As reported by The Athletic’s Fred Katz, the Knicks are interested in trading Bradley Beal if he becomes available.
Bradley Bell may be on the move this summer, with the Knicks and other teams already interested. However, the New York intrigue raises some obvious questions.
What does this mean for the league? What could the Knicks bring to the Wizards in an All-Star deal? Should the Knicks make this move, or wait for the next superstar?
The Knicks could easily match the salary with an offer from Derrick Rose (the Knicks would have to accept a team option, so the deal should go through in the next couple of days), Evan Fournier, and Isaiah Hartenstein in a deal. They can offer one of the possibilities in the deal but magicians They don’t have much leverage.
In terms of picks, they can offer a 2025 Bucks first-round pick (slightly protected), a Mavs 2024 first-round pick (top-10 protected), and another first-round pick of their own (protected) to get the deal done.
Does the Bradley Bell deal make sense for the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards?
For the Wizards, this is probably the best show they’ll get outside of the Miami Heat. Washington doesn’t have much leverage in any deal because of Bell’s massive contract and no-trade clause. The Knicks could offer a deal that would allow the Wizards not to take back any long-term contracts.
This will also cause Fournier’s contract to expire at the next season deadline which could come in handy in the end. Even if the Knicks can’t complete the trade before accepting the Rose team option, they can use Obi Toppin’s or Immanuel Quickley’s instead as part of the trade. They can use minimum contracts to comply with the match requirements if they have to use a youth player.
Knicks will be involved in the tax and will have to pay penalties for that. They definitely have the flexibility to take penalties due to the fact that they can still shop RJ Barrett around the league for draft assets or cheaper contracts.
That might speed up the schedule a bit, but it makes sense for the Knicks to make the move. New York is either forced to lose one or two of these young players (Tobin or Quickley) or has to pay them a bad contract. Yes, these players enjoy a rookie contract, but once they run out of rookie contracts, Quickley’s lack of playmaking and Toppin’s lack of offensive creativity will become even more apparent.
The only downside to this is the fact that the Knicks are in a very good place. Beal will be the least attractive star available in the trades over the next 12 months. While Nix has the flexibility to wait for that perfect action, this is something the front office will have to consider.