Despite the fact that the New York Knicks are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and five games out of the eighth spot they have made it clear that their goal for this season is to make the playoffs. The Knicks definitely have their work cut out for them in that regard as many of the team's they are chasing made moves to improve their rosters at the trade deadline. The Knicks, on the other hand, did not make any trades but they did have an asset who drew a lot of interest and that is, Guillermo 'Willy' Hernangomez, according to O. Cauchi of Sportando.
Hernangomez is playing for Real Madrid in Spain right now but the Knicks have his rights and many people see him as a talented player with a lot of potential. Hernangomez's contract with Real Madrid is up after this season and the Knicks hope to bring him over to the NBA for next year. Madrid will do everything they can to try and keep the big man but he has made it clear he wants to play in the NBA.
Having said that, Hernangomez coming to the NBA next season is not a guarantee and he might just be the Knicks best asset. With the clear stated goal of making the playoffs this season the Knicks could have used the 21-year-old to improve their roster by maybe getting a point guard upgrade. The Knicks, as many fans know, do not have many assets that other teams want so making trades was always going to be difficult but Hernangomez is reportedly a guy people around the league want.
The Knicks have been trying to trade point guard Jose Calderon for a while but he isn't getting much of any interest. In order to unload Calderon the Knicks likely would have had to add Hernangomez to the deal. It is unclear if just adding Hernangomez would have been enough to land someone like Jeff Teague or Ty Lawson but based on reports the Knicks weren't all that eager to part with their European stash.
In the end the Knicks held on to what seems to be their best current asset (besides Kristaps Porzingis who is obviously untradeable). Hernangomez is value around the league but the Knicks may be higher on him than anyone as Phil Jackson compared him to Luis Scola, but stronger, according to Charley Rosen of ESPN. It is still possible that the Knicks could use Hernangomez to swing a deal in the offseason but the current plan seems to be to bring him over next season and hope he and his good friend Porzingis form a young core they can build around.
