Knicks, Lakers Linked For Trade

The New York Knicks could make a trade this offseason with the Los Angeles Lakers.

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson reacts during the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks are in the middle of a deep playoff run, but there are already people trying to roadmap how they will look next season.

While Mitchell Robinson has played well throughout the playoffs for the Knicks, he could become a trade candidate this summer due to his expiring contract for 2026.

Bleacher Report writer Greg Swartz suggested a trade that would send Robinson to the Los Angeles Lakers for Jarred Vanderbilt, a second-round pick and a 2026 pick swap.

"The addition of Karl-Anthony Towns has meant a full-time move to the bench for Robinson, who previously started 170 of his 193 games the past four years. He isn't nearly as valuable to this new-look group as he was alongside Julius Randle and Co," Swartz wrote.

"Vanderbilt, 26, is a more versatile defender who can play and guard multiple positions and brings an outside shooting threat that Robinson doesn't. For a Knicks bench that isn't very deep, this kind of versatility is important."

"New York also gets the right to swap first-round picks with the Lakers next season and collects their second-rounder in next month's draft. The Knicks currently have just one pick (No. 50 overall) in the entire draft."

The Lakers are in need of a starting center after the Mark Williams deal at the deadline fell through. The Lakers lacked a lot of size after trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic, which was a deal Los Angeles obviously doesn't regret, but the small lineups doomed them in the first round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Adding Robinson would give them that size they were missing and put the Lakers in position to make one more deep playoff run with LeBron and Luka.

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