With yet another disastrous season unfolding right in front of them after a similarly disheartening offseason, the New York Knicks are looking to be active sellers heading up to the February trade deadline.
According to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, however, word around the NBA is that the Knicks are open to trading everyone on their roster with the exception of RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson.
All signs from both the Knicks and teams that have talked to the Knicks is that they are open for business trade-wise. The only consensus players off the table are RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson. It's going to be a busy month or so for New York leading up to the trade deadline.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 29, 2019
Moreover, several Knicks players believe that they won't finish the season at The Big Apple. Some players have even reportedly made trade requests in private to the front office.
Multiple Knicks players are convinced that they won't finish the season in New York. With several guys on one-year or pseudo one-year deals (light guarantees next year) that can fill roles for playoff teams, expect New York to be linked to just about every other team in the NBA.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 29, 2019
The Knicks are obviously looking to get on some kind of a direction after their failure of a 2019 offseason. The team wanted to sign both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, but instead, both superstars opted to cross the bridge over to the Brooklyn Nets.
New York will likely take on a massive youth movement and focus on taking a long-term approach to get back to relevancy in the NBA. By making Barrett and Robinson untouchable, it's clear that the Knicks see them as building blocks for the future.
Through 31 games, Barrett is averaging just 13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Like most rookies, the Canadian swingman is struggling with efficiency in his first season in the league, shooting just 38.9 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three.
The Knicks have given Barrett all he can handle in his rookie campaign and rightfully so. While there will definitely be growing pains for the former Duke standout, this is something he must go through in order to develop into the star the teams hopes him to be.
Robinson, meanwhile, is having a solid sophomore campaign after making the All-Rookie second team in 2018-19. Though it hasn't been the breakout that many expected from the 21-year old, he is still going in the positive direction in terms of development.
New York opted to take it slow with Robinson's growth, however. After starting the first seven games this season, the 7-foot big man has been coming off the bench for the Knicks, playing nearly 23 minutes per game with nightly averages of 10.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
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