The New York Knicks keep making major and minor moves with just three days left prior to the Oct. 1 start of team training camp.
On Friday night, New York traded three-time All-Star power forward Julius Randle, journeyman shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, deep-bench forward Keita Bates-Diop, and a future first-round draft selection in exchange for four-time All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
New York is no doubt hoping Towns’ superlative offensive marksmanship can help expand the team’s efficacy on that end of the hardwood, and that it can lean on now-demoted backup center Mitchell Robinson, and switchy athletic forwards like Precious Achiuwa and OG Anunoby to shore up its frontcourt defense.
Read more: Full Details of Three-Team Trade to Send Karl-Anthony Towns to Knicks
In 2023-24 for the 56-26 Timberwolves, Towns averaged 21.8 points while shooting .504/.416/.873, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 rejections.
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Per NBA insider Chris Haynes, New York has now made a less high-impact transaction, cutting veteran Exhibit 9 training camp signings Marcus Morris Sr. and Chuma Okeke. With both those forwards now waived, it appears the Knicks have zeroed in on shooting guard Landry Shamet as a potential deep-bench option in free agency.
Morris and Okeke were both inked to non-guaranteed deals earlier this offseason, in the hopes of making the Knicks’ actual roster for 2024-25. Each player will now have to look elsewhere for his next NBA opportunity.
Okeke, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard/small forward, was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Auburn. Okeke was still recovering from an ACL injury incurred during the 2019 NCAA Tournament and thus missed Orlando’s entire 2019-20 season.
The 26-year-old had some promising years in Orlando, but by the time the Magic emerged as a new future playoff threat in the Eastern Conference for the 2023-24 season, he saw his minutes slashed to just 9.2 per, averaging 2.3 points on .357/.280/.571 shooting splits and 1.7 rebounds During his best season, 2021-22, he averaged 8.6 points on a .376/.318/.846 slash line, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks a night in 70 games (20 starts). The scoring, rebounding, steals, and blocks all represent career highs.
Morris, 35, has been in the league since 2011 but is far from his two-way prime with the Boston Celtics. A 6-foot-8 combo forward out of Kansas, the former No. 14 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft split his 2023-24 season between a pair of other East contenders, the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, as a deep-bench reserve.
Across 49 games (seven starts), Morris averaged 6.4 points on .439/.403/.818 shooting splits, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists across just 16.7 minutes a night, a career-low over the course of a full season. He remains a switchy 3-and-D forward, and could still offer a title hopeful some solid end-of-rotation minutes.
Elsewhere on New York’s roster prior to next week, the Knicks still have 6-foot-5 shooting guard Alex O’Connell signed via an Exhibit 10 deal. The Creighton product seems likely to be waived ahead of the start of the regular season, in which case he could join the club’s NBAGL affiliate squad, the Westchester Knicks. Should O’Connell last for at least 60 days with Westchester, he’ll be eligible for a bonus worth as much as $77,500.
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