The Knicks‘ 2024-25 season has been a rollercoaster. On some nights, Tom Thibodeau’s team has resembled a legitimate title contender. On others, they’ve been beaten handily by teams barely in the playoff picture.
Many analysts feel the Knicks’ biggest issues are a lack of a bruising center — to play next to Karl-Anthony Towns — and inadequate bench production. The latter is summed up in the metric that the Knicks rank dead-last in the league in bench scoring, averaging just 20.6 points per game from a league-low 12.0 minutes.
On the January 23 episode of the “Bill Simmons Podcast,” host Bill Simmons and Yahoo Sports insider Kevin O’Connor discussed fake trades to help the Knicks in those two specific departments. O’Connor proposed a wild trade that would see the Knicks send three key rotational players to the Jazz for a massive haul.
Knicks would receive: Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and Svi Mykhailiuk
Jazz would receive: Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride and Precious Achiuwa
Kessler A Good Fit in New York?
O’Connor explained why Kessler — averaging a career-high 11.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks — would be the ideal replacement for the injury-prone Mitchell Robinson.
“You would do this deal if you’re the Knicks knowing that Mitchell Robinson may not be coming back for the entire season,” O’Connor said. “You get Collin Sexton as an update over Deuce McBride.”
“As much as I really like Precious Achiuwa, I want a true five [in Kessler]. I wanna see somebody that allows KAT to be in that role that he was next to [Rudy] Gobert in Minnesota. Achiuwa doesn’t offer the rim protection that Walker Kessler could.”
To O’Connor’s point, Sexton would fill the void of McBride with his elite production as a bench scorer. The athletic guard is averaging 18.3 points and 4.1 assists for the Jazz while shooting a career-high 41% from three. In many ways, Sexton would be an upgrade over McBride and instantly turn into New York’s best bench scorer.
Will Knicks Trade Robinson?
There were rumblings that the Knicks were open to trading Robinson, their long-time center, during the 2024 offseason. However, Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto reported on December 2 that Thibodeau wished to retain the shot-blocking big man despite his injury history.
The report added that Thibs was keen to experiment with lineups Robinson and Towns playing together, with the likelihood of Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges coming off the bench. Such a move would allow Towns to slide back to the power forward position like he did during his final year with the Timberwolves.
“Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is owed $14.32 million this season and $12.95 next season, while Precious Achiuwa is on an expiring $6 million deal,” Scotto wrote.
“Combining both salaries would give the Knicks a chance to theoretically acquire another player in the $20 million range if there’s a fit. With that said, however, the Knicks believe Robinson can help anchor their interior defense when he returns and can play alongside Towns, who’d slide over to power forward.”
Towns played power forward next to Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid in his final season with the Timberwolves in 2023-24. The move paid dividends as the Timberwolves finished with the No. 3 seed in the conference and No. 1 defense in the league. They also made a trip to the Western Conference Finals riding on the Gobert-Towns frontcourt pairing.
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