Knicks Make Three Different Trades During Round 1 of NBA Draft
· Yahoo Sports
The 2026 NBA champion New York Knicks entered into the NBA Draft with the 24th-overall pick, but in the hour between when the Knicks would have made a pick to the end of the draft itself, the Knicks walked away with five second-round pics, three of which for this draft, and no first-round player of their own.
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It started seconds before the Knicks announced their first-round pick when ESPN's Shams Charania announced that the Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers had made a trade for each other's draft rights along with the Lakers sending the Knicks cash considerations.
As a result, when the Knicks selected Cameron Carr at No. 24 and the Lakers selected Sergio De Larrea at No. 25, those players actually belonged to the opposite teams.
Moving De LarreaSources: New York is trading No. 24 to the Los Angeles Lakers for No. 25.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2026
The Knicks weren't done there though, As the draft moved forward and the Dallas Mavericks, who picked at No. 30 as the last pick of the first round, selected Koa Peat to finish the day, the Knicks made another trade and sent De Larrea to Dallas in exchange for Peat and two second-round picks.
Even then, the Knicks weren't done. Peat may not have even had the time to realize that he had been traded to the Knicks before New York turned around and traded Peat to the Phoenix Suns for three more second-round picks as well as cash considerations.
Sources: New York traded No. 25 pick Sergio De Larrea to the Dallas Mavericks for No. 30 Koa Peat and two second-round picks. And then the Knicks traded Peat to the Phoenix Suns for three-rounders and cash. So Knicks move out of the first round -- pick up 5 seconds and cash.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2026
With those flurry of trades done, at least for one day, the Knicks made it out without an actual player, but some extra cash and five second-round picks, including three picks in the 2026 draft, picking at No. 31, No. 47 and No. 55 on Wednesday.
Why Make These Deals?Considering that the Knicks just won a historic championship, they may not feel that much pressure to bring in a lot of new blood into their existing roster and may not feel as compelled to hold onto a first-round pick when they could instead come away with a huge investment of their future.
Phoenix sent No. 47 among the three second-rounders to New York, sources said. So the Knicks now add that 47th pick to Nos. 31 and 55 on Wednesday night. The champion Knicks are now on the clock -- and, per sources, they have already received offers of future draft assets for No.… https://t.co/yMrWenlqHW
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2026
On top of that investment in their future, holding on to three second-picks in this draft still gives the Knicks an opportunity to add more players to the roster and take advantage of the amount of talent that's still available in this draft.
But Wednesday brings another opportunity for chaos and based on Charania's several reports, the Knicks have received for the No. 31 pick already and may not be done and could make even more deals ahead of the second round.
The NBA Draft always comes with the opportunity for chaos and the Knicks delivered enough chaos in little over an hour to satiate the entire league.