DETROIT — The New York Knicks are acquiring some needed scoring punch in Alex Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic from the Detroit Pistons, a person familiar with the details said Thursday.
The Knicks are sending Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and two second-round picks to the Pistons, the person told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade was not yet official.
It was first reported by ESPN.
The Knicks are playing without their entire starting frontcourt of All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson because of injuries, and have been seeking to replace some of the bench scoring they lost when they dealt Immanuel Quickley to Toronto along with RJ Barrett in the deal for Anunoby in December.
They found it in Burks, who played well in a previous stint for the Knicks, and Bogdanovic, a reliable outside shooter.
Burks has scored 12.7 points per game in 1 1/2 seasons with the Pistons, slightly above the 12.1 he averaged in two seasons with the Knicks. He scored 25 points Tuesday in Detroit’s surprising victory in Sacramento.
Bogdanovic is averaging 20.2 points and shooting 41.5% from 3-point range.
The Knicks are 16-3 since Anunoby joined the starting lineup Jan. 1 and the latest trade could give them enough to break free of a three-way logjam with Cleveland and Milwaukee for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference behind Boston.
The Pistons, who have the worst record in the league, were busy ahead of the trade deadline. They got former Knicks starters in the deal, with Grimes - also currently injured - a reliable contributor off the bench but Fournier having fallen out of the rotation entirely.
The Pistons also acquired forward Simone Fontecchio from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Kevin Knox II, the rights to Gabriele Procida and draft considerations, and were waiving 2020 first-round pick Killian Hayes, the person told AP.
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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York contributed to this report.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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