Zion Williamson, Kristaps Porzingis Among Knicks' Draft Day Trade?
Getting Zion Williamson on draft day sounds like a New York Knicks update from 2019 or a mantra to keep them sane during a 17-win season. Four drafts later, it could wind up being one of the surprises of the yearly selections.
As Williamson's career on and off the floor stands as anything but a Big Easy, his future has been called into question. The Knicks have lingered as a part of that future and Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, assisted by intel from Marc Stein, thinks that the upcoming draft night could put Williamson on the path to a new destiny.
"The New Orleans Pelicans are reportedly mulling moving the oft-injured big man to snag a top-three pick and the chance to select G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, per NBA insider Marc Stein," Buckley declares. "The Knicks, of course, don't have a top-three pick to dangle, so how could they enter the Williamson sweepstakes? By potentially connecting the dots in a three-team trade.
"Maybe the teams with top-three picks don't want all the health risks tied to the 22-year-old. Perhaps they'd prefer a package from New York built around some combination of Barrett, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, and a pile of future first-round picks. If the Knicks could grease the gears of a multi-team trade that finally brings Williamson to the Big Apple, they should be all over it."
Little more, of course, needs to be said about Willimason's injury woes that have limited him to 29 games over the past two seasons. Buckley has two other names for the Knicks to consider in case those issues cause them to get cold feet.
One of them will be familiar to anyone who has had even a passing interest in the Knicks' draft day affairs, as some believe Washington is set to ship off Kristaps Porzingis, The veteran is well-renowned for his rise from draft day infamy to metropolitan All-Star and later falling back to de facto public enemy number one after he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, though Porzingis has downplayed his involvement in asking for such a deal.
Though emotional and medical issues saddle Porzingis, currently of the Washington Wizards, Buckley believes his mid-range and outside game could be worth the expected toll.
"Planting Porziņģis in the middle instead would open up everything," Buckey argues. "He isn't just a good shooter for a center, he's a high-end marksman in general. He just supplied 2.1 threes per game on 38.5 percent shooting. And when he has space to work with, he's a scoring threat from everywhere. This season, the 27-year-old tallied a personal-best 23.2 points on 49.8 percent shooting overall."
Closing out a potential trio of acquisitions is Toronto's O.G. Anunoby, who is praised by Buckley for his defensive prowess and status as "a fit for virtually any win-now team." New York reportedly kept Anunoby in its sights during the lead-up to the last trade deadline but opted to go with Portland's Josh Hart instead.
The 2023 NBA Draft will be held next Thursday night at Barclays Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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