The New York Knicks question of the day was brought forth on Twitter. @KnicksNationCP poised the question to Knicks fans. What was the worst trade in New York Knicks history?
Many may saw Patrick Ewing or Eddie Curry. But, in 2013, the New York Knicks traded for Andrea Bargnani. This was without a doubt, the worst trade in Knicks history and possibly the history of the NBA. Some will argue that the Brooklyn Nets trading 4 first-round picks and players for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and company was bad. Well, it was bad, both teams were looking for a ‘quick fix’, but the Knicks decision as uncalled for.
The trade was:
New York Knicks trade Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a 2016 first-round pick and 2014 and 2017 second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors for Andrea Bargnani.
Three player,s plus picks, one being a first-rounder, for one player. Not only was it one player, but the former number-one pick was coming off a disappointing, injury season and playing below-average anyway. Before he came to the Knicks, Bargnani had a .399 field goal percentage, playing only 28.7 minutes a game with 2.9 rebounds and averaging 12.7 points.
The Knicks must have thought Bargnani was in need of a new environment. New York was certainly not the right place. He was doing just fine in Toronto, but not number one pick worthy. Bargnani got substantially worse when he came to New York. He heard the chirping of the fans, media and he caved, simple. The injuries did not help, but he was not going to survive in New York after already having a terrible season.
Bargnani stats barely improve with the Knicks while missing numerous games due to injury. To add insult to injury, pun, he did not play any defense. And was too slow to keep up with everyone it seemed. When Bargnani was on the floor, it was more of a burden for the team.
In his first full-season with the Knicks, he only played 22 games. Twenty-two games…and the Knicks gave up a first-round pick for him. Bargnani only played 61 games for the New York Knicks.
The Nets trade was historically bad as well. Trading away four picks does grant them to coveted number one spot for worst NBA trade. However, the Knicks trade wins since Bargnani was plagued with injuries and the Knicks traded away a lot for absolutely nothing.