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New York Knicks: Ranking the contracts from most to least tradable

By Rob Wolkenbrod

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 13: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Courtney Lee #5 and Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks in action against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on November 13, 2017 in New York City. The Cavaliers defeated the Knicks 104-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 13: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Courtney Lee #5 and Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks in action against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on November 13, 2017 in New York City. The Cavaliers defeated the Knicks 104-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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New York Knicks Kristaps Porzingis (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

If the New York Knicks are active in the trade market, do their contracts hold any desirability?

It’s officially trading season in the NBA. Teams were always able to move players, with the start of last summer’s offseason. However, anyone signed in that period can now join a transaction to go to another team. The New York Knicks have three of these players.

Whether the Knicks involve themselves in the trade market remains to be seen, but they have intriguing players to potentially move. Most of them are likely to stay, however, given the team’s circumstances.

Trades usually come down to contracts. If a team is willing to dance and assume a player’s salary, it makes a deal feasible.

So, with 15 guaranteed contracts, which salaries are the most tradable? How about the least of the bunch? Let’s rank the contracts from most to least movable, and this includes a player’s value via performance:

15. Kristaps Porzingis (1 year, $5.69 million)

Kristaps Porzingis as the most tradeable contract may be a surprise. He’s still out with a torn left ACL and on an expiring salary. Nothing is guaranteed with his future, especially on this severe on an injury.

However, a one-year pact allows a team to take advantage of Porzingis’ free agency.

Sure, a team would have to pay the Latvian forward, but he looked like a budding superstar before the injury. If that continues upon return, whenever that happens, a four-year deal for over $100 million may seem team-friendly, given he also takes another step forward.

Porzingis’ $5.69 million is minor money in the modern-day NBA. A team can easily match up salary to make this deal feasible, making his contract for the rest of 2018-19 a non-issue.

Throw this away, though, because the Knicks trading Porzingis holds little to no logic. It’s the player they continue to build around, even while injured, and they can match any offer sheet he receives as a restricted free agent in July.

So, there’s nothing to say the Knicks should or will trade Porzingis. If they do, it would be a franchise-altering setback.

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