The New York Knicks acquired Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guards Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks Thursday.
For New York, which is currently dealing with injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby, adding two veterans who can step into the rotation immediately will help bolster a team that is hoping to finish with a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference. Anunoby will miss a minimum of three weeks after having surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow, the team announced later Thursday.
Bogdanovic, 34, averaged 20.2 points and was shooting 41.5% from 3-point range for Detroit this season and will immediately step in as the team’s starting power forward while Randle is out. A versatile scorer and shooter, Bogdanovic will help take pressure off All-Star Jalen Brunson and gives the Knicks more scoring off the bench once their injured players begin returning to the court.
He also has a partially guaranteed deal for next season, giving the Knicks the option to either keep Bogdanovic on the roster or move on from him depending on their salary situation.
Burks, 32, spent the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons with New York before signing a deal with the Pistons, averaging 12.7 points the first season and 11.7 the second. In 43 games for Detroit this season, Burks averaged 12.6 points while shooting 40.1% from 3-point range on 5.7 attempts per game.
Grimes, 23, was selected 25th in the 2021 NBA draft by New York and spent most of last season as a starter for the Knicks before he was moved into a bench role earlier this season. But he should slot in nicely on the wing for the Pistons, a team in need of shooting, as he is a career 37.9% 3-point shooter on five attempts per game.
Fournier, 31, has appeared in just three games this season after falling out of Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation last season. He has a team option for next season and would be an intriguing player for contending teams on the buyout market if he winds up shaking free from Detroit.
Flynn had just arrived in New York last month in the Anunoby trade with Toronto, and Arcidiacono played in 20 games this season off the bench for New York in mop-up minutes and never scored a point.
