Nearly three weeks into the season, a handful of teams are stuck on one win. Four (the Bucks, Bulls, Jazz and Kings) of the five were widely expected to be. The same can't quite be said for the Clippers.

Though L.A. did trade away Kawhi Leonard, it received two twentysomething All-Stars in Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram. Plus, it lucked into drafting Keaton Wagler with the No. 5 overall pick.

Yet, here the Clippers stand, 1-7 on the year entering Friday's action. This already puts them on track to be trade deadline sellers, and that's without even mentioning the future draft picks LA lost due to the Leonard saga.

All of this should be viewed as music to the ears of Leon Rose and the Knicks, considering the acquirable pieces LA could put up for sale that could benefit New York.

Knicks have strong reasons to look at Clippers as potential trade partner

As mentioned, the Clippers will forfeit five consecutive first-round picks from 2029-2033. On top of that, they owe a first-round pick swap to the Thunder next summer, their 2028 first to the Sixers and their 2029 first, too, if it isn’t a top-three pick. 

Even if the Clippers had all their picks, the new lottery rules don’t smile upon bottom basement dwellers. Without them, the picture couldn’t be clearer: the Clippers are in a worse position than any franchise since the post-Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce Nets.

How could this regime sell hope, though? By accumulating future draft capital for years where they don't start 1-7, and that's where New York comes in.

The Knicks can’t afford Brook Lopez or Isaiah Jackson, but there are a few affordable Clipper big men who’d fit nicely in the Manhattan side’s menagerie. The last pick of the 2025 first round, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, is a 6-foot-11 square peg who’d plug New York’s square hole.

Niederhauser is bigger than most humans, even NBA humans, and dunks on a lot of them: 35% of his baskets last year were slams, not far from Mitchell Robinson’s 40% mark. Niederhauser rebounds, blocks shots, and 29 of his 64 field goals were throwdowns. That's something this year's New York team is missing between the older Andre Drummond and still-figuring-things-out James Wiseman.

Niederhauser will make less than $3 million this season and his rookie contract contains team options the next two years. Few players in the league profile as seamless a fit as he in New York’s lineup and salary structure.

If 23 years old—Niederhauser’s age—is too long in the tooth for New York, the Clippers have an even younger, even cheaper bench big who could fit the bill. Baba Miller, 22, went 36th in the 2025 draft.

He’s also 6-foot-11 and heavy on the efficiency, with four of his six buckets this year dunks. He also projects mostly as a rim-running, rebounding, rejecting sort of rapscallion. But Miller has shown signs of a skill Niederhauser, Robinson and Wiseman do not possess.

Over four collegiate years split between Florida State, Florida Atlantic and Cincinnati, Miller was an extremely willing (if not an extremely accurate) three-point shooter. His best year from deep was his junior year, when he averaged better than a three a game (39 in total) on 34% shooting. The other three years are best left in the past (41 made threes on 25% shooting). This year he's made 50% of his longballs, i.e. one of two tries. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

The 2027 Knicks probably aren’t looking for any big not named Towns to shoot from deep. Drummond set career-highs in makes (32) and attempts (90) a year ago, shooting a respectable 36%. So far with the Knicks, he’s taken one. Wiseman won’t even try a midrange J.

So if Miller were to join the team, he might see his role change to where the outside shooting is cast aside for now. But it’s always a welcome skill for an NBA big to have, one the team might be more willing to explore the longer they get to know Miller.

How comfortable is New York that Towns will stay healthy and unplauged by foul trouble for 74 more games? That Drummond by himself is all they need in a backup big? That Wiseman warrants anything more than mop-up minutes?

The Spurs, the Thunder, the Cavaliers, the Celtics: all are either better or deeper at center than the Knicks. Niederhauser and Miller might never reach the level of an Evan Mobley or Chet Holmgren. But if they fit somewhere in the Drummond/Wiseman vicinity, either would help plug the most concerning potential hole for the defending champions.