Could Knicks Land Hawks Veteran?

The New York Knicks are searching far and wide for ways to improve their frontcourt after losing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The team has Mitchell Robinson as the likely starting center and Precious Achiuwa is expected to have some kind of role after signing a one-year, $6 million contract at the end of July, but the Knicks could benefit from another option.

The Athletic insider John Hollinger believes that Atlanta Hawks big man Larry Nance Jr. makes sense as a Knicks trade target.

“At a much lower level, the player who makes some sense in this role behind Robinson and could probably be had is Larry Nance Jr., who right now is the third center on the depth chart in Atlanta and has a digestible $11 million expiring salary,” Hollinger said.

Nance Jr., 31, is entering his 10th season in the NBA and he’s been around the block, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans. Earlier in the offseason, he was on the move once again in a deal to the Hawks for All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray.

Nance Jr. was included in the deal mostly to match salaries as the Hawks’ main prize in the deal were two first-round picks and 21-year-old shooting guard Dyson Daniels.

Nance Jr. had a decent-sized role for the Pelicans this past season, playing in 61 games off the bench and averaging 5.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for New Orleans. He was also part of the team’s postseason rotation, proving that he can be relied on in key games.

The Hawks don’t have much of a need for Nance with Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu already on the roster. Jalen Johnson would also eat up a lot of minutes in the frontcourt next to No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher.

A trade for Nance Jr. likely won’t happen before the season, but he could be someone worth looking out for before February’s deadline when the Hawks will run out of reasons to keep an expiring contract around like his.

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