New York Knicks: Cap-clearing trade increases Nets threat in free agency

The Brooklyn Nets became a larger threat to the New York Knicks in free agency, after the Allen Crabbe trade with the Atlanta Hawks.

If the Brooklyn Nets were considered the “other” team in the Five Boroughs, the New York Knicks may have to think again after the offseason. The Nets sent Allen Crabbe, the No. 17 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and a 2020 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Taurean Prince and a 2020 second-round pick, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

This officially opens enough cap space for the Nets to offer two maximum contracts this offseason, making them as big a threat to sign superstar free agents as the Los Angeles Clippers, if not more.

One slot may go to D’Angelo Russell, who broke out as an All-Star for Brooklyn in 2018-19. He will hit restricted free agency, so the Nets can match any offer sheet he signs, but if the chance at Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving exists, the Ohio State product will inevitably be renounced to ensure the open space.

Whether Irving is even viable for the Knicks at this point is unknown, since the reported buzz around that connection has simmered; but if the Nets feel they can take his best friend away to the Barclays Center, it makes this offseason a disaster, unless Anthony Davis arrives via trade and Kawhi Leonard or Kemba Walker sign in free agency. Any of those are big “ifs.”

Maybe the Nets take Irving and the Knicks sign Durant. Friends joining opposite teams and creating a New York rivalry is juicier than any storyline since the Nets moved from New Jersey, ending Spencer Dinwiddie’s forced mid-season banter.

Knicks vs. Nets games then become one of the hottest NBA tickets. With the major market at hand, prices will fly to see stars go head-to-head in a Battle for New York, especially if they cross paths in the playoffs. The buzz and flare around it have intriguing potential, though, and brings an exciting rivalry to an NBA without any.

That is all hypothetical, though. The Nets might not sign anyone. Neither may the Knicks, making this moot. One could sign a superstar and the other does not, creating an unbalanced scale for the 2019-20 season.

In three weeks, the free-agent paths will finally come to fruition, and the Knicks and Nets are set for major stakes in it. They have the money to spend to send this offseason into a frenzy. It’s just a matter of time.