New York Knicks: Pros and Cons of trading for Chris Paul

Does it make sense for the New York Knicks to trade for Chris Paul?

With the Oklahoma City Thunder and head coach Billy Donovan mutually agreeing to part ways, the hot stove is cooking up rumors about the future of superstar Chris Paul and whether he could find himself traded to the New York Knicks.

NBA writer and ESPN’s resident Thunder expert Royce Young listed the Knicks as one of three teams he could see trading for Paul this offseason, along with Philadelphia and Milwaukee. SNY reported in April that there are people within the Knicks organization who feel the 10-time All Star could help “jump-start” the team’s rebuild. Recently-hired team president Leon Rose used to be Paul’s agent when he worked at CAA.

The Thunder find themselves at a crossroads after managing to remain competitive in the Western Conference despite playing in a small market and losing Kevin Durant in free agency several years ago. With the coronavirus pandemic impacting league revenues, despite their recent success, it appears the organization could be looking to shed salary this offseason.

Danilo Gallinari is set to become a free agent, but they have both Paul and Steven Adams on large contracts that will keep them pushed tightly against the cap unless they create some breathing room.

Paul arrived from Houston last summer in exchange for Russell Westbrook and helped OKC win 44 games and reach the Western Conference playoffs, while averaging 17.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game.

The Knicks have been searching for a point guard since Stephon Marbury had his up-and-down tenure in New York. Could a star player at the tail end of his career be the right man for the job under Rose and Thibodeau?

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of trading for Chris Paul.

PRO: Veteran Leadership

We will start with the good, and this point shouldn’t take much explaining. Chris Paul is one of the leading voices in the NBA. He would bring instant credibility to the Knicks’ locker room. For a young team that hasn’t experienced .500 basketball, let alone playoff intensity, Paul would provide a leading example of how to develop winning habits.

While he can be a pain in the arse as a teammate, it’s because he is demanding. And for a young team like the Knicks, under recently-hired head coach Tom Thibodeau, his pursuit of perfection could be exactly what they need. Imagine both Thibs and Paul barking at the young Knicks players? A bit different than the days when David Fizdale was acting as their best friend.

Paul proved he can embrace a leadership role on a non-championship-level team in Oklahoma City. Danilo Gallinari called him the best leader he has ever played with.

Paul leads his locker room while also acting as the president of the Players Association, a role that has intensified due to the pandemic and recent call to action for social justice. Without question, his leadership abilities would be a great asset to the rebuilding Knicks.

CON: His contract

The most obvious con of trading for Chris Paul is his contract. Due to make $41.4 million next season with a player option of $44.2 million in 2021-22, adding his salary to the books would turn a friendly cap situation in New York into a bloated one.

Say what you want about the past regime led by Steve Mills, they did their best to keep the Knicks out of cap hell by signing players to short-term deals with team-controlled flexibility.

The Knicks can create close to $45 million of cap space this offseason. They are one of the few teams who could absorb Paul’s contract without needing to send too much salary back to Oklahoma City. This gives the Knicks an advantage in potential trade talks, and quite frankly, besides the connection between Rose and Paul, is the main reason why they are often mentioned in speculation about Paul’s future.

That said, just because the Knicks have cap space, it doesn’t mean they should use it all on one player—a player who is set to turn 36 next May.

Like most teams around the NBA, the Knicks will probably try to maximize their ability to have maximum cap space in 2021 when Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to hit the open market. Adding Paul’s salary would clog up their ability to spend big over the next two summers.

Even if the Knicks were to acquire Paul for next season and then stretch the final year of his deal, it would cost them $14.7 million in dead cap weight over three seasons—not ideal.

PRO: Credibility

Chris Paul took a seemingly rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder team into the playoffs this past season with an impressive 44-28 record.

New York has missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, and while Knicks fans have wanted the team to avoid being stuck in the middle – not good enough to compete in the playoffs, but too good to earn a top draft pick – with the recent changing of the lottery odds, we have seen that playing terrible basketball doesn’t guarantee you a high draft pick anymore.

Depending on how you feel about RJ Barrett, the Knicks best prospect is someone they found in the second round. It’s debatable whether any of the other lottery picks that resulted from the past several seasons of losing will turn into anything of significance.

You don’t just rebuild in the draft. You also need to make trades and acquire free agents. And as the Knicks have painfully learned over the past few summers, it’s difficult to attract star players when the team is one of the worst teams in the league.

It turns out that being a good basketball team matters to free agents. If Chris Paul can help the Knicks win games in the near-term, don’t think it has to come at the expense of development. It would give the young players valuable time in meaningful games, while elevating the perception of the franchise, which should in turn help them attract top talent down the road.

CON: Price to acquire him

Taking on a contract worth close to $90 million over the next two seasons in the shadow of a global pandemic that has shuttered arenas across the country should come with a sweetener.

Chris Paul proved he still has gas left in his tank, but the 35-year-old All-Star is clearly on the back-end of his career. It would seem most prudent for the Knicks to explore a trade for him by asking for draft picks in compensation for absorbing his contract.

That said, Thunder beat writer Joe Mussatto wrote last week that the Thunder aren’t likely to attach draft picks to shed Paul’s salary, hoping his recent performance will increase demand for his services.

Who knows what the actual market will look like for the future Hall-of-Famer, but if the Knicks end up acquiring Paul by sending out draft picks and/or young players without receiving an adequate discount for his contract, it would be a net loss.

The Knicks aren’t one player away from competing for a championship. They wouldn’t be acquiring Paul to partner him with a star player who is already on their roster. A move for the Point God would help them move the needle in the positive direction in the near-term, but it can’t come at too much of a cost to the overall rebuild.

The Knicks have several young players and future draft picks to either develop or use as chips in a trade for a young star player. They can’t afford to spend too much of that capital in acquiring Paul.

PRO: Knicks in position to punt cap space

While acquiring Chris Paul would be costly to the Knicks in terms of cap space over the next two seasons, that might not be such a bad thing.

Many Knicks fans want the team to remain invested in their young core of prospects, and they can do that, but it means they need time to develop. Both Mitchell Robinson (22) and RJ Barrett (20) are a few years away from reaching the age where they can be expected to lead the Knicks into the playoffs on their own. The same applies to the three draft picks New York could potentially add to their roster this offseason. Not to mention, Leon Rose could use some time to evaluate the futures of Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox.

While the Knicks develop their young core, Chris Paul can provide a bridge to when they are ready to take the next step in becoming the faces of the franchise. His contract is allowable as long as the majority of the roster is being paid at a relatively cheap rate.

Should the Knicks decide to wait in extending Mitchell Robinson, he is due less than $4 million over the next two seasons. He would become an unrestricted free agent at the same time when Paul’s salary comes off the books. Meanwhile, Barrett would still be in his rookie contract, as would their 2020 lottery pick.

Once the Knicks get through this season and Paul’s contract becomes an expiring one, they also gain flexibility in perhaps moving him again. And most importantly, they still have existing salary (i.e. Julius Randle) matched with desirable assets (draft picks, young players) to help swing a trade for another All-Star player to pair alongside Paul.

In other words, just because Paul takes up a lot of cap space over the next two seasons, it doesn’t mean the Knicks can’t improve their roster through player development, trades, and patience.