Getty Immanuel Quickley is reportedly being shopped.
The New York Knicks are shopping Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley according to reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“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,” he wrote.
Quickley is currently a big part of the Knicks’ rotation, so seeing him shopped like this is a bit odd, but Rose makes more sense since he’s struggling to find consistent minutes.
The former 25th overall pick is currently averaging 22.8 minutes a game, so trading him would be a way of paving the way for Quentin Grimes if that’s what the team is looking to do.
The Athletic’s Fred Katz says the team is looking at acquiring a first round pick in exchange for Quickley, and that would be just another pick to go into their growing stable of future selections.
Quickley for a First Rounder
Getting a first round pick back for Quickley could prove to be difficult as he’s not somebody who would immediately hop into the starting lineup of a championship contending team. Instead, he could be somebody who provides some scoring and defense off the bench.
“According to sources around the league, the Knicks have targeted a future first-round pick in a return for Quickley, who is extension-eligible this upcoming summer,” reports Katz.
As of right now, the Knicks appear to be stuck in mediocrity even with Jalen Brunson at point guard, and a move might have to be made to move them forward. A big problem with the team is the logjam that’s been created by the way the roster is constructed. Obi Toppin, a player that oozes potential, can’t find heavy minutes because of who’s ahead of him in the lineup.
“The Knicks watched the team move with a different energy around Toppin last season and decided to re-sign Mitchell Robinson, add Isaiah Hartenstein, re-sign Jericho Sims and hold onto Julius Randle, blocking Toppin’s path once again,” wrote Katz. “They held onto Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose and are now overloaded with guards, enough so that it took an injury to Cam Reddish over the weekend just to get Quentin Grimes back into the rotation”
Although Quickley is a nice guy to have, he won’t be moving the needle for the Knicks’ championship hopes, so trading him away for a draft pick, if possible, could be in the team’s best interest.
Knicks Staying Afloat
So far, the Knicks find themselves sitting at .500 on the season, and if they find a way to do that over the course of the season they’ll likely be in the play-in tournament. That’s pretty much the expectation the team had coming into the year, and it’d likely be considered a successful year if they compete for a spot at the playoffs.
Obviously, the fans would like to see them go further and make the leap from being a .500 team to a true championship contender, but that would take time.
One way to speed up that process would be trading for a true star such as Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis, and while that’s been floated a possibility, there’s no concrete plans to make that happen as of right now.