NBA Offseason 2020: 5 potential landing spots for Russell Westbrook

1. New York Knicks

Let’s put it this way: Aside from RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft, there’s not much that would realistically be off limits for the New York Knicks. Whatever combination of salary filler and young prospects Houston wants, a star-desperate franchise like the Knicks will consider delivering.

Does that mean that they should? Not necessarily, unless the price is low enough to be too enticing to turn down. According to The New York Times’ Marc Stein, there’s a chance some kind of Knicks deal comes to fruition:

Russ would bring some much-needed excitement back to the Big Apple, and aging point guards on inflated contracts who might be past their prime is right up New York’s alley. Barrett, Robinson and pick No. 8 are the only untouchables, but if the Knicks offered No. 27 or a future first-rounder? The Rockets should jump on that.

For salary-matching purposes, some combination of Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and Wayne Ellington works, with young prospects like Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox being thrown in the mix to give the Rockets something to look forward to when Harden eventually gets frustrated and forces his way out.

In our proposed deal, the Rockets would receive Portis’ $15.8 million expiring, Ellington’s $8 million expiring, Ntilikina, Knox and a 2021 first-round pick the Knicks own via the Dallas Mavericks. That would give Houston a small-ball 5 in Portis, a veteran sharpshooter in Ellington, two young prospects in Ntilikina and Knox and a draft pick.

As is the case in almost all of these trade proposals, maybe the Knicks prefer to just stay the course rather than cash in some (admittedly less exciting) chips for an expensive short-term upgrade. But if any team were thirsty enough to pounce on this Westbrook news, is there any doubt it’d be the Knickerbockers?