NBA trade rumors: Knicks invested in a deal that doesn’t involve Kyrie Irving

The Knicks and Jazz are reportedly in trade talks involving Obi Toppin and Malik Beasley. Will the Knicks add a first to this deal?

According to Mike Scotto of Hoops Hype, the Knicks and Jazz have had exploratory talks regarding Obi Toppin, Evan Fournier and draft picks for Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.

For the Knicks, this deal would allow them to get rid of Fournier’s salary while getting a better player in return.

Additionally, New York would be trading Toppin who they will struggle to pay fair value for in a backup role in two years.

While Vanderbilt’s rookie deal is up that same year as well, Vanderbilt is a lot more playable next to Randle and a lot easier to pay his value in two years.

While it is hard to tell, it seems a deal like this will probably require the Knicks to give up an actual first-round pick and not one of their heavily protected first-round picks that they have the rights to.

Knicks and Jazz are working on a trade involving Obi Toppin and Malik Beasley

For the Jazz, all reports indicate that they want to acquire a first-round pick for each player. According to the report, the Jazz would value Toppin as a first-round draft pick in the deal and would need another to go along with it.

Overall, for the Jazz, it seems that all of the leftovers from the Gobert trade are probably open for business with exceptions for budding star Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and Ochai Agbaji, per Marc Stein. Utah isn’t hesitant to take on long-term salary in any deal given the fact they are properly compensated.

It can be assumed that the Knicks will not trade any draft picks in this deal (except the heavily protected ones) as this deal doesn’t really generate a new cap space rather it finds a young player who is a better fit for the organization than Toppin is. The deal is able to dump a bad contract off the books and trade in that player for a player on a good contract for next year.

With his team option for next year set in his contract already, the Jazz are in no rush to trade Beasley to New York unless they are able to reach the price other teams are willing to pay for him. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, there are multiple teams that are willing to offer a first-round pick for him.

It seems like these talks have hit a stalemate, but Toppin and Beasley will probably be on the move before the deadline, while Vanderbilt will be available for teams.