Link to article: https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-all-the-latest-from-the
Posted in /r/nba here https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1fxsxqf/stein_before_coming_to_terms_on_a_blockbuster/
The weird thing is that they've traded their picks to Brooklyn in 2025, 2027, 2029, 2031, so they can't trade anything via the Stepien rule. The other big issue with their picks is that they're likely to be mediocre at best, since that roster is built pretty solidly (more so if they got Walker).
I think us "want[ing]" at least two future first-round picks is Danny's polite way of telling them to fuck off because they don't even have two firsts to give. They could trade their pick swaps, but I don't think those would have any value.
One of the comments mentioned that if the Knicks actually found two firsts, they would have been (1) the Detroit pick that ended up in the KAT trade that will likely become one SRP and (2) the Washington pick that will likely become 2 SRPs (2026 and 2027). That would have been an awful return.
2 comments
2 firsts sounds fair. Walker has average a little under a double double, with 2.4 blocks in 23 minutes a game in his career. He has 2 more years on a cheap contract. I really don’t understand r/nba acting like Danny Ainge is this evil mastermind trying to be stingy and wanting as many picks as possible. The problem for the Knicks is they traded all their picks away, so they have no assets that we would want. If the Knicks are mad they don’t have any assets left after trading for OG, KAT, and Mikal, then that’s their problem
Knicks were never a viable Kessler partner. Pelicans on the other hand… if they get desperate for center help, they have a wealth of picks.