Knicks Should Trade Evan Fournier for Jazz PG Mike Conley, Says NBA Insider
Maybe the easiest answer for the New York Knicks at point guard is to hand the reins to young Immanuel Quickley, who in the late going of the 2021-22 season looked like he had it figured out.
Or maybe the Knicks go in a completely opposite direction, suggests one NBA insider, and pursue a trade for Mike Conley, age 34.
There are also other potential trade and free-agent options that we've kicked around in this space, including Donovan Mitchell (Conley's backcourt mate in Utah), Jalen Brunson, Tyus Jones and more.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer writes that the coming Utah moves “could introduce All-Star point guard Mike Conley into an interesting point guard market that seems to be developing this summer.”
What's Conley got left? In 72 appearances in ’21-22, the one-time All-Star averaged 13.7 points, 5.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8 percent from deep.
Writes Fischer: “The Knicks could send Evan Fournier to Utah directly in exchange for Conley, bolstering the Jazz’s depleted perimeter rotation while sliding Mitchell over to point guard.”
Fournier would be a sharpshooter in Utah, but it seems other moves would be needed there to give him room to operate - oh, and he is a friend and fellow French countryman to Rudy Gobert, so that fits.
An issue for the Knicks: While Conley is a legitimate point guard, they've been burned a few times by aging point guards and are already overloaded in that department with Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose. It seems to us that while the Knicks' goal is to get better, and not just get younger, there is a way to accomplish both - and pushing Conley ahead of Quickley does not accomplish both.
