The New York Knicks have been making headlines in the NBA this season for all of the right reasons and could be on their way to the playoffs for the first time since 2013! Knicks fans have endured years of suffering and losing, but now, with a young, hungry team, the New York Knicks have turned themselves into a team that nobody wants to play down the stretch of the season.
All year long, the Knicks have been one of the best defensive teams in the league and not only are they giving up the least amount of points to their opponents on average, but they rank 3rd in the league in net defensive rating.
The job Tom Thibodeau has done in his first year in New York is quite remarkable, but the Knicks would definitely not be as good as they have been without Julius Randle. The 7th year big man has put together a career-year and not only did he make his first All-Star appearance early in the season, but he still leads the Knicks in scoring, assists, rebounds, field goals made and player efficiency rating.
Entering the offseason, the Knicks are going to have about $61M in cap space to play around with and should look to be aggressive in the names they pursue talent wise.
Could this mean that they will be “open for business” and looking to trade anybody not named Julius Randle or R.J. Barrett in attempts to build a legit playoff contending team?
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If the Knicks decide to go this route and are willing to leverage some of their young assets, then this past year’s first-round pick Obi Toppin could definitely become a hot commodity on the trade market. The 23-year-old forward has not played much this season as he sits behind Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Nerlens Noel and Mitchell Robinson in the depth chart in the Knicks’ frontcourt.
Trading Obi Toppin would definitely be a questionable move for the Knicks, especially since they are so high on him and believe that he can be a difference-maker for them in future years, but in the event that he becomes available in trade talks, here are the three teams who should take a chance on the rookie forward.
