New York Knicks: Ranking the young core by trade value

The New York Knicks hiring of Leon Rose means the future of the roster is uncertain, so we will rank the team’s young core by trade value.

The slim possibility of a Donovan Mitchell trade to the New York Knicks brought up the always polarizing subject of trading young players.

SNY’s Ian Begley, responding to a fan question, stated: “one opposing executive said that any Knicks package would probably have to include either RJ Barrett or Mitchell Robinson, and two first-round picks (one of them unprotected).”

There’s optimism among the fanbase since Leon Rose took over as President of Basketball Operations. Rose is keeping a low profile, while ex-Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau seems to be the frontrunner as the next head coach.

But with a new boss in place, the future of the young core is unclear. Rose has no loyalty to any player on a roster he didn’t put together.

I wouldn’t call anyone on this roster untouchable, and that’s why I wanted to rank the young Knicks. I decided which Knicks I thought were part of the young core and used talent, potential, age, contracts, and injury history to rank the players.

One more thing: Damyean Dotson and Alonzo Trier aren’t listed. They’re both free agents this summer, and I wanted to focus on guys I thought were most likely to be on the team long-term.