New York Knicks
Outgoing: Enes Kanter and Ron Baker
Obviously, every Heat fan has a soft spot for head coach David Fizdale.
I’m sure we all want him to succeed in New York City, but there are some things management needs to take care of first.
Enes Kanter publicly mulled over the decision to opt into his $18.6 million for this season, but eventually decided to do so, even though he knew the team would be continuing its tanking ways.
This is the first campaign in a while where you can glance at the Knicks roster and see some young talented players listed. They’re still plenty of moves away from making noise in the playoffs, but with wins against the Celtics, Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Milwaukee Bucks, you can tell they’re headed in the right direction (finally).
This trade comes as a necessity for the Knicks to get something for Kanter, who is undoubtedly leaving at season’s end.
In this scenario, the Knicks get to rent Whiteside on his player option year.
Think about that for a second.
Next season, the Knicks could roll out a starting lineup of Emmanual Mudiay, Tim Hardaway Jr, Zion Williamson, Kristaps Porzingis, and Whiteside, while kicking the can down the road on their younger players, without taking any real risks (especially if going after Kevin Durant doesn’t pan out).
They can get draft picks from the eventual Frank Ntilikina trade too, while not doing anything crazy like pursuing John Wall.
The Heat would probably like to retain Kanter but most likely won’t be able to afford him minutes-wise or salary-wise, unless they make multiple trades of frontcourt players in the offseason.
If you’re a Knicks fan and that doesn’t make your skin bristle… well, you’re ridiculous.
(Take that for data.)