The New York Knicks have weathered a slow start to the 2025-26 season and are now 20-8 on the season after taking a 132-125 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday night. They have already accomplished something season, bagging home the NBA Cup trophy, but their ambitions go far beyond that piece of regular season silverware, as they will be looking to snap their 53-year title drought next season.
The Knicks have a healthy net rating of plus-7.7, suggesting that they are every bit as good as their record. Many expected the Knicks to be in for a big season, even with Mike Brown replacing longtime head coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm, and with their added depth, they have been every bit as good as advertised.
But every team in the NBA is looking up to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a historically-great defensive team that is on the fast track to repeating as champion, recent loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves notwithstanding. The Knicks will have to beef up their roster even further if they were to truly get over the hump, and recent reports have indicated that they are indeed interested in adding more to the squad.
To that end, here is the trade that the Knicks must pull off now that we’re past the December 15 mark.
Knicks beef up their guard rotation with Jose Alvarado trade
Knicks acquire: Jose Alvarado
Pelicans acquire: Pacome Dadiet, Landry Shamet, 2026 second-round pick (from ORL/DET/MIL), 2027 NYK second-round pick
Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
If the Knicks were to have their way, they will be setting their sights on a bigger name than Jose Alvarado. However, New York’s transactions in recent years have sapped them of nearly all of their viable trade assets, and as much as they would want to maximize the title chances of their current core, they would want to at least maintain some of their draft picks in the future to help supplement their expensive core.
In terms of bigger trade targets, the Knicks could perhaps look into bringing someone like Donte DiVincenzo back from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Or maybe they could target another New Orleans Pelicans player in Herb Jones, who could have an Alex Caruso-type impact for the team moving forward.
However, those trade scenarios are untenable for the Knicks. The DiVincenzo trade may be possible financially, but that will require the Knicks to give up an important piece in Mitchell Robinson, someone whom the team will be reluctant to trade away.
Sure, Karl-Anthony Towns is locked in as the Knicks’ starting center. But Robinson’s impact on a winning team cannot be understated. He is arguably the best offensive rebounder in the league and is a legitimate rim protector — someone who could come in handy on the court for New York in terms of matching up with any kind of team.
Robinson and Towns can share the same frontcourt, what with the latter having plenty of experience playing the four. And the former can always come off the bench and provide a spark with his defense and effort on the glass.
Some think that the Knicks could get away with trading Robinson just so they could bring DiVincenzo back. However, that would mean that Ariel Hukporti would become the team’s nailed-on starting big. While the team clearly loves Hukporti, he is not even in the same league as a rebounder or defender, and he didn’t even play a single minute on Sunday in their win over the Heat.
Suffice to say, losing Robinson is not a very appealing outcome for the Knicks, thereby taking them out of the running for DiVincenzo.
On the other hand, acquiring Jones will require the Knicks to part ways with whatever is left of their future draft capital. But even then, the picks that they owe the Brooklyn Nets courtesy of the Mikal Bridges trade of 2024 will prevent them from doing so.
They owe the Nets their 2027, 2029, and 2031 first-round picks in unprotected fashion to go along with a pick swaps in 2028. Due to the Stepien Rule, New York can only trade away pick swaps in 2026, 2030 and 2032 — a prospect that won’t exactly be enticing for the Pelicans.
They can also dangle a 2026 first-rounder from the Washington Wizards that’s protected from selections one through eight. Considering how the Wizards currently have the worst record in the league, that is likely to become two second-round picks instead as per the condition of the deal.
The 2026 pick swap is worthless to the Pelicans since New Orleans don’t even have their own pick for next year. Will the Pelicans be better than the Knicks in 2030 and 2032? Perhaps, but New Orleans would want guaranteed additional picks instead in any Jones trade scenario.
This would leave the Knicks with Jose Alvarado, someone they hold interest in trading for according to reports.
One would think that the Knicks aren’t exactly in need of more guard help. Miles McBride is battle-tested and has plenty of playoff experience under his belt for New York. Jordan Clarkson has gone through war as well in the past and has established himself as an important piece in the rotation in recent games. Even Tyler Kolek is showing out, playing a huge role in recent games, including in their NBA Cup triumph over the San Antonio Spurs.
But Alvarado is a pest on defense and he can run hot from beyond the arc as well. Clarkson can always provide some minutes at the three off the bench if need be. Kolek may not be ready for playoff minutes anyway.
Alvarado is a spark plug who’s inevitably going to be a fan favorite among Knicks supporters. His hiding on the bench shenanigans just so he could pull off a steal would do numbers in the Big Apple. And he gives the Knicks even more insurance in the event of an injury to a key bench piece. For instance, McBride is currently on the mend.
New York will be giving away Pacome Dadiet and Landry Shamet along with two second-round picks for Alvarado in this scenario. Dadiet is out of the rotation. Shamet is currently injured. Guerschon Yabusele could be the odd man out, but maintaining frontcourt depth could be important for a Knicks team with championship aspirations.