Re-grading every NBA Draft night trade from 2022

NBA trade grade: Knicks use Jalen Duren to dump Kemba Walker

The Knicks essentially broke NBA Twitter a year ago with their decision to dump Jalen Duren, a lottery pick, off to Detroit in order to remove Kemba Walker’s salary from their books. Walker was eventually cut by Detroit and he has since been out of the league.

As for Duren, he might be the strongest teenager in recorded human history. He’s a beast on the boards (8.9 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game) and the center of the future in Detroit, no matter how much the Pistons want to pretend like James Wiseman is the answer.

New York did eventually salvage another future first out of this, but it will probably be a late first so long as Giannis Antetokounmpo remains a Milwaukee Buck. The Knicks don’t really need another center at the moment, but Duren was an immediate rotation piece as the youngest player in the NBA — his ceiling is undetermined, but probably higher than a late-round pick in 2025.

Meanwhile, the Hornets played facilitator and squeezed a first-round pick and a bunch of second-round picks out of two fellow Eastern Conference teams. Savvy asset management on their part, which isn’t something we can often say about Charlotte.

Knicks: D+

Hornets: A

Pistons: A

NBA Draft trade grade: Thunder trade up for Ousmane Dieng

OKC used its treasure trove of future draft picks to move into the lottery for a third time and select French wing Ousmane Dieng out of Australia’s NBL. The Thunder love, love, love long, skilled players who present multi-faceted threats on offense. Dieng flashed secondary playmaking upside overseas and he has inherent defensive versatility as a mobile 6-foot-10 wing.

The Thunder used Dieng sparsely in his rookie season — he appeared in 39 games averaging 14.6 minutes. That said, he was always a long-term investment and OKC’s underrated depth across the board made it hard for Dieng to stick, especially once it became clear the Thunder were actually capable of winning games and competing for a play-in spot.

None of New York’s 2023 first-round picks actually conveyed, so the jury is still out on the Knicks. But trading out of two lottery picks for zero semi-immediate return is quite the, um, risk from the Knicks front office.

Thunder: B-

Knicks: C