The New York Knicks have one less competent center they can make a play for before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Knicks see Wizards’ Jonas Valanciunas dealt to Kings
On Wednesday, the Washington Wizards traded center Jonas Valanciunas to the Sacramento Kings. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Ali Thanawalla relayed the breaking news as follows:
“Sacramento is acquiring veteran center Jonas Valanciunas from the Washington Wizards for forward Sidy Cissoko and two future second-round draft picks, NBA Insider Marc Stein and ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported, citing sources,” Thanawalla published.
Knicks miss out on stout offensive talent in Valanciunas
The Lithuanian big man could have brought polished interior scoring, elite rebounding, and a floor-spacing threat to the Knicks’ bench. New York’s bottom-ranked second-unit offense, averaging a mere 21.3 points per contest, would have been given a considerable lift by Valanciunas’ 11.5 PPG and 8.2 rebounds per game on 54.7 percent shooting from the field in only 20.1 nightly minutes of action.
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Seeing that the 32-year-old was dealt for Cissoko and a pair of second-rounders, it begs to question if the Knicks could have offered the same amount of picks along with a player like Jericho Sims or one of their younger talents to trump the Kings. Nevertheless, New York will look elsewhere for frontcourt depth and roster fortification with the trade deadline set for 3 PM ET on Thursday.
