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With the NBA Trade Deadline quickly approaching, the New York Knicks have to have their eyes set on who they are going to potentially trade to bring in a guy who can come in and be a superstar in Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks are most certainly having one of the more disappointing seasons in all of the NBA. Many expected them to potentially win a playoff series this season but they aren’t even in the playoff picture as of now. They are 12-14 on the season and an embarrassing 5-8 at Madison Square Garden, which is arguably the toughest place to play in all of basketball.
There are clearly areas that the Knicks need to improve on and the most important one is going out and getting a guy who can score 25-plus points a night and be that superstar that Madison Square Garden needs. Julius Randle is a very good player, but he isn’t the guy that is going to get the Knicks over their long championship drought. For them to bring in somebody of a high caliber, they might need to trade away some of the younger guys that they have.
Let’s take a look at who the Knicks need to trade in order to get their team to become championship contenders.
3 Players The Knicks Must Trade
Kemba Walker
Kemba Walker is clearly going to be the first guy that the Knicks are looking to move. He hasn’t been in the rotations in nearly two weeks. They brought him in this offseason in hopes that he could be a good starting point guard and ignite a fire in the Garden because that’s exactly what he did when he used to play there in college. It was an interesting decision from the Knicks’ perspective due to some of his recent injuries and also his age. It was a risk that they were willing to take and it clearly hasn’t worked out for them.
Kemba cannot be traded until December 14th but that is much earlier than the Trade Deadline. Once he becomes tradable the Knicks are certainly going to try to get somebody for him. They could get a decent return due to a contending team hoping that he can be the guy to run their second unit. It could be possible that teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and others could be interested in him if the Knicks asking price is not too high because they can use somebody to run their second unit.
They aren’t going to necessarily get back a return from any of those teams for somebody that they need. Kemba isn’t the player that he used to be so in order for the Knicks to get back somebody that they want, they’re going to have to package him with somebody else or take the loss on their questionable signing an offseason ago.
RJ Barrett
RJ Barrett certainly has the potential to be an All-Star in this league. It would be questionable for the Knicks to trade him due to how good he has shown he could potentially be. The question for the Knicks now is would they want to wait for Barrett to be fully accustomed to the NBA, or go out and get somebody who can come in and make an immediate impact?
Knicks fans have been asking for Barrett to be traded for quite some time but unless the Knicks are going to get somebody who can come in and be that star that they need, it wouldn’t make much sense to trade him. He’s an elite defender who can also hit his three-point shots. Barrett has been everything that fans can ask for, and more.
Barrett is probably the best option for the Knicks to trade because he could get the best return. If they’re looking to get a guy like De’Aaron Fox or Damian Lillard, RJ Barrett is almost certainly going to have to be in the trade package.
Mitchell Robinson
The Knicks should start giving Obi Toppin all of Mitchell Robinson’s minutes. Obi Toppin is clearly the answer at the 4-5 position for this Knicks team and there’s no reason why Robinson should be taking any of his minutes. Mitchell Robinson is also only 23 years old so he could get a decent return from one of the teams that the Knicks decide to trade with.
Toppin has clearly been the better player out of the two and with how young he is and being their former first-round pick, they need to go all-in on the kid and start giving him the minutes that he deserves.
The Knicks are still a few years away from being contenders, but they do have some young assets who they can trade to go get that star that they desperately need. It’s not easy coming in and being a star in Madison Square Garden, so the Knicks better make sure that they make the right decision on who they bring in. They had a disappointing offseason and need to make it right by winning the Trade Deadline.