Everything we know about the Knicks ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft

A few notes as we get closer to Thursday’s NBA Draft:

SHARPE PLAY?

The price to trade up to the fourth or fifth pick in the draft will be significant. If the Knicks are willing to give up enough assets, they can get up to No. 4 or No. 5. (My guess is it will take multiple first round picks and at least one of the Knicks’ young trio of Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes to get close on a trade up).

If the Knicks love Jaden Ivey enough, they can probably make it happen. But there’s another player who has been on their radar to keep an eye on in trade-up scenarios: Shaedon Sharpe.

Sharpe has had fans in high places within the organization. He is projected to go before the Knicks pick at 11, so the club would probably have to move up to select Sharpe, a 6-foot-6 guard. 

Sharpe’s talent is undeniable. However, he sat out of the college season at Kentucky, so the traditional tools for evaluation aren’t available to teams interested in Sharpe.

The Knicks, as you may have heard, have strong relationships with the Kentucky program (team president Leon Rose and executive vice president William Wesley are close with Wildcats head coach John Calipari). So you’d think that they can gain insight into Sharpe through those connections.

RIPPLE EFFECTS OF BRUNSON DEAL?

Rival teams and executives believe the Knicks will continue to look for ways to shed enough salary to make an aggressive offer to Jalen Brunson, confirming reports from ESPN and Bleacher Report. 

Brunson was a target for the Knicks prior to the 2022 trade deadline. Earlier this month, some within the organization felt that Dallas would do what it took to re-sign Brunson this offseason after he helped lift the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals. Also earlier this month, New York added Rick Brunson, Brunson’s father, to Tom Thibodeau’s coaching staff.

Dallas knows the Knicks’ affinity for Brunson based on conversations the two teams have had over the course of Rose’s tenure as team president. It would be difficult for the Knicks to shed enough salary to make a competitive offer for Brunson. If the club needs to add assets (a young player or a draft pick) to sign Brunson, the decisions made in the 2021 offseason will come under greater scrutiny. Of course, if Brunson helps turn this iteration of the Knicks into a contender, most fans probably won’t be too concerned over moves made in 2021.

If the Knicks don’t trade up for Ivey and they shed salary in an attempt to sign Brunson but fail to do so, where would they turn?

They have been in touch with the Indiana Pacers on Malcolm Brogdon, but some members of the Pacers came away from those conversations with the idea that Brogdon was an option for New York, but he wasn’t their top option. Brogdon is under contract through 2025.

The Knicks – along with every other team in the NBA – are aware that Kyrie Irving may become available if his negotiations with the Nets break down. As SNY reported, some around Irving saw the Knicks as a potential destination if Irving’s negotiations with Brooklyn went awry.

I don’t know how Knicks decision-makers feel about acquiring Irving. But one thing is for sure, it would be a departure from the risk-averse approach that the organization has taken in recent seasons.

PISTONS/ROBINSON

Detroit has been a fan of Mitchell Robinson’s for months. The club had some interest in trading for him at the deadline. The Pistons will have more than $50 million in cap space in the offseason after they moved Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers, per ESPN. That gives Detroit more flexibility to make a strong offer to Robinson if the club doesn’t land Phoenix Suns big man DeAndre Ayton.

The Athletic reported that Ayton is a top Pistons target, but if the club misses on Ayton, they have the flexibility to make Robinson an offer that could take the Knicks out of the running to sign the 24-year-old center. Here is where things stood with Robinson as of last month and my read on where things would go with him and the Knicks.