The NBA trade deadline arrives one week from Thursday, so there remains roughly a week and a half for rumor mongers to enjoy the most wonderful time of their year.
So for a week and a half, teams must decide to either buy, sell or stand pat in what could be an active trade session. Entering Sunday, there were 14 teams — eight in the East, six in the West — with, as one exec put it, “20-something wins and 20-something losses within 8½ games of each other.” So there are many teams who are close to being playoff teams — or think they are.
Enter the Knicks. Should they buy or sell?
In a survey of a group of opposing executives and scouts, most felt the Knicks should continue building and sell at the deadline while collecting assets.
“They exceeded expectations based on a home-heavy schedule to start the season and did a nice job, but I never thought they were a playoff team,” one opposing exec said. “Is the goal to try to create cap space for this summer or are you trying to get a draft pick back also? That’s hard because there’s not many teams willing to trade picks.”
Still sell, right?
Not necessarily.
“Depending on the cost, I would try to make the playoffs,” said another opposing team official. “Obviously keep the core assets [Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Frank Ntilikina] together and make a move to get in the playoffs. But I would not under any circumstance trade the first-round pick.”
Almost to a man, the executives and scouts voiced one sentiment: Start and play Ntilikina.
“I’d play the rookie. Jarrett Jack would get about eight minutes,” one exec said.
“I thought this year was all about trying to get to see if the rookie [Ntilikina] could be a starting-quality point guard down the road. … They should [play him 30 minutes], at least post-All-Star,” an Eastern exec said. “If you’re not going to make the playoffs, yeah, that should be the direction.”
Most stressed the sudden emergence of Trey Burke should not impact the process.
“Burke’s doing well for them, but to me that’s New York anointing him early. Early exuberance. Can’t we wait for a better sample than like two games?” one exec said, offering Burke’s 6-foot-1 size as the biggest drawback.
So what should the Knicks do on the trade front?
“There are two guys on their team that are available that people would want: Jack and [Kyle] O’Quinn,” one veteran scout said. “If they deal O’Quinn, that gives [Willy] Hernangomez an opportunity. If they deal Jack, you’ve still got Frank and Trey, two young guys, to play the point.”
Another tempting name is Courtney Lee.
“Courtney Lee has had a helluva year, a terrific year. But is he the future? By the time the Knicks are good, he’s not going to be anything for them,” one opposing official said.
As for possible returns, the answers varied. But most felt the Knicks could get picks, even when picks are being hoarded.
For Jack, one said “maybe a second-rounder,” while another doubted he could be traded. A third said a team looking for veteran point guard depth, like Washington, or Cleveland eyeing a cheaper alternative to George Hill, might give a second-rounder.
For O’Quinn, who has a $4.25 million player option next year, most saw the return from a team needing size (like Milwaukee) as a second-round pick, although one executive suggested “you might get a decent rotation player” for him.
Lee, most agreed, could fetch as much as a late, protected, first-rounder. The Thunder, in the wake of Andre Roberson’s injury, could fit, although OKC is not likely to part with a pick.
All were virtually unanimous in the assessment that a deal for Joakim Noah is unlikely.
“Offer him a buyout. You’ve got to pay him, so see if you can pay him less,” one exec said. “There’s not a team in the league that’s going to take on that contract [more than two years left on a four-year, $72 million deal] with his health issues and where he is in his career. To take on his contract, you’d have to give the No. 1 pick every other year for three years.”