NBA Trade Rumors: Blazers’ Robert Williams III to Knicks?

The Portland Trail Blazers are likely fielding calls for trades for some of their veteran players, including center Robert Williams III.

Williams played in just six games for the Blazers this season after dislocating his patellar tendon and getting surgery that knocked him out for the rest of the year.

Williams was traded to the Blazers just before training camp from the Boston Celtics in a deal that got Jrue Holiday to Beantown.

But now, The Athletic insider John Hollinger believes Williams could go back to the east coast and join the New York Knicks.

The other guy who theoretically checks all the boxes is Robert Williams III in Portland. Again, that’s another one where the Knicks probably want to let the season play out and see if he can stay in the lineup for more than a week or two consecutively.

A healthy version of Williams is exactly who the Knicks want to round out their lineup. After losing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, the Knicks have a big question mark surrounding the center position. Mitchell Robinson is there, but he has also dealt with the injury bug as of late, and there are no proven big men elsewhere on the roster.

Williams started for the Celtics when they were in the NBA Finals two years ago, so the Knicks could seek him out. However, they need to make sure that version of him (or someone remotely close to him) is attainable for the upcoming season and beyond.