It's been one hell of a night for New York Knicks fans, who had their head spinning as the draft went on. In particular, the team confused nearly everyone by making a series of trades revolving their picks and one Kemba Walker. Here's how that all went down.
First, the Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder engaged in a trade involving the 11th overall pick (which turned out to be Ousmane Dieng). OKC exchanged that pick for three future first-rounders from various teams in the 2023 draft. That part is easy to understand.
What comes next, though, is a convoluted trail of trades that will leave anyone's brain tangled up. First, the Knicks packaged one of the firsts they got from OKC along with FOUR second-rounders to Charlotte for the 13th pick in 2022.
Then, New York immediately packaged said 13th pick along with point guard Kemba Walker to the Pistons for Milwaukee's 2025 first-round pick. For short: NYK gave up their 11th pick, four second-round picks, and Walker for three future first-round selections (two in 2023, one in 2025) (via Tim Bontemps)
What the Knicks did tonight:
NYK trades 11th pick to OKC
OKC trades 3 firsts (23 DEN, DET, WASH) to NYK
NYK then trades 23 DEN, 4 seconds to CHA for 13th pick
NYK then trade 13th pick & Kemba Walker to DET for MKE's 25 first
NYK trades 11, Kemba, 4 2nds & gets 3 future 1sts
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 24, 2022
The idea behind all these moves from the Knicks is so blatantly obvious: clear cap space for a free agent signing. In true NYK fashion, the team is once again gunning for a big splash in free agency instead of drafting their way to the top of the league. This time, their target seems to be Jalen Brunson of the Dallas Mavericks.
These types of moves have been much-maligned by the Knicks fanbase for a long time now. We'll see if they can finally justify these moves this season.
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