I understand he is a fan favorite, and in recent years homegrown talent we’ve had the best homegrown drafted talent of the 21st century.
The only homegrown guy to be an All-star from 2000-2018 was David Lee
Porzingis was solid but between not having 2014/2016 first rounders the 2 players we gave him were Hardaway and then Frank. Not the best help to be building a core talent
But in recent years it’s the opposite, Mitch, RJ, IQ, Grimes all being drafted from 2018-2021. Pretty much got a piece of our franchise every year. Something we’ve never done in the 21st century.
While Brunson and Randle aren’t homegrown, their legacy will be as Knicks as far as I’m concerned. Brunson best season of his career came as a Knick and arguably Randle’s best 4 seasons of his career are as a Knick.
While it’s great to have homegrown talent and legacies made as a Knick, IQ could cost a premium.
We did NOT extend IQ this offseason, which is not a promising sign. Yes he’s an RFA, but that almost always mean overpaying him because the extension didn’t work out.
Since he is the closet to a new contact and seemingly didn’t take our offer, he is most likely to seek other teams this offseason. If a team is selling this deadline he would be an interesting young piece.
I think it makes most sense to use Iq as part of a trade
Maxey is probably a top 15 player asset right now, IQ is nowhere near that. Maybe he could be with more minutes but right now they’re very far apart in value