Insider: Latest Knicks Trade Rumors Hint At Alec Burks Reunion and More

The New York Knicks appear to be inching away from star players as the Feb. 8 trade deadline approaches.

The New York Knicks may have made a big trade for OG Anunoby, but they are still expected to be big-time players before the Feb. 8 deadline.

According to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, there are plenty of different directions the Knicks can consider and lists three particular role players worth watching.

"The Knicks are doing their due diligence and looking at various players across the league," Scotto says. "(That includes) Hornets guard Terry Rozier, Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon, former Tom Thibodeau favorite Alec Burks, sources said. In addition, the Knicks are surveying the trade market for a backup power forward, league sources told HoopsHype."

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The most intriguing name from that list is probably the 32-year-old Burks: an impending free agent, the current Detroit Piston played two seasons in New York (2020-22), including 81 games during the latter campaign. Burks wound up taking over for Kemba Walker in the starting five, earning a fan in head coach Tom Thibodea.

“The size is the big thing. It makes us bigger. We’ve got small guards and you add him to the mix, it gives us size at that position," Thibodeau said when he made the switch in November 2021, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. "It allows us to do things that are beneficial to the group. So the big thing is getting bigger."

As for the other pair, Brogdon (14.8 points in 31 appearances this season) would provide a true scoring option off the bench for the Knicks, something they lost when they sent Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors in the Anunoby deal. Miles McBride has emerged as a bit of a scorer (39 points in two games in place of an injured Jalen Brunson) but is far more renowned for his defense. Brogdon won last year's Sixth Man of the Year Award with Boston, beating out Quickley in the runner-up spot.

Rozier is in a similar spot, as he's averaging a career-best 24 points per game this season for the lowly Hornets. However, he costs more than Brogdon and still has a year on his contract after this one where he is expected to make just over $24 million.

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Out of the three players listed here, Burks costs the least and provides the most continuity. He's shooting nearly 40 percent from behind the three-point line, which could help give the Knicks some much-needed distance scoring.

It's pretty clear that at least one of these three players will be traded from their cellar-dweller to a contender and now it's up to the Knicks to decide if they want to be the catalyst in making that happen.