Knicks reportedly open to trading first-round draft pick

If the regular season ended today, the New York Knicks would be the proud owners of the league's worst record. Being the worst means having the best lottery odds. Winning the lottery or even having a top-three pick is likely the Knicks' only chance at reversing their fortunes sometime in the near future.

But this being the Knicks, the pick may be on the table for a trade, at least according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

"The interesting thing that I'm sort of hearing about the Knicks is ... they're looking at opportunities to (see) what they could possibly get if they trade their draft pick," Windhorst said last week on ESPN New York's Robin Lundberg Show.

Later, he added this: "My feel is that, wherever the pick, wherever the Knicks land, especially since there's now a bit of a debate at the No. 1 pick ... I think the Knicks will make that pick available. Even if it's the fourth pick. I think they will look to try to cash in on a player, and there may be a star or two that ends up being available this summer."

Windhorst didn't elaborate on which specific stars are out there of any teams the Knicks already may be having.

Why the Knicks will trade the pick

Because they're the Knicks and trading a top-three pick for a bigger name is the most Knicks thing a team could do.

Here's how the Knicks could look at it. They currently have one true NBA player on the team: star Carmelo Anthony. Anthony will be 31 next year and recently had knee surgery. He's already on the decline, which would be fine if he weren't making $102 million over the next four years. The Knicks are stuck with Anthony for the long run, for better and for worse. How much longer that "better" period lasts is the question.

Team president Phil Jackson may therefore feel he has little time to take advantage of Anthony being a star. If so, he'd want to surround him with talent right away. If the Knicks could somehow figure out a way to get a "star" (whatever that means) for their first round pick -- the way Cleveland did last year in the Andrew Wiggins/Kevin Love deal, for example -- and then use their near-$25 million of cap room to sign another big-time free agent, New York suddenly has a Big Three. In the East, that might be enough to compete.

Here's an incomplete list of big free agents this summer: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, DeAndre Jordan and Paul Millsap, Greg Monroe, Brandon Wright, Rajon Rondo and Draymond Green. Maybe the Knicks get one or two of those guys and pair them with Anthony and whoever they get for their draft pick.

Sounds like something Phil Jackson could talk himself into doing. Jackson and the Knicks have been intensely scouting this draft class -- a Knicks representative has been "at approximately 20 of the past 30 Kentucky practices and games," according to ESPN New York. Maybe they're not impressed with what they're seeing.

Also, it might not even be Jackson making the decision. Owner James Dolan has grabbed control of the reins before and making impulsive moves is what he knows best.

Why the Knicks won't trade the pick?

Because it's dumb. Who exactly is the team going to get? What player could possibly be worthy of surrendering a top-three pick?

Even if a superstar does become available, what makes the Knicks think they could compete for a title with a team featuring an aging Carmelo Anthony, this Player X, Free Agent Y and D-League-caliber players. Look at the current roster. There may not be a legitimate NBA player on it other than Anthony. Maybe Andrea Bargnani. Maybe Langston Galloway. Maybe Tim Hardaway Jr. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

This kind of impulsive, look-at-the-shiny-pieces-screw-the-future mentality was exactly what Jackson was supposed to fix when he got hired. If he were to make this move, he'd become just another high-priced, big-name Knicks executive clearly in over his head.

Likelihood (2/10)

The only reason it's not a one is because you can never underestimate the Knicks. But this would be stupid.

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