NBA Rumors: Knicks Could Trade Joakim Noah & No. 37 Pick For Dennis Schroder, ‘Soaring Down South’ Suggests

With the Atlanta Hawks deciding to undergo a rebuild, rumors started to swirl that Dennis Schroder wants his way out of the team. Though he didn’t directly demand a trade, international basketball reporter David Hein revealed that Schroder doesn’t intend to spend the prime of his career playing on a losing team. The 24-year-old point guard expressed his desire to play for an organization that is “going in the right direction.”

According to Chris Guest of Fansided’s Soaring Down South, the New York Knicks could be a potential trade partner for the Hawks in a deal involving Dennis Schroder. The Knicks are also in the middle of the rebuilding process, but unlike the Hawks, they need to immediately return to contention in order to convince Kristaps Porzingis to stay with the team long-term. In a suggested trade scenario, the Knicks would send Joakim Noah and the No. 37 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft to Atlanta for Schroder. The proposed deal works in the ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.

The trade is undeniably a no-brainer for the Knicks. It will give them a talented point guard who fits the timeline of Porzingis. The deal will also allow Dennis Schroder to reunite with former Hawks teammate Tim Hardaway, Jr., who just signed a four-year, $70.95 million contract with the Knicks last summer. If the Knicks manage to unload veteran shooting guard Courtney Lee, Coach David Fizdale could use Schroder and Hardaway, Jr. as his starting backcourt next season.

Are Hawks teammates Taurean Prince and Dennis Schroder subtweeting each other?. https://t.co/GGtpEJdSG9

— NBA River (@nbariver) May 17, 2018

Aside from acquiring a talented point guard, Soaring Down South‘s suggested deal will let the Knicks dump Joakim Noah and the remaining two years on his contract to Atlanta. With the emergence of Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn, Noah found himself out of the Knicks’ rotation in the 2017-18 NBA season. The veteran center was clearly unhappy just sitting on the bench and publicly stated that he wants to be on a team where he will be given the opportunity to prove himself once again.

Absorbing Noah’s contract will raise eyebrows among the Hawks’ fanbase, but as Guest noted, it is the only way they can extract a draft pick from the Knicks. Despite his deteriorating performance, Noah could still provide a veteran presence in the locker room and teach a strong work ethic to the Hawks’ young players.