One year after earning a playoff spot, the New York Knicks are in the midst of a disappointing 2021-22 season. New York has lost five of six and sits at 23-26 on the campaign.
Currently, Tom Thibodeau’s squad is the 11th seed back east. If the season ended today, New York would miss out on the play-in tournament altogether.
If there’s any hope of the Knicks returning to playoff contention, it might rest on front office head Leon Rose. He’s already been active recently, acquiring wing Cam Reddish in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks. The expectation is that these Knicks will continue to be active ahead of the NBA trade deadline. Below, we provide you with updated New York Knicks rumors as said deadline approaches on February 10.
Related: Sportsnaut’s NBA trade rumors
New York Knicks looking to sell off some veterans
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported recently that the Knicks “have expressed a willingness to move off some veteran players” as a way to get Reddish more playing time. The NBA insider specifically pointed to Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks.
By now, it’s well known that Walker has already fallen out of favor in the Big Apple. Signed during the summer, he initially fell out of the rotation completely before fellow veteran guard Derrick Rose suffered an injury. Recently, Walker has struggled to do much of substance in limited playing time.
- Kemba Walker stats (past five games): 8.2 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.8 APG, 36% shooting
All said, the 31-year-old Walker has been a healthy inactive in 10 of the Knicks’ past 14 games. The former All-Star has a cap hit of $9.2 million next season. At this point, he’d pretty much be a salary throw-in.
Also acquired this past offseason, Evan Fournier’s name coming up in rumors is pretty surprising. Though, the wing has not lived up to the four-year, $73 million contract he signed with New York last summer. Fourner, 29, is averaging what would be a seven-year low 13.4 points to go with just 42% shooting from the field. He has a negative trade value at this point.
Interestingly, Burks might have the most trade value of the trio. The veteran is averaging 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 40% shooting from distance since joining the Knicks ahead of last season. He’s also playing under a pretty team-friendly three-year, $30 million contract.
Related: Find out where the New York Knicks stand in Sportsnaut’s NBA power rankings
New York Knicks could move on from Julius Randle
These rumors have floated about for some time now. The NBA’s Most Improved Player a season ago, Randle has looked anything but it thus far during the 2021-22 campaign. It’s pretty darn damning given that he just recently signed a four-year, $117 million extension with New York.
- Julius Randle stats (2020-21): 24.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 6.0 APG, 46% shooting, 41% three-point
- Julius Randle stats (2021-22): 18.7 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 41% shooting, 31% three-point
Ian Begley of SNY is now reporting that Randle could be moved by the Knicks for the right price ahead of the February 10 NBA trade deadline. Said trade would likely be part of a larger package of assets heading out of New York for some real star power. New York had in the past been linked in Ben Simmons trade rumors. However, things are dying down a tad on that front with the Philadelphia 76ers potentially looking to wait until the summer to move him.
Could a blockbuster New York Knicks trade be in the cards?
We rarely see major in-season trades. Teams looking to move off big-name players tend to wait until the summer to see how the market plays out. It’s unknown whether this season will be any different.
What we do know is that New York still has some assets remaining from the Kristaps Porzingis trade to the Dallas Mavericks eons ago. Moving a conditional first for Reddish doesn’t necessarily change this.
With the Knicks struggling to even remain viable back east, there’s a chance Rose and Co. might look to change things up big time. As noted above, they have been linked to Ben Simmons. There’s also been some talk of New York being interested in Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant and star Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox. It’s something to pay attention to between now and the NBA trade deadline.