Knicks Land Delon Wright in Jericho Sims Trade

Delon Wright joins the New York Knicks as part of a multi-pronged deal that bid farewell to Jericho Sims.

Nov 23, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Delon Wright (55) brings the ball up the court against Charlotte Hornets in the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images / Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks found the Wright stuff in their deadline dealing with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Per Shams Charania of ESPN, New York entered the transactional fracas in the penultimate hours of the penultimate day of dealing, as they traded Jericho Sims to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the latter's big business with the Washington Wizards, namely the swap of franchise face Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma.

With less than 24 hours to go before the 2025 trade deadline, the Knicks obtained a three-part haul from Milwaukee headlined by veteran point guard Delon Wright. The Knicks and Bucks also swapped the draft rights of French prospects (New York sending Mathias Lessort for Hugo Besson) while New York also took in cash considerations.

The headlining piece of the Knicks' portion is no doubt the 32-year-old Wright, who is in the midst of his 10th NBA season. Wright, the younger brother of 2006 NBA champion Dorell, was averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 assists in 26 appearances with the Bucks this season, including two starts. Like his brother, Wright was a first-round pick, joining the Toronto Raptors out of Utah as the 20th pick in the 2015 draft.

Wright has traveled around the Association after four years in Ontario, taking the floor for Memphis, Dallas, Detroit, Sacramento, Atlanta, Washington, and Miami before signing with the Bucks in July. His best NBA efforts came with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-19, which saw him average 12.2 points and over five assists and rebounds in each in 26 showings following a trade with the Raptors.

"(He’s) just solid, it’s exactly what we needed: solid, veteran, pro, does what he needs to do, a very underrated defender,” Bucks head coach and former Knick Doc Rivers said of Wright in October, per Stephen Hunt of Deseret News. “I don’t know if he’s underrated, but he’s a terrific defender and he’s a guy that gets along. He can go into any locker room and he’s going to be a guy that everybody likes. That’s gold.”

Time will tell what, if any, role Wright will have in the Knicks' rotation. The team's current backcourt depth is headlined by Miles McBride and Cameron Payne while Landry Shamet has carved a role for himself in the rotation after head coach Tom Thibodeau expanded it to nine men in recent weeks. The second unit's minutes will become even more compressed with center Mitchell Robinson reportedly inching closer toward his season debut.

Bidding farewell to Sims, one of the longer-tenured Knicks on the roster, also allowed the Knicks to obtain the right to Besson, a 23-year-old guard currently stationed in Turkey. Besson was the 58th pick in the 2022 draft and previously partook in Milwaukee's Summer League affairs after an immediate trade with his choosers, the Indiana Pacers. He was the leading scorer in Ligue nationale de basket's second tier level in 2020-21, an honor previously earned by three-time NBA champion Bruce Bowen.

The Knicks play their first post-deadline game on Saturday night when they host the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

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