The Knicks got two veterans from a historically bad team to bolster their depth during an injury crisis, finishing the NBA trade deadline by checking most of their boxes before the second stanza of their playoff push.
Team president Leon Rose agreed to acquire Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic on Thursday by swapping out Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks, a source confirmed.
Broken down in simpler terms, the Knicks did a 2-for-1 rotational swap since Burks and Bogdanovic will play and only Grimes, who was frustrated and eager for a different opportunity, was getting minutes under Tom Thibodeau. Fournier had been glued to the bench since last season.
It evened out the numbers after the Knicks traded two rotational players (RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley) for one (OG Anunoby) in December.
Both sides had to get creative to make this happen. Flynn, acquired last month from the Raptors, wasn’t allowed to be aggregated into a trade. So they broke it into two trades — with Flynn and a Pistons trade exception (which they acquired in a previous Marvin Bagley deal) going in one swap, and Fournier, Grimes and Arcidiacono as part of a separate trade.
The Knicks are more balanced today and that was necessary given their growing infirmary line.
Burks, who recently played for the Knicks and remains a favorite of Tom Thibodeau, is a combo guard and can fill in backup point guard duties, essentially replacing Quickley.
Bogdanovic is a 3-and-D wing who was an important part of a winning run in Utah before being traded to the miserable Pistons. He can help fill in for Anunoby and Julius Randle, who are both ailing with no set timeline for a return.
Bogdanovic, originally acquired by the New Jersey Nets in the 2011 draft, will also ease the burden on Josh Hart and Precious Achiuwa, who have been logging heavy time lately.
The Croatian is 34 with over a decade of NBA experience – lending questions to his physical ability to carry a load — but also represents a better scorer than Hart, especially as an outside shooter, and could even start until Randle returns.
Basically, the Knicks needed depth and offense. The Pistons, off to one of the worst starts in NBA history with no need for veterans, were their facilitators.
As The Post reported, the Knicks took a stance at the deadline of holding tightly to their future first-round picks because they still want to be in the market for a superstar trade, if and when that ever materializes.
They’ll have between one and four first rounders in the 2024 draft, depending on how the protections play out.
They avoided sending out any first rounders in the Pistons swap, whereas a deal for Toronto’s Bruce Brown — a player the Knicks discussed — would’ve likely cost them one.
The Knicks were long considering a reunion with Burks, who was a part of their 2021 playoff run to the fourth seed.
The Sixers and Timberwolves were discussing packages for Burks before those teams traded for Buddy Hield and Monte Morris, respectively.
The Pistons were more reluctant to part with Bogdanovic, who, unlike Burks, is under contract next season. The two sides picked up talks Thursday and Detroit GM Troy Weaver, amid a disastrous run as a top executive, relented while picking up a promising 3-and-D rebuilding piece in Grimes.
Fournier was on the trading block since the summer but the Knicks held off until Thursday because his expiring $19 million contract was an asset. He wasn’t shy about wanting either a consistent opportunity in the rotation (that wasn’t going to happen) or a relocation. He now becomes a buyout candidate in Detroit.
Grimes, as The Post reported, was frustrated with his role and diminishing opportunities in the context of his growth last season. A source close to the guard said of the move to the Pistons, “It will give him a path to success and a clean slate.”
Trading Arcidiacono breaks up the Knicks’ Villanova quartet with Jalen Brunson, Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.