After losing Isaiah Hartenstein to free agency, the New York Knicks are one center short in the rotation. Would a trade for Robert Williams III make sense?

John Hollinger of The Athletic thinks so, as he told Fred Katz that the 26-year-old big checks multiple boxes for New York.

“The other guy who theoretically checks all the boxes is Robert Williams III in Portland,” Hollinger wrote in an August 5 column with Katz. “Again, that’s another one where the Knicks probably want to let the season play out and see if he can stay in the lineup for more than a week or two consecutively.”

The last point is the biggest caveat to a deal for Williams.

After being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers last season, he appeared in just six games before undergoing season-ending knee surgery. And after he played only 35 games in the season prior, there’s reason for concern regarding his availability.

Williams is two years removed from being a Defensive Player of the Year finalist. If a team like New York starts to see him playing well next season, there’s little doubt Portland would entertain a trade.

Drafting A Knicks Trade For Robert Williams III

As mentioned by Hollinger, a trade for Williams wouldn’t take place until some point during the upcoming season. Even then, the probability of any such trade is low for the Knicks.

With all of OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson representing $157.7 (88%) of New York’s $179.1 million salary next season, their avenues for improvement are marginal.

To get to Williams’ $12.4 million salary without including any of the aforementioned rotation players would mean depleting the bench. Even with the $6 million salary of Precious Achiuwa, you’d have to send all of Keita Bates-Diop, Cam Payne, and Jericho Sims to make the money work.

And that’s based on two bold assumptions. One, that the Trail Blazers would entertain that kind of return. And two, that the Knicks aren’t trading backup guard Miles McBride.

Other Center Options For The Knicks

As of August 5, NBA reports and rumors have slowed to a crawl. New York has been linked to a number of center options that are still available ahead of the season’s start however.

SNY’s Ian Begley reported on July 18 that the Knicks had “checked in on” a deal for Clint Capela.

“Clint Capela, Atlanta was one big that the Knicks checked in on,” Begley said. “I don’t know how far talks went. I don’t know if they’re active at this very moment. But they did check in on Capela.”

Capela has served as the Atlanta Hawks starting center for four consecutive seasons. He appeared in 73 games last season, averaging 11.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game.

Marc Berman, formerly of the New York Post, reported that Jalen Duren and Alperen Sengun were on New York’s radar.

“Leon Rose was in 1st row of presser yesterday with Mikal’s mother,” Berman tweeted on July 10. “Didn’t talk, but he’s still cooking, wants to make big center move after Philly’s 2 additions. Heard Houston’s Sengun has been on radar, even Detroit’s Jalen Duren. And that was before Pistons signed Paul Reed.”

Sengun is coming off of his third NBA season, all in Houston. He averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.2 steals in 63 regular-season appearances with the Houston Rockets last year.

Duren was linked to the Knicks ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft. He averaged 13.8 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 61 regular-season appearances with the Detroit Pistons last year.