Knicks Trade Rumors: Spurs' Keldon Johnson an Immanuel Quickley Replacement?
The New York Knicks are expected to remain active in the final hours before the NBA trade deadline. One more game, a Tuesday visit from the Memphis Grizzlies (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG), awaits before Thursday's stoppage.
While the Knicks have already been aggressive during trade season, acquiring OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors, there's a chance the team could look to make another move or two, especially with a rash of injuries eating away at the primary rotation: Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson are out indefinitely while Anunoby and Quentin Grimes have missed the last handful of games, including Saturday's 113-105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers that ended a nine-game winning streak.
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With that in mind, Sam Quinn suggested that the Knicks could express interest in San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson in a trade deadline primer.
"He seems like a possible "Knicks bench scorer" solution, especially since he's big enough to play forward unlike most of their targets," Quinn writes. "The Spurs won't trade Johnson for the sake of trading him, but the fact that he's fallen out of the starting lineup suggests that he's at least available for the right price."
Johnson, 24, is averaging 16.7 points per game this season for the Spurs, a dip from the career-best 22 points from the year prior. Some of that has to do with the addition of No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama to the lineup, but part of it also has to do with his demotion to the bench.
Johnson has played in 46 games this season, but has made just 26 starts. Gregg Popovich yanked him from the starting lineup in mid-December, and he's been a consistent bench scorer for San Antonio ever since, one capable of replacing the second unit scoring lost when Immanuel Quickley was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the Anunoby deal. Perhaps the Knicks could swoop in and offer him that same role in New York.
Any trade with the Spurs would likely include Evan Fournier's expiring contract and some future draft picks. If the Knicks sent over a first-round pick, Fournier and possibly Grimes, that might be enough for San Antonio to feel comfortable about a trade.
