One of the biggest questions for the Knicks in the aftermath of Tuesday's NBA Draft Lottery? How does landing the No. 3 pick -- and New Orleans landing the top pick -- impact New York's chances of trading for Anthony Davis?
From a New Orleans perspective, Pelicans lead executive David Griffin seemed hopeful that the No. 1 pick would help entice Davis to stay in the Big Easy.
"It's the same situation," Griffin said. "We want to create an environment players are attracted to. We feel very strongly Anthony in totality will be attracted to what we can build and what we can offer. It's the same for all players. We're going to stand for something. We hope that repeats itself."
The potential package the Knicks could offer New Orleans certainly took a hit on Tuesday. The No. 3 pick, obviously, isn't as sexy as a top-two pick. And the Lakers moved up to No. 4 in the Lottery, which strengthens the package that they can offer the Pelicans in a Davis trade.
When asked if the Pelicans landing the No. 1 pick would change how he values landing another top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft via trade, Griffin said, "Not really."
"I said this in Cleveland, I don't believe anything or anyone is untouchable in our business," he added.
"There's a value for everything. I think there's a situation in our league where most people try to shy away from big decisions because you can be wrong. That's not how our organization's going to operate. We're going to do what's best for us long term, whatever that looks like."
If the Knicks select R.J. Barrett, perhaps Barrett along with future draft picks and some of New York's younger players make for an attractive offer to New Orleans. You'd think Barrett will be a better potential trade chip than the player the Lakers select.
Another important factor here: Davis would certainly consider re-signing with the Knicks if he felt he could be successful in New York, per SNY sources familiar with the matter. Here's how a Davis to New York trade could work -- in a scenario where the Knicks also sign two max free agents:
Since the ideal situation would be to pair Davis with two other stars, the Knicks would first sign their two max free agents in early July, using nearly all of their $70-plus million in cap space.
They would then have to send out roughly $21.6 million in salary to satisfy NBA trade rules in a swap for Davis, who is making $27 million in 2019.
If the Knicks include the No. 3 pick in the deal, they would have to wait 30 days until after the date that the rookie signed the contract to complete the deal, per NBA rules.