The New York Knicks have already completed one major trade during the 2023-24 NBA regular season, acquiring OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn from the Toronto Raptors. When that trade was completed, many people thought it was only the first in a series of moves New York would make.
Anunoby has been an upgrade in the starting five over RJ Barrett, who was traded to Toronto along with Immanuel Quickley. But the loss of Quickley has been felt as the Knicks require another shot creator and someone to run the offense with the second unit when Jalen Brunson is resting.
Anyone who thought the Anunoby acquisition was only the first step would seemingly be correct. According to NBATradeReport on X, formerly Twitter, the Knicks remain actively engaged in trade talks with several teams.
One player New York has been linked to is Malcolm Brogdon of the Portland Trail Blazers. However, according to the report, it is the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks who are the most notable teams the Knicks have had discussions with.
#Sources — Knicks have been active in trade talks with multiple teams, most notably, Detroit and Atlanta. #NBA
— NBATradeReport (@NBATradeReport) January 12, 2024
The dots are easy to connect when it comes to conversations with the Hawks. Dejounte Murray is reportedly being made available and he is someone New York has been connected to in recent days as they look for help in their backcourt.
However, it has been reported that the Knicks aren’t looking to make a blockbuster deal ahead of the deadline. Instead, they are looking to acquire someone who can help replace what Quickley brought to the team as the backup point guard and scoring threat off the bench.
Could veteran Patty Mills, who is buried deep on the Hawks bench, be of interest to the Knicks? More than likely, the smaller trade that has been reported would come in a deal with the Pistons, who have two players that could be of interest to New York.
The Knicks could bring back a familiar face in Alec Burks. To the chagrin of many, Burks played a lot of point guard during his first tenure with the team. He is a capable ball handler and would provide versatility and a scoring spark off the bench.
Veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic is another name to keep an eye on. The Knicks have been linked to him previously and there is still a sizable void in their rotation at the power forward spot behind Julius Randle.
Bogdanovic would provide the Knicks with another lethal shooter and someone who can create some offense on their own in the frontcourt. Most importantly, he can play minutes as a power forward without Tom Thibodeau having to sacrifice too much size as he has done at times this season.