10. Frank Ntilikina (2 years, $9.01 million; $6.17 million team option for 2020-21)
Before the 2018-19 season, Frank Ntilikina may have sat in the Kevin Knox range. Despite shooting below 40 percent from the field and behind the arc in 2017-18, he still flashed enough potential, with length and defensive acumen, to hold value entering his sophomore year.
Ntilikina, however, has struggled in 2018-19, shooting 35.6 percent for 6.6 points. Sans Wednesday’s game, he was averaging 9.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting, but there’s still a long way to go in his development.
Even with that, a controllable contract, and the aforementioned physical potential gives Ntilikina trade value. Teams even expressed interest in him upon demotion.
The Frenchman does not hold the same value as the players above him, but it’s still an affordable contract for another team to assume. Will the Knicks move him if a deal arises to ship a less desirable salary away?
9. Emmanuel Mudiay (1 year, $4.29 million)
Starting the string of players on one-year deals, Emmanuel Mudiay makes $4.29 million in the final season of his rookie-scale contract. The first two-plus years of it was spent with the Denver Nuggets, who traded him to the New York Knicks at the 2018 trade deadline.
Before the season, Mudiay’s contract and value would have placed him near the bottom of the roster. With revitalizing play as the starting point guard, that all changed.
Suddenly, Mudiay’s $4.29 million looks cheap, especially with 16.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 47.6 percent shooting and 33.8 percent on three-pointers as the starter. That obviously increases his value, before a journey into restricted free agency in July.
A potential rental might hold a team back, but $4.29 million, and with how well Mudiay has played, does not make this as unappealing as once thought. If anything, it places him above half the roster.