Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |
Here's what's known about the Knicks and Anthony Davis:
New York discussed a potential Davis deal before the February trade deadline. It didn't come to fruition, in part, over uncertainty surrounding Kristaps Porzingis' potential long-term future in New Orleans.
Based on those discussions in February, it seems logical that the Knicks will at least place a call to new Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin about a Davis trade in the coming weeks.
It would make even more sense for the Knicks to do so if they sign two max free agents this summer. Surrounding those two veteran players with Davis would arguably turn the 17-win Knicks into one of the league's top five teams.
Just who New Orleans would want in a Davis package is unclear, of course. But you can be sure that the Pelicans would ask for first-round pick(s) in return for Davis.
Would Kevin Knox be a player New Orleans asks about?
Some people in the Pelicans organization were quietly gathering some intel on Knox recently, sources told SNY. Now, it's common for teams to gather information on players. That's part of the job of the front office/scouting department. But the uncertainty surrounding Davis' future in New Orleans makes their information-gathering on Knox (which was happening before Griffin took over) intriguing.
Knox, 19, averaged 12.8 points on 37 percent shooting as a rookie, but his shooting improved over the final six weeks of the season.
We'll find out more about the potential strength of a Knicks offer for Davis on Tuesday night after the NBA Draft Lottery. If the Knicks win the lottery, they'd be able to put together a package that's, arguably, second only to what the Boston Celtics could offer the Pelicans.
Worth noting: there is no consensus in the organization about trading its 2019 first-round pick, per sources. That's for Davis or anyone else.
New York has seven first-round picks in the next five years, so they could offer future picks in a Davis package as well.