New York Knicks trade for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks

The Knicks were in dire need of some bench scoring and shot creation and they were able to fill both of those holes today as they acquired Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks of the Detroit Pistons in exchange for a package including Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn, Evan Fournier, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks.

We’ve been hearing about the Knicks’ interest in Bogdanovic and Burks to varying degrees for a while now, so this trade doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. That being said, it may still be a bit shocking for some that the Knicks were able to pull this off.

We had recently heard that there was a growing chance that Grimes would finish the season with the Knicks, and there were reportedly many teams interested in acquiring Bogdanovic throughout the season.

New York and their fans will surely miss Grimes a home-grown player, and it is a bit surprising to see Arcidiacono, a very close friend of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo, traded away at the deadline for a second consecutive season, but there is no doubt that this trade improves the Knicks. They only parted ways with one actual rotation player, didn’t have to trade away any first-round picks, and got back two veteran players who have shown the ability to create their own shot.

Bogdanovic is currently having a very nice season averaging 20.2 PPG while shooting 46.8% from the field and 41.5% from three and should fit in seamlessly in the starting lineup while Randle is out while being an incredibly scary threat coming off the bench.

While Burks is averaging just 12.6 PPG on 39.4% shooting, a change of scenery and a return to New York could help him regain his groove.

This does bring up thoughts on what it could mean for Julius Randle and his injury, but assuming the team can get fully healthy by the playoffs the Knicks now have the potential to go toe-to-toe with anyone. A starting lineup of Brunson, DiVincenzo, Anunoby, Randle, and Hartenstein, with Burks, Hart, Bogdanovic, and Robinson coming off the bench while McBride and Achiuwa a take on deeper roles and become depth options could lead to New York having one of the deepest and most complete rosters in the league.