Knicks' quiet deadline indicates full confidence in roster

The Knicks made their biggest move of the year right before the season began, acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster in the days leading up to the season. That move has paid dividends for the Knicks, leading to them holding the third-best record in the league entering Saturday. Of course, making a move that massive — Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were sent to Minnesota — meant the Knicks were likely to have a quiet trade deadline.

New York did make one move, sending Jericho Sims to the Bucks in exchange for guard Delon Wright. As James L. Edwards III of The Athletic writes, the Knicks have a history of sending players to situations where they can potentially thrive, like with Obi Toppin, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and this was the latest in the series.

Dallas, New Orleans and San Antonio were among the teams who had talks with the Knicks about Sims before he was sent to Milwaukee, according to Edwards.

As for Wright, he signed with the Bucks this past summer after closing out last season as a playoff contributor for Miami. However, Wright’s role remained modest this season and he averaged 2.5 points and shot 26.8% from the field across 26 appearances. There’s reason to believe Wright can turn his season around with the Knicks, according to the New York Post’s Bryan Fonseca. As mentioned, Wright was playoff contributor just last season with the Heat, and Fonseca alluded to injury issues plaguing his time in Milwaukee.

The deadline passing also saw Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa stick with the team, with both having their names floated around in rumors. Edwards writes that Robinson will be New York’s biggest midseason acquisition when he returns from injury, giving the Knicks a superb defender to add to the rotation. As a first-apron team, the Knicks won’t be eligible to sign anyone who made over the mid-level exception ($12.8M) on the buyout market.

“You guys can read the tea leaves,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said of the team’s quiet deadline, per the New York Post’s Peter Botte. “We like our team a lot. Obviously, we are excited about Mitch. But we also feel Ariel [Hukporti] has done a good job, and [Achiuwa] has done a good job. That’s really how we approach it.

“[Team president] Leon [Rose] and his staff, they are on it all year long. I think there’s a tendency to think this happens a couple days before [deadline]. They are always looking if they can improve the club. If there’s something that makes sense, they explore it. Then, you go from there. But we like our team a lot.”

As Botte opines in another story, it will be interesting to monitor whether the gambit of relying on health will pan out for the Knicks after several East rivals made moves to shore up their teams, like the second-seeded Cavaliers acquiring De’Andre Hunter.