Knicks Holding Out for a Megastar

9 min readNov 11, 2022

In a segment on FanDuel TV, Senior lead NBA Insider for The Athletic and Stadium, Shams Charania reported that he believes the Knicks are “kind of hoarding those first-round picks just waiting for that next megastar to become available.”

For a few weeks the Knicks were considered the sure-fire lock to acquire the services of Donovan Mitchell. They had the most attractive combination of high draft picks and young developable players that it was a foregone conclusion that Mitchell was going to be rocking Royal Blue and Orange to start the season. Knicks nation was torn on this with some people saying that the Knicks should only trade their stockpiling of young assets for a true #1 superstar. My opinion at the time (and is already seeming to bear fruit) was that we don’t know who else is going to be available and a player the caliber of Mitchell might not become available again. I even went through the list of top-25 NBA players and showed why Donovan Mitchell was really the only one with the potential to become available AND want to join the Knicks. Unfortunately I recently deleted my Twitter account and that tweet is lost like so many others to the history of great tweets shouted into the void that no one cared about.

I’ve been scouring these articles quoting Shams to see if anyone has any opinions on exactly who this “next megastar to become available” might be. Some articles have made suggestions, but I really wanted to go team-by-team around the NBA to highlight each team’s “megastar” or potential “megastar” and show how likely (or unlikely) it is for the Knicks to land a megastar. Because you can have all the picks and players in the world — that doesn’t guarantee you’re going to end up with a top player.

Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young (No chance): Young isn’t going anywhere. He’s in his 5th season with the Hawks and is the centerpiece of this team. Also, Knicks fans hate him. Me especially so.
Dejounte Murray (No chance): Murray was only just acquired by the Hawks in June 2022 so he’s not going anywhere.

Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum (No chance): Tatum is the face of this team and just lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals.
Jaylen Brown (Very slim chance): Again — this team just made the NBA Finals. Unless this season takes a HUGE turn for the worst — the Celtics will probably be looking to improve their playoff chances rather than acquiring picks and young players from the Knicks. Brown has been mentioned in trade discussions in the past few months, however.

Brooklyn Nets

Kevin Durant (Slim chance): Shocked to not see this at “No chance?” It’s Kevin Durant — despite him saying the Knicks aren’t “cool” anymore and finally getting rid of Steve Nash, the coach he never wanted: Durant is unpredictable. If the Nets playoff chances don’t improve (they’re currently in 10th in the East with a 5–7 record) would you be surprised if Durant just demanded a trade, but only lists the Knicks as a desired team because he doesn’t want to give up his apartment in NYC?
Kyrie Irving (No chance): Irving has made himself pretty undesirable in NBA circles. The anti-semitism stuff, the COVID stuff, the private practices behind his coach’s back stuff, the insulting his coach to his face stuff. Irving can definitely ball — but that’s a lot of stuff.
Ben Simmons (No chance): He was only acquired by the Nets in February 2022 and while a 6’11” point forward with elite defense would be intriguing for Tom Thibodeau, their own acquisition of point guard Jalen Brunson makes this trade redundant.

Charlotte Hornets:

LaMelo Ball (No chance): The Hornets only “potential megastar” plays the same position as the guy the Knicks just gave the keys to their team: Brunson.

Chicago Bulls

Zach Lavine (Very slim chance): Lavine would fill a glaring need in the Knicks starting lineup — a wing to play alongside R.J. Barrett. However, LaVine just signed a 5-year max contract with the Bulls in July 2022 making this trade very unlikely.
DeMar DeRozan (No chance): Similar to Tatum above, the Bulls are more likely to be buyers than dismantling their whole team.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Darius Garland (No chance): The Cavaliers are Eastern Conference Finals contenders. They’re not selling now.
Donovan Mitchell (No chance): Don’t do this to me.

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic (No chance): Mark Cuban should have the team taken away from him if he attempts to trade one of the top-5 players in the league.

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic (No chance): Yes, Western Conference Finals contender trades 2x league MVP for a couple first-round picks.
Jamal Murray (No chance): Again — playoff team not selling key players.

Detroit Pistons:

Cade Cunningham (No chance): The closest thing this team has to a megastar and they aren’t trading their 21 year old centerpiece.

Golden State Warriors:

The reigning NBA Champions aren’t trading anyone to rebuild. Come on now.

Houston Rockets:

No true megastars yet and they’re not going to trade any of their top young players.

Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton (No chance): Pacers traded for Haliburton in February 2022. Maybe the Knicks should’ve just drafted Haliburton in 2020 instead of going for the Great Value Blake Griffin: Obi Toppin? Hm.

Los Angeles Clippers

Kawhi Leonard (No chance): Sure, the Clippers stuck with Leonard through all of the 21–22 season just to trade him.
Paul George (No chance): This team has playoff & championship aspirations — not going anywhere.

Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James (Very slim chance): Here’s where it gets interesting. While I truly don’t think this trade happens — James could become absolutely disgusted about the possibility of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row that he demands a trade. Similar to how the Knicks were seemingly the most attractive potential trade partner for Donovan Mitchell — the Lakers could see the Knicks picks and young players as key parts of their next rebuild. LeBron James in Madison Square Garden, even at 37 years old) might be too much for James Dolan to continue his hands-off approach he’s adopted for the Leon Rose era in New York. But James chose to move his family to LA and I can’t see him wanting to leave now. Although there’s only one destination in the league that could match the star power of LA — and that’s NYC.
Anthony Davis (Very slim chance): I think the Lakers are even less likely to trade Anthony Davis, but again — if they start to go full rebuild — there’s a possibility. It would cost the Knicks all of their picks and all of their bench to get Davis — and to what end? The play-in tournament?
Russell Westbrook (Please God no chance): Don’t do THIS to me.

Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant (No chance): The Grizzlies aren’t about to trade the 2023 league MVP. They should lock him down for 15 years.

Miami Heat

Jimmy Butler (No chance): Pat Riley would never trade the heart & soul of this Heat team to the Knicks.
Bam Adebayo (No chance): Like many of the teams above — this team has title aspirations. They’re not trading one of their core players.
Tyler Herro: I said megastars/potential megastars.

Milwaukee Bucks

Title favorites. Not rebuilding.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns (Very slim chance): There were a lot of rumors swirling that KAT could be headed to the Knicks with Leon Rose and all the other connections he had there. But the T-Wolves locked KAT up to a pricey 5-year contract so unless something goes insanely wrong and KAt and Gobert really can’t stand playing alongside each other — I don’t think it’s happening.
Anthony Edwards (No chance): 21 years old, playoff bound team. He’s not going anywhere.
Rudy Gobert (No chance): They just traded for him in July 2022. He’s not going anywhere.

New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson (No chance): When weight-gate was happening last year I think there would’ve been a moderate chance of this trade happening. But now that Zion has slimmed down, gotten healthy, and is playing well again — I really don’t think he’s going anywhere. Especially after signing a 5-year max extension this past summer.
Brandon Ingram (No chance): This team currently the 8th seed in the Western Conference — I just don’t see them selling off pieces of the team they’ve been working to put together since the Anthony Davis trade.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Moderate chance): Now we’re getting somewhere. The Thunder aren’t going anywhere and have been known to be quite the pick-hoarders themselves. I could see SGA fitting in nicely beside RJ Barrett in MSG. This is the front-runner option for me and I would be thrilled to see the Knicks acquire this 24 year old wing for a handful of mid-teens picks and Obi Toppin.

Orlando Magic

Currently rebuilding, no current megastars.

Philadelphia 76ers

Joel Embiid (Very slim chance): The very slim chance is really just because sometimes you can never say never. Embiid could get fed up of being just good enough to make the Finals, but not good enough to win a title. Very unlikely though.
James Harden (Very slim chance): Similar to Embiid — unlikely — but with Harden you can never say never.
Tyrese Maxey (No chance): The Kentucky connection is there — but I can’t see the Sixers trading a 21 year old player of Maxey’s caliber for picks.

Phoenix Suns

Chris Paul (No chance): 37 years old, not a position of need, Western Conference Finals contender.
Devin Booker (Slim chance): He’s a former Leon Rose client! Trade confirmed! He signed a 4-year supermax contract extension with the Suns in July 2022. He’d be an unbelievably nice player to slot next to Barrett — but not likely at this point. This could be revisited in 2024.

Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard (No chance): I can’t see the Knicks going out to trade for Lillard after giving all that money and responsibility to Jalen Brunson. Plus Lillard seems to be very loyal to the Blazers against his best interest. I will see that Lillard has lead the Blazers to the 2 seed in the Western Conference this year. However, they’re second only to the Jazz so this top-2 is sure to change soon.

Sacramento Kings

No true megastars/potential megastars unless you count Domantas Sabonis who is just the white European version of Julius Randle. De’Aaron Fox is another option — but Jalen Brunson exists.

San Antonio Spurs

No true megastars, rebuilding. No chance.

Toronto Raptors

Pascal Siakam (No chance): After Kawhi Leonard left, Siakam became the face of the franchise.
Fred VanVleet (No chance): Knicks had their chance and let it go by. The one thing the Knicks don’t need is a lead PG.
Scottie Barnes (No chance): Raptors love them some Barnes and it’s clear to see why. They’re not trading this young stud for picks and bench players.

Utah Jazz

Currently rebuilding, no megastars, Danny Ainge is a prick.

Washington Wizards

Bradley Beal (Slim chance): Why does Bradley Beal hate greatness? He signed a 5-year contract in July 2022 to become one of the leagues highest paid players. Knicks need an elite scoring option and Beal has been that in the past averaging 30+ points per game in 2019–20 and 20–21. The large contract makes this trade unlikely because matching the salaries would be very difficult.
Kristaps Porzingis (Please no chance): Probably going to happen. Probably going to cry.

As you can see — as much as the Knicks may covet a megastar — they aren’t as readily available as they think. If they were — wouldn’t everyone have one? For 2022, I think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be their best target — but maybe he isn’t a big enough “megastar” for Rose and Dolan. In that case, they can keep hoping that the next big star wants to come to NY. And that player’s team is willing to accept the Knicks offer. And that the Knicks roster still has enough talent remaining post-trade to compete with the Bucks, Heat, 76ers, Suns, Nuggets, and yes, even the first-place Jazz. Because that has worked out so well for the Knicks in the past.