FanPost

Trade Deadline


Knicks trade Damyean Dotson, along with expiring contracts Elfrid Payton, Marcus Morris Sr., a future 1st round pick.

Chicago Trades Zach Levine, Luke Kornet, Denzel Valentine.


The Knicks retrieve a 24 year old scoring combo guard in Levine. They can then line up Frank Ntilikina, with Levine in the back court while replacing the scoring of Morris with Lavine. Shift RJ Barrett to small forward which is his more natural position, and finish the front court with Julius Randle and Bobby Portis as PF and C options.

New Knicks would look like this:

PG: Ntilikina 30 min Reserve: DSJ 18 min

SG: Lavine 30 min Reserve: Alonzo Trier 18 min

SF: RJ Barrett 30 min Reserve: Reggie Bullock 15 min

PF: Julius Randle 30 min Reserve: Kevin Knox 20 min

C: Bobby Portis 30 min Reserve: Mitchell Robinson 20 min

The Knicks have a 10 player rotation now which includes regular heavy minutes for all the youngsters, and puts the journeyman vets on the bench or out of the rotation completely. The only changes would be nights where Bullock is cold, his minutes could be shifted to Wayne Ellington, or where the front court bigmen aren't getting it done, the Knicks could substitute in Luke Kornet for some stretch PF/C support.

Barrett has no business being a shooting guard (I don't care if they're now wings and this is positionless basketball). If he switches to SF, and focuses more on attacking the rim, and getting others involved Lavine, Randle, Portis, and even Ntilikina's perimeter offense will be supported. While Nitlikina is not a stat stuffer, pairing him with Lavine who is a points/assists guy will help that duo.

Just my opinion, but this is a roster lineup and rotation that I'd like to see for the second half of the season. Also, the Knicks have five 1st round picks in the next 3 years. They could top 5 or top 10 protect the pick they trade out through those years as they see fit. The Bulls would get perimeter scoring (Dotson), a true SF and leader (Morris), and a future draft pick which seems like a win win to me.