The Knicks will enter the 2025 NBA Draft as the only team in the league without a head coach — and without any of their own picks. Their lone selection? The 50th overall pick, originally belonging to the Memphis Grizzlies.
So how did New York wind up coachless and asset-light in one of the most promising draft classes in years?
Here’s a deep dive into how the Knicks got here — and where their draft capital stands for 2025 and beyond.
FIRST-ROUND PICKS RELINQUISHED
- MIL 2025 Top-4 protected FRP
The Milwaukee Bucks traded this pick to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the Nov. 2020 Jrue Holiday trade. The Trail Blazers traded the pick two years later to the Detroit Pistons as part of the package for Jerami Grant, and the Pistons sent it to the Knicks as part of the Jalen Duren-Kemba Walker swap of 2022.
The Knicks traded the Bucks pick to the Nets as part of the Mikal Bridges deal. The Nets are now slated to pick 19th, courtesy of Milwaukee, in Wednesday’s first round of the NBA Draft. Brooklyn also owns the eighth and 26th picks in the 2025 draft class.
- NYK own 2025 first-round pick
The Knicks also traded this pick to the Nets as part of the Bridges deal. New York surrendered four of its own first-round picks, the Bucks pick, a first-round pick swap, and a second-round pick to bring Bridges across the Brooklyn Bridge.
- DET 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick
The Pistons traded this pick to the Houston Rockets as part of the deal that brought Isaiah Stewart to Detroit. Houston re-routed the Pistons’ first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the trade package for Alperen Sengun. The Thunder traded this pick to the Knicks as part of the Ousmane Dieng deal of June 2022, and the Knicks sent this pick alongside Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pistons finished 17th in the draft order, so the pick was conveyed to the Wolves this draft.
2025 SECOND-ROUND PICK STATUS
- NYK own 2025 second-round pick
The NBA rescinded this pick from the Knicks for violating league rules regarding timing of 2022 free agency discussions (tampering) with Jalen Brunson. Brunson left the Dallas Mavericks to sign a four-year, $104M deal three summers ago. He has since signed for an additional extension worth $156.5M over four years.
- MEM 2025 second-round pick (#50)
The Grizzlies traded this pick to the Boston Celtics as part of the deal that brought Desmond Bane to Memphis. The Celtics traded the second-rounder to Oklahoma City as part of the package for Al Horford, and the Thunder re-routed the pick to the Knicks as part of the Dillon Jones deal in July 2024. This is the only pick the Knicks own in the 2025 NBA Draft.
- BKN 2025 second-round pick
The Nets traded this pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Isaia Cordinier in 2018. The Hawks re-routed this pick to the Knicks as part of the Kevin Knox deal in 2022, and the Knicks sent this pick back to Brooklyn as part of the Bridges deal.
FUTURE DRAFT PICK STATUS
The Knicks own their own first-round picks in 2026, 2030 and 2032. Due to the Bridges deal, the Nets outright own the Knicks’ first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031. The Nets also reserve the right to swap first-round picks with the Knicks in 2028, and the Knicks own the Washington Wizards’ top-eight protected first-round pick in 2026 as a result of the Dieng trade with the Thunder. If the pick falls inside the top eight, it will instead convey as Washington’s second-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
The Knicks own their own second-round picks in 2027 and 2032. They traded their own 2026 second-round pick to the Detroit Pistons to dump Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel contracts; their 2028 and 2029 second-round picks alongside Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono to the Detroit Pistons in the 2024 deal that brought Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic to New York; their 2030 second-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in a 2024 draft-day deal for the rights to Tyler Kolek; and their 2031 second-round pick as part of the three-team deal that acquired rights to James Nnaji from the Charlotte Hornets
The Knicks acquired the least favorable of the Bucks, Magic and Pistons’ 2026 second-round picks from the Nets as part of the Bridges deal. They acquired the second and third-most favorable of the Heat, Pacers, Rockets and Thunder’s 2027 second-round picks from the Thunder as part of the Dillon Jones deal. The Knicks own the Celtics’ top-45 protected second-round pick in 2028 via the Kevin McCullar Jr.-Oso Ighodaro swap with the Phoenix Suns on draft day 2024. And they own the less favorable of the Suns and Pacers’ 2028 second-round picks as part of the Obi Toppin trade to Indiana, though they moved the second pick acquired in the Toppin deal to Portland in the Kolek trade.
GRAND TOTAL
The Knicks own one (1) pick — No. 50 — in the 2025 NBA Draft. They own three of their own first-round picks (2026, 2030 and 2032), either their own or Brooklyn’s first-round pick in 2028, and they could own the Wizards’ 2026 first-round pick if Washington’s pick ends up outside of the top eight. The Knicks own seven second-round picks, but that number will balloon to nine if the Wizards’ pick does not convey as a first-round pick.
WHICH PICKS ARE TRADEABLE
There are no rules governing the number of or cadence with which second-round picks can be traded. But because the Ted Stepien Rule prevents the teams from having no first-round picks in consecutive draft classes, the Knicks can only trade the Wizards’ pick.
The Knicks can trade swap rights to any of the first-round picks they own outright. They can also trade their own first-round picks in 2032 and 2030 if they were to first acquire unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2029.
