If you’re wondering about potential trades, the Knicks have had more than surface-level talks with some teams as Dec. 15 approaches. Many free agents are eligible to be traded on that date. The Knicks, as you’d expect, are looking for ways to improve the team.
Where might they look?
Several reports state that the Bulls are open to moving Zach LaVine and other veterans, like DeMar DeRozan. The Athletic reported that the Knicks would be a desired landing spot for DeRozan. This makes sense as DeRozan also strongly considered signing with New York in the 2021 offseason.
But as of earlier this week, the Knicks hadn’t engaged in any advanced talks with Chicago on any of their players, per SNY sources.
What about Detroit and Bojan Bogdanovic? The Knicks were among the teams who talked to Detroit about potential Bogdanovic trades in the past, but I don’t think anything is imminent there.
Detroit has no immediate plans to trade Bogdanovic, according to people familiar with the organization’s thinking. The hope is that a healthy Bogdanovic can help Detroit win some games, according to those people. Detroit is 2-18 and has lost 17 straight games.
Troubling trends
If you just look at the standings, the Knicks seem to be in good shape at the 20-game mark.
They’re 12-8 entering Friday’s game at Boston.
The schedule, so far, has been a road-heavy one (12 games away from home) and condensed (five back-to-backs and six-game-in-nine-day stretch).
They’re near the top 10 in offensive efficiency and rank seventh in both defensive rating and net rating.
Not a bad place to be after 20 games.
But there are trends from the first 20 games that aren’t so great.
After getting crushed by Milwaukee on Tuesday, the Knicks fell to 0-5 in games against the Bucks and Celtics. New York is 2-8 against teams that entered play Wednesday in playoff position.
The Knicks have taken care of business against teams below them — they deserve credit there — but they’ll need to be more competitive against teams ahead of them to get to where they ultimately want to go this season. Their next opportunity to do so is on Friday in Boston.
Two rotation players have recently expressed frustration with their roles.
Josh Hart talked about not being involved in the offense earlier this month. (He subsequently played his best basketball of the season in the three games after his comments.)
Quentin Grimes on Tuesday expressed significant frustration with his role.
It’s common for multiple players on any roster to be unhappy with their roles. That’s the nature of pro sports.
Maybe the issues raised by Grimes and Hart have — or will be — addressed internally.
Hart’s teammates were joking around with him about his comments last week. It all seemed like water under the bridge for Hart and the Knicks.
How the organization handles Grimes’ frustration remains to be seen. Whether or not you think he should be complaining, no team wants one of its starters to be miserable/frustrated. So the organization needs to do something to fix it — whether it’s changing Grimes’ role, talking to him privately or something else.
Quickley extension talks
There was a report that stated Immanuel Quickley was looking for an extension worth around $25 million per season. For what it’s worth, there was never any demand made in negotiations to reach a certain number.
The Knicks and Quickley’s side never got over the hurdle of the structure of a potential deal, per SNY sources. One offer made to Quickley was not fully guaranteed, giving the Knicks a team option in the contract, per SNY sources. There were no incentives included in the talks, per SNY sources.
Quickley, of course, will be a restricted free agent in the 2024 offseason. At that point, the Knicks will be able to match any offer sheet Quickley signs with another team.
Source link: https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-knicks-havent-had-advanced-235502729.html
