The big chatter in New York ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA Trade Deadline will revolve around Brooklyn and James Harden – but it looks like the Knicks could be even more active, too.
According to SNY reports, the Los Angeles Lakers are hot on newly-acquired Knicks forward Cam Reddish – and the Knicks are also hot on Raptors guard Goran Dragic.
Per SNY’s sources and Michael Scotto of USA Today/HoopsHype, the Lakers, Knicks, and Raptors have at least preliminarily discussed a three-team deal that would see New York receive Dragic and draft compensation, with the Lakers getting Reddish and Alec Burks, and the Raptors getting Nerlens Noel as well as Talen Horton-Tucker from Los Angeles.
Scotto further adds that there’s “a chance” Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn gets added in the deal somewhere as well.
The Knicks acquired Reddish from Atlanta for Kevin Knox and a 2022 first-round pick last month, but Reddish has been an afterthought so far.
He was inactive due to injury for the first four games the Knicks played after the deal, but in the next seven where he was available, he recorded four DNPs and 20:36 of game action in the three games he played.
Reddish did get more run in the Knicks’ last two games, playing 15 minutes against Utah Monday and 14 in Phoenix Tuesday to help cover for Quentin Grimes’ absence, but recorded just eight points and three rebounds in those 29 minutes, as well as an aggregate minus-37 plus/minus.
Related
Because NBA trade rules mandate that Reddish must be moved in a deal that matches his own salary, it’s possible that a three-way deal could be consummated where the Knicks send Burks and Reddish to the Lakers for Nunn and Horton-Tucker – a deal that is roughly salary neutral, the Knicks’ haul worth less than a half-million dollars in overall salary – and then spin Horton-Tucker and Noel to Toronto for Dragic in another roughly salary-neutral deal.
In this scenario, the Knicks would shed a fair bit of long-term commitments, as Dragic is a pending free agent, while both Noel and Burks are signed through 2024 and Reddish through 2023 with a qualifying option through 2024 on his rookie deal.
Even if Nunn, who is currently injured, is included and kept by the Knicks, and he picks up his $5.25 million player option for 2022-23, the Knicks would basically replace Reddish with Nunn for 2023 while saving about $700K in salary, and still shed the final two years of Burks and Noel and QO option on Reddish.
The NBA Trade Deadline is 3 p.m. Thursday.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch