Biggest needs Knicks must address at the 2024 trade deadline

As the end of January approaches, the NBA is rapidly nearing two major events in its immediate future — the All-Star Game and the NBA trade deadline. While the former is predominantly a form of entertainment, the latter has very real consequences for teams that engage, as well as teams that don’t. For the New York Knicks, the trade deadline hasn’t been as consequential in some time.

New York and four other teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, and Orlando Magic — have engaged in a game of musical chairs, regularly trading places in the Eastern Conference standings. Despite currently being slotted in the seventh seed, the Knicks have been as high as the fourth seed as recently as a few days ago.

Only two games separates these five teams, all of whom are jockeying for positioning in hopes of avoiding the Play-In Tournament, which is the consolation prize for finishing the season anywhere between the seventh and tenth seed. One way for New York to improve their seeding is to complete a trade before the upcoming deadline, bringing in what they can only hope is the missing piece to their championship dreams. 

Knicks trade deadline overview

The Knicks have a fairly well-rounded roster, but they still need to shore up some areas, because if an injuries pile up — as we’re seeing now with Jalen Brunson, who has missed New York's previous two games with a calf contusion — the floor could fall out from underneath the Knicks very quickly, no pun intended.

Fortunately, one important constant is still in place, and that's New York's general manager Leon Rose. Rose’s approach to team building has proven to be methodical and deliberate. But he must prove that he can work with sports agencies other than the one he previously oversaw (CAA). Specifically, Klutch Sports, another major sports agency run by Rich Paul, has made it clear it prefers not to do business with the Knicks, which is not ideal when it comes to hammering out trades.

But New York refused to wait for the deadline to begin dealing this year. They completed a trade with the Toronto Raptors that swapped out Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn. That deal solidified their wing defense and improved their spacing. But in doing so, they created another hole on their roster with this trade.

The Knicks need a back-up point guard after moving Immanuel Quickley

In sending Quickley to the Raptors, the Knicks traded away their only established help at point guard off the bench, leaving Brunson to potentially play even more than the career-high 35.7 minutes per game he’s been averaging so far. Third-year pro Miles McBride has played better than expected as Brunson’s understudy, but it’s clear that New York could use a more established (and consistent) option.

Fortunately for New York, there are point guards to be had on the trade market. The Knicks have recently been linked to Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks and Malcolm Brogdon of the Portland Trail Blazers, and these are trades that New York should seriously consider making. But all back-up point guards aren’t created equally. It would be fair to give up multiple first-round picks for Murray, whereas Brogdon should not fetch that type of return.

The Knicks also need more scoring options in their backcourt

A back-up point guard isn’t all the Knicks need. New York lost a total of 33.2 points per game in Barrett (18.2) and Quickley (15.0) when they completed their deal with Toronto. Anunoby has been great so far, but he’s not a high volume scorer. The Knicks need another playmaker to share the floor with Brunson and Julius Randle, too. While New York’s defense struggled in December, their offense flourished, averaging 121 points per game. But that number is down to 114 in January, with all those games coming after the Anunoby trade.

So, what’s the solution? Someone like Murray (mentioned above) could contribute here, too. But if the Knicks don’t want to give up the assets required to add Murray, maybe they consider a player like Jordan Clarkson on the Utah Jazz, as the former Sixth Man of the Year would be a great addition. He’s averaging 17.9 points per game — and would technically also help out at the back-up point guard spot. DeMar DeRozan would also be a great fit if the Chicago Bulls decide to initiate a rebuild, with Bogdan Bogdanovic or Bojan Bogdanovic also being potential options here too.

What could the Knicks give up at the trade deadline?

This is a big question for New York to address. They are clearly willing to send out Evan Fournier’s $18.8 million expiring deal, and they seem to be willing to send Quentin Grimes packing, too. Other than those two, there are few players the Knicks are actively shopping.

But there are also draft picks that could be used in a trade, including up to four-first rounders this season (although two of those are unlikely to convey this year). The Knicks can also use any of their future first-rounders, choosing to send out unprotected picks, protected picks, and/or pick swaps. The return matters, though, as only a star player could be worth including that sort of draft capital. But the Knicks should be cautious in doing so because sending out too many picks would hurt their ability to add another star like Donovan Mitchell this upcoming offseason.

Ultimately the Knicks have some areas of need to address. The confusing thing about New York’s approach is that they could go in two very different directions. They could either look to add supplemental pieces (that realistically don’t make them contenders) or they could go big game hunting. Whichever path they chose, one thing is for sure — they cannot afford to sit this trade deadline out.