Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards. Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards. Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Knicks Rumors

Would Knicks make this Kyle Kuzma trade with Wizards?

by Josh Cornelissen
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The good news for the New York Knicks is that they have won six straight games and have risen to sixth in the Eastern Conference. The counter-side is that they needed to win four straight games just to get to one game above .500, and their point differential is just barely positive. They don’t look like a true contender.

This collection of players is not bad enough to tank and not good enough to win a playoff series. That will almost certainly lead to changes, be they at the trade deadline or in the offseason. One option would be to start moving multiple players off their deep rosters to consolidate into fewer, better players.

One player who fits the bill is Kyle Kuzma, who is having his best year for the Washington Wizards but has already indicated he wants to sign elsewhere when he can hit free agency this summer. The Knicks are a large market team with deep CAA connections and that could make the partnership a positive one moving forward, and is a large reason the Knicks are linked to Kuzma according to multiple reports.

The New York Knicks and Washington Wizards can easily build a trade for Kyle Kuzma

What would a trade between the Knicks and Wizards look like? There are a number of different forms it could take, but let’s build one out and then see if it’s a deal that would work for both sides.

Next: What's the trade?

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Knicks Get</div> <div class="info">Kyle Kuzma</div> <div class="info">Will Barton</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fwizards.png">
<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Wizards Get</div> <div class="info">Derrick Rose</div> <div class="info">Obi Toppin</div> <div class="info">Cam Reddish</div> <div class="info">2024 second-round pick (via DET)</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p>The Wizards are struggling this season to field viable shot creators with Bradley Beal, Monte Morris, and Delon Wright all missing time. Adding Derrick Rose would give them a proven combo guard who has been marginalized in the Knicks’ recent rotation. Obi Toppin gives them a Kuzma replacement of sorts, and Reddish and the second-round pick provide a little extra value.</p> <p>On the other side of things, Kuzma comes aboard along with Will Barton, who has been a major disappointment in Washington and would help make the salaries work out.</p> <h2>Why would the Wizards do it?</h2> <p>The Wizards are in something of a bind when it comes to Kyle Kuzma. He can hit unrestricted free agency this summer and the Wizards would lose him for nothing; trading him now for value makes sense. Yet the rest of the league also knows this and will try to negotiate his cost down.</p> <p>Here they get back plenty of useful pieces for Kuzma, starting with Rose in the backcourt and Toppin in the frontcourt. Toppin’s rim runs will be maximized with the spacing Kristaps Porzingis provides at the 5, and he can pair with Deni Avdija in small-ball units as the two bigs. Finally, this deal sheds a little over $1 million, giving the Wizards breathing room under the luxury tax and a little more flexibility in a subsequent trade.</p> <p>For a player destined for free agency, it’s not a bad haul and threads the needle for Washington between the now and the future.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Would the Knicks do it? </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_137192" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-137192" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fdailyknicks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1387179932.jpeg" alt="Knicks" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1387179932.jpeg 3200w, https://dailyknicks.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1387179932-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) – New York Knicks</p> </div> <h2>Knicks trade proposal to add Kuzma: Would they do it?</h2> <p>Now we come to the most important question for readers of this site: would the New York Knicks make this trade? The value play seems solid, with the Knicks giving up two players outside of the rotation in Rose and Reddish, their backup power forward and a second-round pick. They don’t give up a first, and they don’t give up Immanuel Quickley or Quentin Grimes, players they seem to value more highly than Toppin.</p> <p>On the other hand, adding Kuzma to a roster that still has Julius Randle leads to a questionable endpoint. Is Kuzma just becoming the next Toppin, stuck behind Randle? Playing the two together at the forward positions would be a floor-spacing nightmare. If the Knicks are <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/01/3-early-knicks-predictions-2023-trade-deadline/">moving on from Randle</a> in a separate deal, this makes a lot more sense.</p> <p>Part of the value of the move is whether Kuzma re-signs and how much he signs for. If the Knicks bring him back at around $20 million on a long-term contract it would seem to fit the goal in making the trade; if they spend $25 or more per season, or worse if he walks and signs with the Pacers or Pistons, suddenly the young talent they sent out the door hurts a bit more.</p> <p>The Knicks have plenty of future draft capital, none of these players are essential nor likely to close games for the Knicks this year, and they can afford to add a little bit of money this season because they have plenty of room under the tax line. This isn’t a slam dunk, and it depends on what happens with Randle, but this seems like a solid value play for the Knicks.</p> <p><strong>Final Verdict: </strong>Make the trade</p> <div class="embed "> <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2Hlr0aXOk6"><p><a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/14/says-no-three-team-trade-idea-knicks-reddish-rose-hartenstein/">Who says no to three-team trade idea? The Knicks do!</a></p></blockquote> <p><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/18/knicks-make-kyle-kuzma-trade-wizards/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/12/14/says-no-three-team-trade-idea-knicks-reddish-rose-hartenstein/embed/#?secret=2Hlr0aXOk6" data-secret="2Hlr0aXOk6" width="500" height="282" title="“Who says no to three-team trade idea? The Knicks do!” — Daily Knicks" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p></div><!—pageview_candidate—>">