The New York Knicks are gearing up for the stretch run of the season with a major trade.
New York has added veterans Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from Detroit and is sending four players and two future second-round picks to the Pistons in the deal, the teams announced Thursday.
Knicks get:
- Alec Burks
- Bojan Bogdanovic
Pistons get:
- Evan Fournier
- Malachi Flynn
- Quentin Grimes
- Ryan Arcidiacono
- Two future second-round picks
- Cash considerations
What trade means for Knicks: The Knicks get a pair of perimeter scorers in Bogdanovic and Burks. Bogdanovic is shooting 41.5% on 3-pointers this season and is on pace to make 150 3-pointers for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. He is averaging 20.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season while logging 32.9 minutes per game.
Burks will be on his second tour with the Knicks, having played for them from 2020-22 as a valuable reserve. This season, he is averaging 12.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 1.6 apg.
Bogdanovic signed a two-year extension with the Pistons last summer after posting a team-high 21.6 ppg in 2022-23. Miami drafted him with the No. 31 overall pick in 2011 and he played professionally in Turkey before making his NBA debut with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2014-15 season. He also played for Washington, Indiana and Utah earlier in his career.
The Knicks are playing without their entire starting frontcourt of All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson because of injuries, and have been seeking to replace some of the bench scoring they lost when they dealt Immanuel Quickley to Toronto along with RJ Barrett in the deal for Anunoby in December.
The Knicks are 16-3 since Anunoby joined the starting lineup Jan. 1 and the latest trade could give them enough to break free of a three-way logjam with Cleveland and Milwaukee for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference behind Boston.
What trade means for Pistons: Grimes — who is currently injured — may be the most valuable prospect of the group it acquired. He has mostly fallen out of the rotation in New York this season but is still averaging 7.3 ppg, 2 rpg and 1.2 apg in 20.2 minutes per game. He had a breakout run in 2022-23 (11.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 2.1 apg) and was the 25th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft.
Flynn has only been with the Knicks for 14 games as he was traded to New York in the Barrett with the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 30. He is averaging 2.2 ppg in 4.3 mpg with the Knicks. Arcidiacono and Fournier have played sparingly this season.
Detroit has been busy this season, trade-wise. On Wednesday, it reportedly agreed to two separate trades, sending guard Monte Morris to the Minnesota Timberwolves and also trading for Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio. Earlier in the season, the Pistons dealt Marvin Bagley III and Isaiah Livers to the Washington Wizards for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.