New York Knicks Receive: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: C Mitchell Robinson, F Obi Toppin, F Kevin Knox, NYK 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #19), DAL 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #21), NYK 2022 1st Round Pick (Top-5 Protected)
Outside of the first two trade packages, it is really hard to come up with another scenario in which the Thunder would be interested in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander simply because there are a ton of teams in the league who will not be willing to pay the value Oklahoma City has placed on their young guard.
One team who can afford to pay this toll though and could be willing to do so in order to add more offensive talent to their roster is the New York Knicks.
Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett are the only two primary contributors for the Knicks on the offensive end of the court, which is why they could use a guy like SGA. Not to mention, they have virtually no talent in their backcourt and will be searching for ways to add a high-level point guard to their roster this offseason.
They would have to give up a lot, but they do have the assets to potentially put together a solid enough deal for Oklahoma City to trade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Knicks. For the Thunder, they would not only get Mitchell Robinson as a young, athletic big man to build with moving forward, but they would get the 8th overall pick in last year’s draft in Obi Toppin.
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Kevin Knox is another player they would get in this deal, but he likely would not play much of a role in Oklahoma City. Since being drafted 9th overall by New York in 2018, Knox has struggled to carve out a role with the Knicks and is nothing more than a “last chance” type of player for the Thunder in this deal.
The real value from this trade for Oklahoma City comes from the Knicks three first-round picks they would be trading, two of which would be this year. This trade would give the Thunder a total of five first-round picks in this year’s draft, giving them the ability to draft a whole starting lineup of young, highly-talented players.
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Realistically, this is not a trade I would imagine the Thunder doing, but if the Knicks want Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this is the kind of value they will be looking at. He is a borderline All-Star talent and if the Thunder are going to give him up, they want to receive the necessary assets.
