A fatal mistake the Knicks must fix at the 2025 NBA trade deadline

The New York Knicks they have long been rumored to be the team that will soon push their chips into the middle of the table. And signing Jaylen Brunson back in 2022 has unlocked the Knicks’ willingness to go all-in, as championship stretches don’t last as long as initially expected. Last offseason, The Knicks traded away their biggest assets and brought in Mychal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Townsbringing together one of the most talented cores in the association.

And aside from their performance against the best teams in the league, the Knicks have been as good as advertised — with their offense at a high level, as expected after trading for one of the most talented big players in the league. But their struggles have been caused by the very main concern many had for them after trading away a few pieces in their quest to add talent to the team.

Without further ado, here it is The Knicks’ fatal flaw which they need to address before the 2025 NBA trade deadline, though it’s not entirely clear how much they can do to help fix this.

Can the Knicks address their woeful depth?

The Knicks made a compromise that many teams would have made if they were in their position. Sometimes all it takes to compete for a championship is to grab the best available talent, with the goal of overcoming the problems that may arise along the way. But that’s definitely the main concern for The Knicks are their wing depth doesn’t exist other than Mychal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart, and they seem to be short on players who can contribute in the postseason.

Their trades for Bridges and Towns cost them the players that made them such a deep team last season, and now, from a long-term perspective, the Knicks will have to do everything they can to stay healthy, as an injury to one of their top five guys could to make all the difference between a run to the NBA Finals and an early failure postseason rounds.

Myles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, provided the latter returns healthy later this season, are guaranteed to get some minutes in the playoffs from head coach Tom Thibodeau. It might as well be Precious Achiuva. Cameron Payne is a bit of a question mark; Payne has some playoff experience after his time with the Phoenix Suns, but relying on him to fill a huge role may be asking too much of him.

There will never be any guarantees on the injury front. But the least the Knicks can do is protect Thibodeau from his worst instincts. Adding a little depth will do wonders in this regard. Unfortunately, there’s not much the Knicks can do to fix this problem of theirs.

Cities trade covered the Knicks hard on the second apronmeaning their total payroll cannot exceed $190 million. This has done nothing but limit what New York can do in terms of improving the roster.

The rumor mill may have them as a team interested in a veteran piece that could help them in the playoffs, such as Marcus Smart, but there isn’t much they can do without further depleting their team. And it’s not like they have the picks to swing anything bigger, considering they lost a ton of draft capital in the Bridges trade.

The most logical thing for the Knicks to do is hang on to Achiuva and his $6 million salary, or maybe even Robinson and his $14 million salary. One would imagine they’ll want to hold on to at least one of them for some center depth.

Potential trades for New York to address depth issues

If the Knicks were to trade Mitchell Robinson, they might be able to get an additional scorer like Jordan Clarkson. But given that New York does not need more points third place in the league in offensive rating, perhaps the acquisition of Josh Greene, a gap-filling 3-and-D player, could be more beneficial.

Trading Precious Achiuwa will make it difficult for the Knicks to land a player who could help fill a role in the playoffs. Players making roughly the same amount as Achiuva (or less) are on their rookie contracts and will be hard to come by. Therefore, it is unlikely that New York will be able to swing a valuable trade using only that contract.