Knicks Eye Justin Champagnie After Josh Hart Injury

Merlin sees a tidy three-team swap that would send Justin Champagnie to the Knicks, Pacome Dadiet to Utah and Kevin Love plus a protected 2026 first to Washington. For New York, the headline is simple: a cheap, 24-year-old wing who defends, rebounds and spaces the floor arrives under team control for about $8 million over three years — the kind of low-risk depth the Knicks sorely need with Josh Hart dinged and rotation wings thin. Merlin whispers that Champagnie is the kind of marginal move that changes late-game lineups and preserves payroll magic. It doesn’t solve everything, but it gets New York within striking distance of signing Landry Shamet and/or Malcolm Brogdon while giving Utah a developmental lottery ticket and Washington a safety valve on next year’s pick.