MAJOR Knicks Trade Update – Insider Reveals Knicks Plans…

MAJOR Knicks Trade Update – Insider Reveals Knicks Plans…

We have a major New York Knicks trade update to go over today as the Knicks plans have been revealed well ahead of trade season by a key Knicks insider who has discussed Mitchell Robinson’s future with the team and the Knicks plan going forward with their depth in one of the most crucial areas while we have already started to see players get highlighted as trade targets for the Knicks in the middle of the season. And we are going to go over all of this guys. We’re going to waste no time jumping right into the video today. But real quick, if you’re part of that 55% that’s not subscribed to Nick’s Digest, make sure to go ahead and subscribe so you don’t miss a single New York Knicks update. We have updates on everything to do with the Knicks all the time, every day. So, you don’t want to miss out on it. But, let’s jump right into the video, guys. There’s a lot to talk about. Look, as we know, the Knicks season is still very, very young. The team’s on a four-ame win streak and everything’s looking good just a couple games into the season. But right now, the Knicks, they are really getting things to flow and they are going just the way that we were hoping they would. Obviously, there’ve been there have been some bumps in the road. Carl Anthony Towns, for instance, still has to figure out his style of play and there also has definitely been some concern with injuries. But right now, we have seen the Knicks play well. However, with all that being said, the Knicks are still going to be active in the trade market. We know Leon Rose is always active with trades and since he’s been the president of basketball operations for the Knicks, he’s made a bunch of crucial trades for the team. Multiple of them being blockbuster deals. Whether it was acquiring OG Anobi, then following that up with Male Bridges, then following that up with Carl Anthony Towns. The Knicks and Leon are no stranger to trades. And now we have seen another update with that in the early part of the season. Knicks insider Ian Begley said, “I would expect the Knicks to be active at the trade deadline this season simply because this is viewed as a prime opportunity to reach the NBA finals. If you’re looking at this season through that prism, I assume you will be searching for opportunities to upgrade the roster in early February. If the Knicks are playing well, I’d expect them to pursue moves around the back end of the rotation. If they are not playing well, we will probably be having a different conversation ahead of the trade deadline. And then on top of this, he said, “I think they have to keep an eye on the backup big man market given Mitchell Robinson’s injury history. They would love to have him healthy in the postseason, but they have to prepare for other options.” So, I’m sure they will keep an eye out for for the trade market with Bigs. Now, look, that would not be surprising at all. And I fully do expect the Knicks to look out on that market in case of an injury to Mitchell Robinson. At the end of the day, we know how important Mitchell Robinson is this team. He’s one of the X-factors of this squad and the Knicks are only at their best when Robinson’s healthy. However, we’ve spent postseasons where Mitchell Robinson’s not healthy. We’ve seen him in 2021, Leon’s first run with the Knicks when they made the playoffs. Not a single player who played in that series is on the Knicks roster. The only player who was on the roster then and now is this guy Mitchell Robinson right here. Outside of that, we haven’t seen anybody go out there and be on this Knicks roster still. I mean, Julius Randall was the last one standing. Derrick Rose was around. Obviously RJ Barrett was there, but the Knicks were a much different team. They had a starting lineup of Alfred Payeyton, Reggie Bullock, RJ Barrett, Julius, and Nerland Noel in that playoff series that they lost against the Hawks to. Since then, we’ve seen a bunch of different changes, and we’ve seen the Knicks would only be at their best if Mitchell Robinson’s there. Proven in the 2023 playoffs when Mitch was there. Unfortunately, he just got out played by Bam Adabio and the Miami Heat in that second round. And then in 2024, the Knicks were best with Mitch. But then Mitch was one of the several Knicks to go down with injuries in that playoff run, leading to the Knicks getting eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in seven games. Now, fast forward, the Knicks were excellent, and they were at their best when Mitch was there. But he’s not always guaranteed to be healthy. Now, look on the season, Mitch has been absolutely incredible for the Knicks. Putting up five points for him and 8.5 rebounds. The numbers don’t jump out as you is something that’s going to change a lot. But also, eight and a half of those rebounds, five and a half of them are offensive rebounds. He’s the best offensive rebounder in basketball. And over this four game stretch that he’s played in, he’s also found his like his shot blocking abilities back. I mean, last year didn’t even average a block per game. This season already averaging two blocks per game in that span. And one of the games where he didn’t get a block was his first game. So, he’s finding his timing once again. He’s trusting himself to jump up and block shots again. And what we’re seeing is the best version of Mitchell Robinson we have ever seen. Mind you, these f these five points and eight rebounds per game are in 16 and a half minutes of action on the season per game. So it’s not like he’s playing a lot per 36 minutes. This is over 10 points. This is around 11 and a half points per game with nearly 18 rebounds. So actually exactly 18 rebounds. So a little over that. So not some math expert. I’m not able to just convert the ratios and of everything. But like look, in all seriousness with the Knicks, what we’re seeing is Mitchell Robinson go out there and play phenomenal basketball. And obviously they don’t need another big man if Mitch is healthy. You have Ariel Huckporty and Trey Json there right now for games that Mitch is going to miss due to backtobacks or whatever. And on top of that, the Knicks do have Gershon Yabusle as well, who we’ll talk about a bit later. When we look just at their depth chart, what we see is a team that is a little bit thinner on the big man spot, but it’s fine for right now. Carl Anthony Towns can play center and will play a good amount of center. Mitchell Robinson will be there. Gershon will be there if he’s in the rotation he is. Then outside of that, there’s Ariel Huckport. So, the Knicks, they do have big men. They have guys who they could use in that big man set which is absolutely excellent. However, if Mish goes down, they’re too thin and they’re going to have to look for some sort of trade. Now, also there’s a world where they look for a floor general starting point guard, but right now things look really good on that front with Deuce McBride, Tyler Kick, and Jordan Clarkson back there. All of them sort of being a committee when it comes to being the point guard when Brunson’s off the floor and it’s working. So, there’s no reason to really worry about that or even go that much into that right now. But what really does matter for the Knicks is that big man position. It’s the one area we look at, especially considering that Ian Begley recently spoke on the future of Mitchell Robinson with the Knicks, specifically in regards to the fact that he is a free agent at the end of this season. And it didn’t exactly show the most promising thing in the world. Now, Ian Begley did say there’s going to be teams with cap space. If he’s healthy, he’s going to be very attractive on that open market. Maybe the Knicks surprise me and they do get a deal done in season if he has this impact on the floor when he’s healthy. Even though the Knicks are limiting him, teams know what he can do and he’s continuing to show it. So, that’s another part of things. When Mitchell Robinson’s healthy, he’s really, really valuable. And teams are going to want to steal Mitchell Robinson away for their own personal gain and also to make one of the best teams in the NBA a little bit worse. It makes total sense. And we have to be prepared for the situation where Mitch is one of the hottest commodities next off seasonason. And the Knicks are gonna have to battle with people. And being close to that second apron, there is a chance that this is Mitchell Robinson’s last year with the Knicks. Now, the thing is, since I’ve been on Nicks Digest for over two years now, I’ve said that all three seasons now that there’s a chance that it’s Mitchell Robinson’s last season with the Knicks, but usually because of trade rumors, the Knicks won’t be trading Mitchell Robinson in the middle of the season. That’s just not something that’s realistically going to happen. However, what is realistic is the Knicks losing Robinson in free agency. Now, I don’t think they’re going to at this point with the amount that Mitch has stuck around, I really don’t see Mitchell Robinson leaving for a while. I did expect him to get traded, but at this point, it does make sense that the Knicks are going to try to do whatever they can to keep Mitch. So, we’re going to obviously see how that plays out. but also a lot of it plays into his health and what the Knicks go out there and do if they are dealing with injuries and that’s something we have to consider. Is Ariel Hawkport ready? General consensus is probably not to be their Knicks backup center at least this season. Next season is a different story. And nine minutes per game this year and his last couple games have just been really garbage time. I mean Hucky, he hasn’t been necessarily bad. He just hasn’t left his mark that much. I mean putting up one point per game and three rebounds. He’s not bad at all. He’s grabbing an offensive and a defensive rebound. He’s an excellent offensive rebounder as well. decent shot blocker, good passer, and if he gets the minutes up, I I do imagine we’ll continue to see Huckorty grow as a player. But right now, the Knicks don’t see a spot for Ariel Hookport with Cat and Mitch handling the center duties almost the entire 48 minutes of the game. I mean, if Mitch is playing 16 minutes per game, that leaves I mean, there’s a still a good amount of time. That’s just 32 minutes for Cat to play center. And with Gershyabusle coming in at points, it’s really not the not the biggest concern in the world right now and Mitch’s minutes are going to go up to around 20 some odd minutes per game later on in the year as they continue to really slowly ramp Mitchell Robinson up which is the right call here. So with all that in mind it does make you think about what the Knicks ultimately do and what you do is here you look at the trade market and you look at what teams are bad right now a team that’s bad is the Indiana Pacers. So trading away Gershon Yabusle who hasn’t found a fit with the Knicks and that Wizards pick that’s going to convert to two second round picks because that’s the big thing here. The Knicks aren’t trading a first round pick here. They’re trading multiple second rounders that they’re going to get from Washington when Washington’s pick does not convey because it’s not going to fall out of the top eight. So with that in mind, we see like a trade at the deadline that is going to be legal and also makes some sense is moving Yabule to the Pacers in exchange for Jay Huff who fits really well with the Knicks and really doesn’t have any business with the Pacers right now because the Pacers aren’t winning games. Tyrus Allebertton’s not playing this year and the team’s clearly not going to be good. So if that happens, the Knicks can try to sway the Pacers to get them Jay-Hawk, get another big man onto this roster if Mitch is hurt. And in the same time, acquiring James Wiseman as well as just part to fill salary cap, but also giving the Knicks some of the best big man depth in basketball. All of a sudden, stuff like that starts to make a whole lot of sense moving forwards. And it is something interesting that the Knicks definitely will explore looking at as time goes on. Now, that’s an example trade. This isn’t like I’m not coming up with massive reports that the Knicks are interested in Jay Huff, but this is an example of a trade that makes sense. The Knicks would likely look to tra to trade Yabule for a real backup center if Mitchell Robinson’s heard as Yaboo has struggled to prove that he could go there. Now, Jay Huff’s a great player, and I mean, when we look at James Wiseman, he hasn’t really left his mark in recent years, but he does give the Knicks someone to try to work with and see maybe there’s something there. Maybe Mark Bryant can unlock something with a guy who was once a 10-point per game scorer pulling down a good amount of rebounds as well, shooting 52% as a 19-year-old. It feels like Wiseman should be able to find something if he can find his health. He should be able to really find a rhythm. He lost that rhythm after the injury to himself after his rookie year, but he has shown potential in the past. And I do think the Knicks would be able to do a good job at trying to ramp him up as well. And then all of a sudden, they’ve got a ton of depth at that big man position. And they could also look to buy Wiseman out and sign a guard or sign someone else in free agency freeing up some money as well going into the next season. While also this again is with the caveat that Mitchell Robinson would be hurt. So Huff is a guy who you look at. He struggled right now with the Pacers and a change of scenery will help a guy who’s an excellent shot blocker and has been a good shooter in his career. Right now not so shooting only 26% from three and and averaging six points per game and only 38% from the field in general. But still, he gives you a real big man who who adds defense and pulls down some rebounds as well and can space the floor. Meanwhile, Yabusle has struggled with the Knicks, putting up two and a half points and two and a half rebounds per game, shooting 25% from the field and 23% from three, especially when 71% of his shots have been threes this season. It’s important for the Knicks to try to figure out what to do with Yabule if he doesn’t turn it around. He’ll obviously get a ton of burn if Mitch gets hurt, but right now Mitch has been healthy. So, the Knicks, they still will likely look into the big man situation if Mitch is fully healthy because they know that can change on a dime. All of a sudden, you have to go into free agency and hope you could find someone there who can really add an impact. So, we’re going to see exactly how this goes, but we should keep an eye out on big man targets that the Knicks will likely be looking at. On top of that, some backup floor general type guys as well. But guys, what do you think? Do you think the Knicks are going to have to make a trade this season? Right now, I love this roster. I don’t see too many issues with it, but obviously that all depends on health. Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below. Like this video. Subscribe. Turn on post notifications. Have a wonderful day, guys.

Chris Gallagher breaks down the New York Knicks trade plans for this season being revealed by Knicks insider Ian Begley who discussed the team needs going forwards.

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