New York Knicks Acquire Former Ohio State Buckeyes Star in Trade

The New York Knicks have acquired a former Ohio State Buckeyes star in a trade.

Jan 24, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Keita Bates-Diop (21) dunks during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks have officially acquired a former Ohio State Buckeyes star basketball player via a trade.

Many Ohio State fans will fondly remember the days of Keita Bates-Diop dominating on the court. He has gone on to have a good NBA career, although he never developed into a star at the professional level.

According to a recent report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Knicks added Keita Bates-Diop in the big trade that also brought Mikal Bridges to the team.

Sources: The Knicks are signing-and-trading Shake Milton as part of Mikal Bridges/Bojan Bogdanovic trade to the Nets, who will also send Keita Bates-Diop to New York. Milton will sign a three-year, $9 million contract, with over minimum in year one and two non-guaranteed years.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 4, 2024

Bates-Diop has played 283 games throughout his NBA career thus far. He has career averages of 6.0 points per game to go along with 3.0 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. He has shot 47.4 percent from the floor and has also knocked down 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts.

Looking back at his Ohio State career, he played four years with the Buckeyes. In his senior season, he was an absolute monster.

In that 2017-18 season, he averaged 19.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.6 blocks. He shot 48 percent and 35.9 percent from three-point range.

While he hasn't found the success that some Ohio State fans were expecting, he has been able to stick around in the league. At 28 years old, he still has some good years ahead of him.

It will be interesting to see if Bates-Diop can carve out a role with New York. The team will give him a chance to compete in the Eastern Conference and he has the talent to be a solid role player.