Knicks News: Breaking Down Offseason Trade Buzz amid Links to Potential Star Deals

The New York Knicks are among the better teams in the Eastern Conference, and they should be involved in the 2023 postseason. However, New York has lost three straight, and it's hard to consider the Knicks viable title contenders right now.

In the 2023 offseason, though, the Knicks could lay the foundation of a team that is in the title mix annually.

New York's two biggest stars, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle are both under contract through at least the 2024-25 season. Forward Josh Hart, who is averaging 10.9 points, 3.8 assists and 6.7 rebounds off the bench, has also stated that he hopes to stick around long-term.

"I want bigger things for my wife and myself," Hart said, per Andscape's Marc J. Spears. "Just find a home somewhere where we are valued and really like living there. And I think that can be New York. I would love for it to be New York, and hopefully, the organization feels the same way."

Additionally, general manager Scott Perry has compiled numerous tradeable assets, including young players and multiple future draft picks. As ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently noted on his Hoops Collective podcast, these assets could yield one or two star players this offseason:

"Here's what I think about the Knicks. ...They have two handfuls of trade material, in my opinion. They can make, in my opinion, ...two big trades if they had to coming into this summer. They have the expiring contract of Evan Fournier, which can act as ballast in a trade. They have a bunch of younger players that people are interested in. And they have something like nine tradable first round picks. In my view, they can trade for two star-level players if they needed to."

The Knicks' draft capital includes a Dallas Mavericks top-10-protected 2023 first-round pick, and the protected first-round picks of the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards—which would defer to 2024.

New York's young veteran assets include impending restricted free agents RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin.

Toppin, the eighth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, hasn't developed into a significant contributor for the Knicks. According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, the Knicks were high on Toppin coming into the season but could look to move on sooner rather than later.

"New York brass was extremely bullish before the season," Lowe wrote on Friday "...Toppin is eligible for an extension this summer, but it's hard to see any marriage here."

Barrett, the third-overall pick in the 2019 draft, has become a quality starter, but the Knicks have explored trading him before.

During the summer, Barrett was discussed in the Donovan Mitchell trade talks. Looking ahead, I expect his name to pop up again in trade talks if the Knicks are linked to any star player that hits the market," HoopsHype's Michael Scotto said on the March 9 HoopsHype podcast.

Toss in the final year of Fournier's deal—plus a club option in 2024-25—and New York should have all the pieces necessary to chase just about any star player who ends up on the offseason trade market.

It's a bit trickier to work out what sort of deals could be available to the Knicks this summer without knowing who will be made available. With players like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant being moved at the trade deadline, there might not be a true superstar who winds up back on the market. One possible exception could be Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics.

Brown will be extension-eligible, but if he doesn't make the All-NBA team and become eligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, he might not be willing to re-up with Boston early.

According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, Brown will draw significant interest in 2024 free agency:

"League executives acknowledged that rival teams with 2024 cap space had Brown circled as a potential target—'We've got him penciled in for sure,' one told Heavy Sports. 'But probably half the league does.'"

If Brown doesn't sign an extension, and the Celtics feel they're destined to lose him, he would become a logical trade target—whether Boston would be willing to send him to New York is another story.

Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan is another logical potential target. He'll be on an expiring contract, Chicago is even further from contention than New York, and DeRozan would be an upgrade over Toppin in the rotation.

Toronto Raptors guard O.G. Anunoby is another name to watch. According to Scotto, the Knicks looked into acquiring him before the deadline, and revisiting that trade would make plenty of sense:

"There were rumblings the Knicks talked to the Raptors about Evan Fournier, and I think it was three first-round picks for OG Anunoby, but talks didn't go far, I was told."

In early March, Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley proposed a trade that would send Barrett, Toppin and Isaiah Hartenstein to the Bulls in exchange for DeRozan and Alex Caruso.

"If they added DeRozan, who eyeballed New York in 2021 free agency, and pesky combo guard Alex Caruso, who might quickly become Tom Thibodeau's favorite player, they'd be no worse than shadow contenders for the championships," Buckley wrote.

Though purely hypothetical, Buckley's proposal is exactly the sort of favorable deal that New York could swing without dipping into its draft cache. Those picks could then be used to target a player like Brown or Anunoby should one become available.

What will the Knicks do in the offseason? That remains to be seen, obviously, but it would be a shock to see them not pursue a deal that makes them legitimate title contenders next season, and ideally, beyond.