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After a failed run in the free agent market last summer, the New York Knicks will be hoping to do a better job of attracting players this offseason. Conflicting reports about their intentions have been stated in NBA trade rumors. While some suggest that the Knicks would want to preserve cap space for next season, others believe that they'll be willing to splash on superstars this year even if it meant giving up on their young stars and draft picks. However, they're not willing to trade away RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson yet.
NBA Trade Rumors: New York Knicks want to improve without moving RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson
Given that the NBA tweaked the lottery odds to prevent teams from tanking, the New York Knicks don't need to perform as badly to get a top 10 pick in what seems to be a loaded 2021 draft class. As such, they're expected to try and become better this offseason.
Discussing the trades that the New York Knicks could make during the upcoming season, The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov opined that the basic marker for the team would be improving without having to trade either RJ Barrett or Mitchell Robinson.
"I’m going to start with these qualifiers for the Knicks: I think they will spend this offseason trying to get better in 2020-21; I don’t know how they do it; and my assumption is that no one but RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson is safe."
RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson's tenure with New York Knicks so far
It's understandable why New York Knicks want to retain RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson. The 36th pick of the 2018 draft, Robinson exceeded expectations with the output he provided on the defensive end. He's yet to find his footing offensively after two years in the NBA, but there's still time for him to develop.
Barrett, meanwhile, is someone the New York Knicks had expected to change their fortunes with. While that didn't happen, the Canada native still managed 14 points and rebounds per game while shooting at 32% from downtown in his rookie year, so there's still a lot of potential there.
Also read: NBA Trade Rumors - 3 Superstars who could replace Paul George at LA Clippers
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