Who is Petteri Koponen? Why Knicks acquired draft rights to 2007 pick, Spurs assistant in trade with Mavericks

Who is Petteri Koponen? Why Knicks acquired draft rights to 2007 pick, Spurs assistant in trade with Mavericks

The NBA Draft's second round is usually filled with trades, as many second-round picks are traded multiple times before finding their final landing spot.

Because of this, many second-round draft trades fly under the radar. That includes a rather unique one from the 2024 NBA Draft between the Knicks and the Mavericks.

New York and Dallas executed a trade late in the second round that sent the 51st overall pick to the Mavericks and the final pick, No. 58 overall, to the Knicks.

Also included in the deal? The draft rights to a 2007 first-round pick who has never played in the NBA.

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Knicks-Mavericks trade details

Below are the full terms of the 2024 NBA Draft trade between the Mavericks and the Knicks.

Mavericks acquire:

• Draft rights to 51st overall pick Melvin Ajinca

Knicks acquire:

• Draft rights to 58th overall pick Ariel Hukporti
• Draft rights to Petteri Koponen (30th pick in 2007 NBA Draft)
• Cash considerations

Certainly, New York acquiring Koponen will raise some eyebrows. It isn't often that the draft rights to a player selected 17 years prior are traded, after all, so many may wonder whether the Knicks have a plan for Koponen.

But when assessing where Koponen is in his career, it looks like this move was made as a gag more than anything else.

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Who is Petteri Koponen?

Petteri Koponen is a 36-year-old former Finnish basketball player who is now an assistant coach for the Spurs.

Koponen played for seven clubs during an 18-year playing career in Europe. He began his career with Tapiolan Honka in his native Finland in 2004 and eventually burst onto the scene in 2006 while playing for Finland's national team. That made him a coveted draft asset in 2007, when the 76ers selected him with the final pick in the draft's first round.

Koponen never played in the NBA. He stayed in Europe and eventually became a key reserve for FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich in the Euroleague. He finished his career in 2022 playing for the Helsinki Seagulls and has since transitioned into coaching.

Koponen earned a spot on Gregg Popovich's Spurs coaching staff for the 2024 NBA Summer League in July. As such, Koponen doesn't plan on suiting up for the Knicks — barring a massive financial offering, as he quipped in a social media post.

Koponen seemed to hint he had a hip replacement as well — or at least hip surgery — so that makes the Knicks acquiring him all the more curious for NBA fans.

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Why did the Knicks trade for Petteri Koponen?

The Knicks likely acquired Koponen just for kicks. The now-retired guard clearly won't ever play in the NBA, but New York can at least say they are one of the three NBA teams that owned his draft rights, along with the 76ers (2007-11) and Mavericks (2011-24).

New York has also made a habit of acquiring the draft rights to players and clinging to them. Before acquiring Koponen, they owned the rights to 10 other overseas draftees, including another 2007 draftee, Brad Newley. No other team has more than six, according to Basketball Reference.

Here is the full list of drafted player rights owned by the Knicks.

So, consider Koponen an addition to New York's impressive collection of rights to players who have never played in the NBA.