During the 2023-24 season, the Knicks were praised for their tenacity and grit and forged a defensive-minded team identity. They rode those intangibles to a 50-32 record and a second-round playoff appearance, their best overall season since the 2012-13 campaign.
Entering the 2024-25 season, the expectation was that the Tom Thibodeau-led team would build on that momentum, especially after adding two key pieces in All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns and 3-and-D ace Mikal Bridges. Instead, the opposite happened, as New York lost its identity on defense, much to the chagrin of a defensive coach like Thibodeau. After the first month of the season, it was obvious that the Knicks needed an infusion of tenacious players to engineer a turnaround.
As such, Dean Simon of The Sporting News has proposed a Knicks trade that would send Bucks center Bobby Portis to the Big Apple. The Knicks’ proposed trade, approved by FanSpo , cannot be executed before December 15, when Achiuwa would become eligible for a trade.
Knicks would get: Bobby Portis
Bucks would get: Miles McBride, Precious Achiuwa, Pacome Dadiet