Houston Rockets: 3 trades that send John Wall to the New York Knicks

Reports have circulated that the New York Knicks have expressed interest in the Houston Rockets star point guard John Wall. A former NBA executive, in a conversation with the NBA Analysis Network, dropped the inside information on the Knicks’ intrigue over Wall.

“The Knicks have some level of interest in John Wall. Houston would love to move him and get something of value for him. He isn’t a long-term fit for the Rockets, and if New York really wants him, they have the pieces to get a deal done. Wall isn’t their top priority this offseason, but he could be an excellent fallback option and the interest is there.”

While it appears clear that Wall isn’t the Knicks’ primary target, he does fit their need for a primary creator to ease the burden on Julius Randle. The Knicks overachieved all season long on their way to the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, but without any marquee free agents becoming available this offseason, if they want to build off of this season they’ll need to tap into the trade market.

Why the New York Knicks need the Houston Rockets’ John Wall

The Knicks had the league’s 23rd rated offense and were heavily reliant on Julius Randle for offense. Adding a playmaker of Wall’s quality would help boost the Knicks’ offense towards league average without taking anything away on defense where they were one of the league’s best.

Wall had an up and down season in Houston but it was his first season after nearly two years away from basketball and the condensed schedule put an undue amount of stress on his still-recovering body. Wall’s trade value around the league has been non-existent over the past few seasons but it has less to do with his performance and everything to do with his contract.

Why the New York Knicks are the only team that can acquire John Wall

John Wall is set to be the second-highest-paid player next season and his $47.3 million player option for 2022-23, at the moment, would see him be the league’s highest-paid player. The Knicks wouldn’t be trading for Wall to be a superstar to lead them to a championship but rather a veteran that can help them improve marginally.

The only reason the Knicks can even entertain acquiring Wall is that they have an incredible amount of cap space the next few seasons. Most teams couldn’t add Wall even if they wanted to but the Knicks can take on his salary and still have room to add more pieces.

If the Knicks offseason plans fall through, then Wall becomes an attractive option to give their offense a boost over the next two seasons. The Rockets should jump at the opportunity to get off of Wall’s contract, which means there is a deal to be made. Here are three trades the Knicks can make to land John Wall.

Next: Trade #3

Houston Rockets trade of John Wall to the New York Knicks #3

This trade might seem underwhelming for the Rockets but it needs to be remembered that the Knicks are taking on Wall’s $91.6 million over the next two seasons, which is a big ask in today’s NBA. However, Wall is a significant upgrade over Knox, and for that, the Rockets will move up three spots in the draft as a sweetener.

The main return for the Rockets’ will be Kevin Knox who’s tenure in New York can be best described as downhill. It’s not often that a player gets worse with time but Knox has been able to pull that off and is now fighting for his NBA future all before his 22nd birthday.

Drafted with the 9th pick of the 2017 NBA draft out of the University of Kentucky the 6’7 forward was expected to be a franchise building block. However, each season Knox has seen his minutes decrease and he looks to be on the periphery of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation.

The talent is still there but Knox is in need of a change of scenery and with one year left on his deal he’ll have the perfect opportunity in Houston to show what he can do. What has held Knox back in New York has been his utter inability to score from within the 3-point arc.

His career 2-point field goal percentage of 38.8-percent is 25-percent worse than the league average and he struggles to convert shots at the rim as well as in the mid-range. The lone thing in Knox’s favor is that he’s a solid, yet unspectacular, 3-point shooter and converted 52.4-percent of his corner threes this past season.

The Rockets are a rebuilding team that should jump at the opportunity to see if they can’t get the best out of Knox. At 6’7, if he’s an average 3-point shooter and defender he becomes a valuable rotation piece.

The Rockets save close to $85 million in this trade, move up three spots in the draft, and get to see if they can salvage a lottery pick. The Knicks get a real point guard to ease Julius Randle’s load and will put their chasm of cap space to good use.

Next: Trade #2

Houston Rockets trade of John Wall to the New York Knicks #2

If the Knicks want to hold onto everyone currently on their roster then a simple exchange of low-value assets could see this deal go through. With Luka Doncic in Dallas, it’s unlikely that the Mavericks will miss the playoffs for the next decade, which means the final draft pick from the Kristaps Porzingis trade has little remaining value.

The pick that the Knicks are surrendering in this trade is likely to be at best in the high-teens and even if the Mavericks fall apart the protections on it mean it won’t convey if it’s in the top-10. Once again, this return seems light for the Rockets but it cannot be overstated how undesirable Wall’s contract has become.

The Knicks are one of the few teams with the cap space to take on a contract of this magnitude without having to jettison half of their roster, which means they’re essentially negotiating with themselves. The Rockets’ have likely had internal conversations about a buy-out of Wall, so anyway they can get off his deal they’ll look to take.

At the end of the day, this deal works out well for both the Knicks and the Rockets. The Knicks get a new point guard and keep their roster and draft picks intact, while the Rockets get salary-cap relief and another first-round pick to add to their growing store.

Next: Trade #1

Houston Rockets trade of John Wall to the New York Knicks #1

The Atlanta Hawks exposed the Knicks’ glaring need for playmaking and shot creation from their backcourt. No playoff team, in 2021, should be starting Derrick Rose to keep their offense afloat, but that’s exactly the position the Knicks found themselves in.

John Wall offers the Knicks a true playmaking point guard and Eric Gordon would provide depth in the backcourt. As promising as RJ Barrett’s and Immanuel Quickley‘s seasons were, they are still young and developing.

A backcourt rotation of Wall, Gordon, Barrett, and Quickley features a nice mix of youth, experience, and complementary skills. Wall and Barrett can start and finish games, while Gordon and Quickley would give the Knicks one of the best backup backcourts in the league.

The financial commitment the Knicks would be making would be sizable as Wall and Gordon will combine to make $58.1 million next season but the Knicks currently only have $54.8 million of salary on their books, which includes Julius Randle’s $19 million in salary. In return for the Knicks cleaning up the Rockets’ books they’ll get the Brooklyn Nets’ 2022 first-round pick.

On the Rockets’ side of the spectrum, the Knicks will send Obi Toppin and Kevin Knox to Houston. Both players were selected in the top-10 but their careers have not gotten off to roaring starts.

As discussed earlier, Knox, to this point, is playing his way to the Euro League and Obi Toppin had an anonymous rookie season. Toppin started zero games and averaged 11 minutes a game in 62 appearances.

Toppin, in very limited action, shot well from inside the arc but if he isn’t expected to feature in Tom Thibodeau’s plans then he’s someone they should move on from. Remember, Toppin was a late bloomer and is already 23-years old.

Players who enter the NBA that late and don’t contribute much in their rookie season don’t tend to have stellar careers. The Rockets would be gambling that Toppin has more upside than he showed and that his poor rookie season came down to a lack of opportunity as opposed to a lack of ability.

The Rockets haven’t drafted in the first-round since 2015 which means they need to continue to be aggressive going after young talented players as they did with Kevin Porter Jr. This trade improves the Knicks backcourt substantially, gives them an extra draft pick, and all they have to do is part with two players who averaged a combined 22 minutes a game last season.

The Rockets land two former lottery picks who will be given every opportunity to succeed, open up a tremendous amount of cap space, and all they have to do is part with a draft pick that’s likely to be in the high 20s.

As a final note, If the Knicks want more salary relief then the Rockets should be quick to take on the remaining $6.4 million left on Joakim Noah’s deal. It’s unlikely that this deal will be the first move the Knicks look to make, but it represents a good short-term move to keep them in the playoff picture and it gives the Rockets the youth they’ve been missing the past half-decade.