NBA: New York Knicks Would Be 'Logical' To Trade Up For LaMelo Ball

The New York Knicks are once again in a position for a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA draft. The hype for LaMelo Ball has been immense, as the point guard remains to be one of the top options for the upcoming draft.

While talk of Ball heading to the Knicks has been rampant, the possibilities of it happening to appear to be slim if New York is unable to get a top-five pick. There’s a chance that the Knicks will end up beyond the top five overall selection and it will be difficult to predict if Ball will slide down that far.

The journey of Ball has been widely followed due to the popularity of his family. Older brother Lonzo was the second overall pick in the 2017 draft and is seen as one of the league’s young guards booming with potential.

Their father LaVar has risen to fame with his controversial statements and unique business decisions. Among these choices include sending LaMelo to take a professional route in Australia to play for the Illawarra Hawks.

The stint LaMelo had in the National Basketball League highlighted the youngest Ball brother’s strengths as a player. Scouts were impressed on how LaMelo was able to dictate the pace of the floor with his elite court vision and crafty movements at point guard. LaMelo averaged 17 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the league.

The Knicks could use the services of an all-around guard like LaMelo as he’s deemed as one of the best options to take in the rookie class. It will be tough for the Knicks to secure him if the franchise falls to the 6th overall pick or beyond. Per SNY, trading up for LaMelo would make sense for the organization if they were fully committed to Ball.

“Given that the Knicks are in need of a point guard and have Ball currently ranked at the top of their board, it's logical to assume that they'd be open to trading up for him,” wrote Ian Begley.

“But it depends on the price, obviously. And that depends on which teams are ahead of the Knicks in the draft order,” Begley continued.

It will be interesting to see what the Knicks will do in the coming draft given the current uncertainty of the selection order.