Knicks' Likeliest Trade Candidates Includes Beloved Glue Guys

Everyone expects the New York Knicks to make some kind of move this offseason, and all eyes are trained on the same players.

Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns have each only been with the Knicks for just a season apiece now, and are both coming off of impactful playoff runs in which they slotted in as some of the most important players on an Eastern Conference Finalist, but there's a general notion running around that one or both of them may not be long for New York.

Towns, as great of a shooter as he was, isn't without his warts. He had some of the most egregious defensive lapses of any Knick, with head coach Tom Thibodeau now having been fired multiple times on his watch. Bridges similarly lacked consistency all season long, and is set to join Towns as the pair look to sign the hefty contract extensions they're both soon to be due up for.

Robert Zschoche doesn't think they stand alone on the trade block, though. The Last Word on Sports writer also sees several other rotation pieces as worthy of waving, proposing Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson as alternative role players to sell while their value remains high.

As much as New York respects Hart's hustle and rebounding, he's more of a gimmick player than a certified starter on a championship contender. Thibodeau showed us as much, pulling him from the starting lineup in Game 3 of the conference finals for Robinson after starting Hart all season long to that point.

Zschoche points out that some of the Knicks' worst statistical lineups involved Hart, a guard who can't reliably hit an open 3-pointer and has slipped from the defensive reputation he worked hard to garner. And he's often involved in whatever the Knicks are doing, having won this most recent season's minutes title in averaging 37.6 per game.

Robinson, who took Hart's starting spot to give the Knicks a more imposing double-big look, was also mentioned as a name to watch in the summer. He's rarely healthy, failing to crack 60 games in any of his last three regular seasons, and, unlike many of his cohorts, is playing on a manageable $13 million contract that's set to expire next year.

New York's rotation is one of the more talented in the league, but that just gives Leon Rose and the rest of New York's front office more appeal to work with. These guys as a unit aren't enough to win a title, prompting the team to push some swaps heading into what promises to be a busy offseason.