Every team seems willing to trade back or down in a 2020 NBA Draft where nobody is completely sold on the players near the top of the board. The GMs of both the Timberwolves and Warriors — the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the draft — have publicly said they are open to trades, and privately sources say are very open to offers. There just may not be any good ones.
All the way down at No. 8, the New York Knicks — one of the teams pegged as looking to move up in the NBA draft — are willing to trade down if their guys are not on the board, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post.According to two league sources, the Knicks are seriously mulling trading back in the Nov. 18 draft unless big man James Wiseman or point guard LaMelo Ball fall back to the eighth spot...
One source senses the Knicks have Ball and Wiseman as two players they absolutely “love,” and haven’t been as smitten yet with any other prospect in a consensus weak draft.
At No. 8, the Knicks have staged internal talks about swapping back with a team in the Nos. 12-15 range to gain a young player in his rookie contract while still making a lottery pick.
Every team is blowing smoke right now with their draft intentions, so take everything with a grain or 12 of salt, including this report.
There is no chance Ball will be on the board at No. 8. He is one of those players on different places on different teams draft boards, but he would not fall out of the top five (and could go No. 1). Teams are more all over the map on Wiseman, but it is highly unlikely he falls to eight. Both of them could go in the top three and it would not be a shock.
The problem with this New York plan is seemingly every team is looking to trade back in the NBA Draft — including teams with higher picks — making the value of the Knicks pick fall.
It seems like there could be a lot of movement on trades on draft night... except who are the buyers looking to move up? Maybe a team falls in love with Ball or Wiseman or Onyeka Okongwu or Tyrese Haliburton. Maybe. But it seems most teams would be perfectly happy drafting in the teens in this draft rather than jump up the board.
With more than a month between the end of the finals and the 2020 NBA Draft on Nov. 18, expect a lot more rumors than usual to fly around. There is a lot of time still between now and the draft.