New York Knicks: 3 positives to pursuing D’Angelo Russell trade

1. Makes team better, improving the profile

There has not been much to get excited about concerning the New York Knicks in recent years. That is as big of a reason for the team striking out so often when it came to landing players in free agency. However, if they were to acquire D’Angelo Russell in a trade, he would go a long way to changing that view on the team.

Russell made the All-Star team in 2019 with the Brooklyn Nets, putting up career numbers. This season, he has taken another step forward. Russell is averaging a career-high 23.8 points to go along with 6.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds. He is having the best season of his career efficiency-wise with a true shooting percentage of 56.3 percent, thanks in large part to a spike in his free throw attempts.

While Russell does have some holes in his game, such as his lack of explosion athletically and some shortcomings defensively, he has shown that he can be a productive lead guard. He would give the Knicks their best point guard in years, but the biggest thing he would bring is some legitimacy to the organization.

All it takes in basketball is one player to help turn things around. Russell could be that guy to help get the New York Knicks back on the map. Whenever you can add an All-Star to your roster, especially one that has played in New York already (albeit in Brooklyn), you have to turn over every stone.

Knicks fans have had enough of waiting around for All-Star caliber players to join the team, but if they have Russell they already have one in place and he is friendly with guys around the league. Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns are two guys he is close with.

That isn’t to say that Booker or Towns will join the Knicks when they become free agents if Russell is already in orange and blue. However, it cannot hurt to have a guy of Russell’s caliber already in place with some high upside youngsters around him.

With a group of D’Angelo Russell, Barrett, Robinson and Randle in place, they would be more competitive on the court, showing prospective free agents they are a team finally heading in the right direction by winning some games.