Newley Reacts to Knicks Trade

Melbourne United veteran Brad Newley has been traded to the New York Knicks.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Newley’s NBA rights were involved in a three-team trade yesterday, with the 36-year-old being sent to the Knicks.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Knicks have made the three-team trade official.<br><br>Knicks get: <br>Denzel Valentine<br>Draft rights to Wang Zhelin<br>Draft rights to Brad Newley<br>Cash considerations<br><br>Cavaliers get:<br>Rajon Rondo<br><br>Lakers get:<br>Rights to Louis Labeyrie</p>&mdash; Fred Katz (@FredKatz) <a href="https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/1478065632818221060?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


First drafted by the Houston Rockets in the 2007 draft, Newley could find humour in the news.

“If the Knicks are rebuilding around a 36-year-old, I’m not sure…but I’m open to anything,” Newley told The Athletic.

Knowing he won’t be donning a Knicks uniform anytime soon, Newley did have one hope if he ever goes to New York while the team still has his rights.

“My greatest request would be a courtside seat with Jerry Seinfeld. I’d happily take that one. Just one game-night experience. I’d definitely be happy with that one. Knicks-Warriors or something, that would be pretty cool,” Newley said.

In an interesting twist, Newley does have a connection to the Knicks. The club’s president, Leon Rose, represented Newley as his agent during the 2007 NBA draft.

Newley has never played in the NBA but has had a long and storied career in Australia and Europe, explaining how he opted for security over the sometimes fickle nature of the NBA.

“I played as an import in Europe,” Newley said.

“At the time this was before the (financial) crisis – the money was pretty good. The NBA wasn’t as much in your face as what is now.

“We were trying to all make it, I guess, but if I say no to a job in July to hang onto a roster, that job could be a quarter of what the job was by the time it rolls around in December.

“As an import, I didn’t want to risk losing that. That was the way I operated for the majority of the time.”