It’s not basketball season without mention of the New York Knicks’ perpetual hunt for a star.

The latest viral moment comes from TNT’s Kenny Smith, who critiqued the Knicks’ roster during Tuesday’s In-Season Tournament loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, pointing out the lack of glamor at the top. Smith listed off the best players from each of the Eastern Conference’s competitive teams, coming to the same conclusion each time.

The Knicks, he repeated, always have the second-best player.

While that sentiment may be overstated (after all, Jalen Brunson is the best player on the floor in plenty of games), the Knicks missing a megastar remains the easiest critique of the roster. And Smith’s list is not breaking news to the people in New York’s front office, either — though you would surely have a difficult time finding people inside the Knicks who would take Paolo Banchero over Brunson today.

“This is why the Knicks are gonna stay in the middle. Every game that they play, they always have the second-best player. … You don’t have the best player on the floor no night.”

Kenny and Chuck sound off on the Knicks 👀 pic.twitter.com/0BQYjNBbed

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 6, 2023

The Knicks know they need a star to take them into the stratosphere of the Bucks and Boston Celtics, but their outlook right now remains the same as it was coming into training camp: They don’t anticipate a worthwhile big name becoming available during the season. However, other types of moves, maybe smaller ones to improve the team in the short term before that faceless star hypothetically arrives, can come.

Next week provides an important marker around the NBA: Dec. 15, the day that most players who signed free-agent contracts this past offseason are eligible to be traded.

Deals don’t normally come until winter. The trade deadline is not until Feb. 8. But for now, here is what I’m hearing about the Knicks as trade season approaches:

• The Knicks have made it clear to other teams that they want a star, league sources said, but they also don’t expect one to become available in the middle of the season. The hope for Joel Embiid has lessened as the Philadelphia 76ers continue to win after trading James Harden to the LA Clippers.

New York hasn’t expressed serious interest in the All-Stars on the Chicago Bulls, league sources said. Chicago has had a difficult time gaining traction for any of its big three: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević. Vučević makes more money than Mitchell Robinson and is a lesser player at the same position. LaVine has three years remaining on his contract after this season, which includes a $49 million player option in 2026-27. Meanwhile, DeRozan is on an expiring $28.6 million deal.

His fit with the Knicks would be a question mark, considering head coach Tom Thibodeau obsesses over shot selection from his secondary players. DeRozan cooks from midrange, but he also is no floor spacer. Swapping RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes or Donte DiVincenzo out for him would only cramp the paint more for Jalen Brunson. And then there are the defensive issues that would come with either of the Bulls’ wings. DeRozan and LaVine are inferior defenders to those three aforementioned Knicks, as well as Josh Hart and Immanuel Quickley.

• Trade fodder around the league and for the Knicks has been quiet so far this season. Around this time last autumn, New York was reaching out to other organizations to gauge the market for Quickley. That’s not the case today, though the phones will presumably ring more after Dec. 15.

• There are people inside the Knicks front office who understand that a too-many-guys situation could be brewing, according to league sources. Grimes griped about his role to reporters earlier this week. Hart spoke a few games prior about not receiving as many offensive touches as he would like. Quickley is playing only 24 minutes a game in a contract year. DiVincenzo’s playing time is down from last season when he was with the Golden State Warriors.

• The Knicks checked in on Karl-Anthony Towns earlier this season, but they never made an offer for the three-time All-Star, league sources tell The Athletic. The Knicks’ new senior vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas overlapped with Towns from 2019 to 2021 when Rosas ran the Timberwolves. Towns is also a client of CAA, where Knicks president Leon Rose once ran the basketball division. Executive vice president of basketball operations William Wesley followed Rose from CAA to the Knicks, as well.

However, New York has not made a serious run at Towns in recent years, league sources said.

Meanwhile, the Wolves sit atop the Western Conference at 16-4 and are hardly looking for a way out of their core.

• Teams around the league are waiting to see how the Knicks handle Quickley, who will become a restricted free agent in 2024 after the two sides failed to agree to an extension before this season. The Knicks could attach Quickley or Grimes, whose minutes have dissipated amidst recent struggles, to Evan Fournier to bring back a player with a salary in the mid-$20 million range or less.

• The Detroit Pistons, owners of the NBA’s worst record and an 18-game losing streak, have expressed that it would take a large offer to acquire 20-point scorer Bojan Bogdanović, league sources said. The situation with Bogdanović is akin to the one with Jerami Grant from a couple of seasons ago, when Grant had two years remaining on his contract and Detroit held onto him despite its losing record. The Pistons eventually flipped Grant for a late first-round pick once the rangy forward was in the final year of his deal.

Bogdanović makes $20 million this season and is non-guaranteed for $19 million in 2024-25.

• Maybe the most common question asked around the league is: What do the Toronto Raptors do? Toronto has three consequential players — Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. — on expiring deals and is treading around .500 for the second consecutive season. The Knicks made a play for Anunoby last winter, league sources said, but Toronto never engaged in serious discussions to trade away the two-way stud. Anunoby made his first-ever NBA All-Defense team in 2022-23 and should be headed for another in 2023-24 if he keeps up this level of play.

(Photo of Bojan Bogdanović and Julius Randle: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)