It was another busy week for the New York Knicks, with yet another change at the top altering the team’s trade deadline plans.

The Knicks completely whiffed on their summer, as James Dolan oversold expectations and left the basketball ops group out to dry when all they could get were short-term deals on support players – not that anyone should’ve ever expected more given the franchise’s standing around the league. While it was not the summer that they envisioned for themselves, the Knicks still had an opportunity to make something of it by picking up whatever assets they could for players that won’t be part of the team’s long-term success.

The most obvious name on that list, and the only one who ended up moving, was Marcus Morris, though that didn’t come without a fight. For weeks, multiple reports had the Knicks unlikely to trade Morris, mostly because he had assumed a leadership role and actually expressed interest in re-signing with New York. These days, that’s not something that can be taken for granted. When the Knicks dismissed Steve Mills, the tune changed, with the team suddenly open to moving Morris and hoping to receive a lottery level first-round pick for doing so.

That was a steep ask but Morris was either the second or third best forward on the market at the trade deadline, depending on how you view Andre Iguodala, and at worst one of the top four forwards to actually move, depending on how you view Justise Winslow.

The Knicks couldn’t have let the deadline pass without making some kind of deal. The team isn’t in the position to pass up futures, and moving their most marketable asset was a must if the team wanted to sell any kind of forward progress.

Morris was posting career-best numbers in New York, stepping in as the team’s top offensive option. He averaged 19.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.4 blocks and 2.7 3-pointers in 32.3 minutes per game while shooting .442 from the field and .439 from the arc. His departure will blow a huge hole in the Knicks rotation, but that’s not something that should particularly concern the team.

Moving Morris gives New York a reason to give Kevin Knox more minutes. Last year’s first-round pick was one of the worst players in the league as a rookie by most advanced measures, but the Knicks simply have to give him more than 18.8 minutes per game. Julius Randle may move back to power forward, which gives Mitchell Robinson a chance to move back into the starting lineup. Some of this is contingent on the Knicks pumping the brakes on Taj Gibson, which is not a given, but now without their lead dog, there’s no reason for the Knicks not to embrace the youth movement beyond the typical ineptitude.

New York received a 2020 first-round pick from the Clippers, pick swap rights for a 2021 first-rounder and a Pistons’ 2021 second-rounder. While the swap is unlikely to amount to anything, that second-rounder could be a top-40 selection, and getting a pick in the mid-twenties in the upcoming draft is fine enough for a player on an expiring deal, especially considering the lead decision-maker was fired two days before the trade was made.

They also acquired Moe Harkless, who has started 38 of his 50 games for the Clippers this season. He’s in the final season of his four-year, $42 million deal and doesn’t figure to be staying in New York for long. His poor shooting (.370 from deep this year but .326 in his career) should preclude him from taking Morris’ starting small forward spot, but he’s a switchable defender who might be an asset to Mike Miller. His playing time figures to directly affect someone like Knox, so that choice will be one to watch.

As the Wizards got roped into this transaction, the Knicks also picked up the rights to Issuf Sanon, the 44^th pick from the 2018 draft. He was the second-youngest player selected that season and has shown good scoring ability, though his game can become undisciplined quickly. Here’s a quick scouting report on Sanon from his draft year courtesy of our international expert, Dio Nikiforos.

The Knicks were unable to get Landry Shamet, or build on a reported package of rookies Terance Mann and Mfionu Kabengele, but getting a first-round pick out of Morris is still a reasonable move to make. If there really is mutual interest in a reunion, the Knicks can always sign Morris in the summer. He can move the needle for the Clippers, but was unlikely to take the Knicks to the next level in their rebuild. For Knicks fans, the organization thankfully figured it out in time to add a draft pick to the war chest, giving them seven first-roudners in the next four seasons.