the Knicks,” Simmons said. “LaVine’s coming off the knee injury in May, he hasn’t looked the same. But if you’re the Knicks, you’re like, ‘Well, we would have signed him for the max in the summer, so we’ll get him anyway.’ So do Toppin, and expirings, and maybe make them take back the Fournier trade and maybe do a top-4 protected first next year.”
Simmons suggested that tanking is the best option for the Bulls, who are 9-14, in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and losers of three of in a row.
“Chicago should tank. And they should go deeper than that: They should blow it up,” he said, suggesting that they purposefully lose in order to be in the running to draft 7-foot-2 French 18-year-old Victor Wembanyama, whom many consider to be the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.
Knicks Would Land a Proven Scorer
The Knicks have young assets and draft picks to acquire a player of LaVine’s caliber. Simmons proposed sending Obi Toppin, Evan Fournier and a draft pick to the Bulls for LaVine, a 27-year-old two-time All-Star who signed a five-year, $215 million max contract in July.
Through 19 games, LaVine is averaging 22 points per game, his lowest average since 2017-18. His rebound and assists number are not far off his career mark, but his shooting (42% from the field, 35% from beyond the arc) are also the lowest they’ve been since 2017-18.
He was even benched in the final minutes of a game in mid-November after shooting 1-of-14. He did have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in May, which could have some bearing on what appears to be a statistical regression. “He has admitted [that] his lift, which was a defining trait for him early in his eight-year career, isn’t where he thought it would be,” according to ESPN’s Jamal Collier in a November 22 story.
Despite his down year, LaVine exploded with a 41-point, eight-rebound performance on December 4 in a loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Starting Lineup Would Look Good
The Knicks have point guard Jalen Brunson, whom they acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in July, running the show for them. The signing created excitement among the fan base because it seemingly filled a long-vacant hole at point guard, but it hasn’t been enough to get them on the right side of .500 get them over the hump into becoming true contenders.
If the Knicks were to manage to pull off a trade like the one Simmons suggested by giving up just one rotational player (Toppin), then a starting lineup of Brunson, LaVine, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson could look formidable, able to compete for a win night in and night out.
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