Denver Nuggets: 3 trade-up scenarios in the 2022 NBA Draft

Denver Nuggets 2022 NBA Draft trade-up scenarios: New York Knicks

The New York Knicks need point guard help (stop me if you’ve heard that one before) and after failing to jump up in the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery, they’re stuck with the middling 11th pick.

It’s no secret that they’re going to be making a run at Jalen Brunson this free agency period but Jake Fischer, Bleacher Report believes a return to Dallas is the most likely outcome.

After failing to make the playoffs this past season, there’s an argument that they should try and trade up to find more high-end talent, but with plenty of money committed to players like Julius Randle, Evan Fournier, and Derrick Rose, they might be better of retooling and making another push.

Here’s a trade that the Knicks could make if they miss out on their priority this offseason.

Monte Morris is one of the better backup point guards in the league and this past season has shown that he can capably run the show as the lead guard. He’s not going to average 20-plus points per game but he’ll get his teammates involved and not turn the ball over.

Additionally, Morris is more than happy working off the ball, as shown when playing next to Nikola Jokic. Julius Randle, while nowhere near as elite as Jokic on the offensive end, operates best out of the post, kicking it out when he draws enough attention. It wouldn’t be too much of a change for the guard.

From Denver’s point of view, Kemba has to come back for the trade to work financially and he might be a mid-season trade candidate or instant waive. The main value here is moving up in the draft to snag a superior player.

Another impetus for the trade is to make way for Bones Hyland. After exploding onto the scene in his rookie season, Bones still faces an uphill battle for playing time behind Jamal Murray, Morris, and possibly even Austin Rivers if he returns.

Even though I love what Monte does on the court, moving up ten picks is too far for his value and taking back the bad money in Kemba isn’t enough to swing the value. If New York does end free agency with no solution at point guard, Monte may be a late call for Leon Rose and the Knicks – we’ll see.