New York Knicks: Adding Emmanuel Mudiay is a low-risk move

In acquiring Emmanuel Mudiay, the New York Knicks are making a low-risk move on a former top 10 NBA Draft pick

The New York Knicks acquired point guard Emmanuel Mudiay from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team deal shortly before the NBA trade deadline passed. After dealing Willy Hernangomez earlier this week, the Knicks will send off Doug McDermott as part of this trade.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the complete deal sends Mudiay to New York, McDermott to Dallas and guard Devin Harris to Denver.

For New York, McDermott averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game thus far this season. The team’s depth will run quite thin at small forward now, as Lance Thomas and Michael Beasley will spend more minutes at the 3 opposed to the 4, behind Tim Hardaway Jr.

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Mudiay will have a chance to earn some significant minutes at the point guard position. Jarrett Jack and Frank Ntilikina have played plenty of minutes there, with a dose of recent signee Trey Burke, and Ron Baker remains injured. The Congo native did not start a game for Denver this season but has averaged 8.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

The move comes a bit from left field, as McDermott was not rumored to be on the trading block. Mudiay, on the other hand, was one of a few Denver players, including Kenneth Faried, to have their names in the rumor mill.

Mudiay is still a young asset, as he is only 21 years old, and could make a case for starting duties if he receives similar minutes to his first two NBA seasons. The rise of Jamal Murray left little room for Mudiay to fit in the Mile High City. This is the type of low-risk move that the Knicks should be making at this point in the season.

After losing Kristaps Porzingis for the remainder of the year, the Knicks don’t really have much of a shot at climbing back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Mudiay was the 7th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets.

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McDermott will enter a locker room full of forwards, as he’ll compete with Harrison Barnes, Dorian Finney-Smith and Johnathan Motley at small forward. The former Creighton standout will try to make an impact on the team that currently sits in last place in the crowded Western Conference.