CLEVELAND — This is the way it always happens during trade season. Teams with ambitions make wish lists. They assemble players they’d be interested in acquiring. They assess fits. They try to project cost.

Then they pull the trigger.

Or they don’t.

The Knicks were in OK shape in the hours before the 2023 trade deadline. They beat the Magic in Orlando that Feb. 7, pushing themselves to 30-26 on the year. They were safely in position to squeeze into the postseason, although they looked likely to have to settle for a play-in. There was a lot of buzz around the new point guard, Jalen Brunson, who’d had a terrific first few months.