The New York Knicks made a couple of eyebrow-raising moves in the 2022 NBA draft. First, they traded away their 11th overall pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for “multiple future picks”.

They then proceeded to use some of those assets to get out of Kemba Walker's contract, acquiring 13th pick Jalen Duren from the Charlotte Hornets to package in the deal sending the veteran point guard to the Detroit Pistons.

That virtually leaves the Knicks with no high-end prospect coming from the 2022 NBA draft. The motivation behind that was to bolster their ammo in acquiring their free agency target instead – Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson, according to NBA insider Marc Stein:

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The deal gets the Knicks inching closer to the $20 million mark in terms of cap space, which is likely the threshold they need to reach in order to even be in the ballpark to sign Jalen Brunson outright.

Brunson had himself a breakout season in Dallas, averaging 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. He stepped up to the plate as Luka Doncic's second in command during the Mavs' playoff run all the way up to the Western Conference Finals.

The Knicks are hoping that he can continue his trajectory towards stardom – and do it in a Knicks uniform.