New York Knicks: Grading the team’s 2020 NBA Trade Deadline

Overall trade deadline grade

The New York Knicks made the one deal they had to make at the NBA trade deadline, moving their best trade chip in Marcus Morris. That gives them an easy passing grade, but it would have been an acing if they had been able to move some of the other veterans.

Trading away someone like Bobby Portis, who is averaging 20.9 minutes per game, wouldn’t have killed their aspirations to continue winning games, but would have opened up more minutes for young guys, specifically Kevin Knox.

The glut at power forward the organization created they partly for a redo for by trading Morris, but they should have had Moe Harkless over the summer when he was being shopped with a first-round pick attached. They partly made up for that at the deadline, but not fully.

If Leon Rose takes over as president of basketball operations, as was rumored, Elfrid Payton is likely going nowhere as he was a CAA client. However, he has proved to be a steadying influence at point guard.

Overall, the Knicks did what they were supposed to but didn’t go above and beyond. Could part of that be because they fired Steve Mills days before the deadline? Probably. But if firing Mills led to the trade of Morris and nothing else, it was a worthwhile move as his ousting from the organization was long overdue.

By factoring that into the final grade, the Knicks have passed with flying colors.

Grade: A-