Knicks Rumors: Sorting through the latest on Chris Paul

Will the New York Knicks end up with Chris Paul?

As if the offseason hasn’t been stretched out enough for New York Knicks fans who haven’t seen their team play in over 200 days, the constant churn of the rumor mill has produced teasing headlines for fans hungry for basketball.

The most common rumor being talked about has the Knicks trading for future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul. A few new reports have come out over the past few days, so let’s get you caught up on where we stand.

What’s the latest: We learned two things this week from Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film School: 1) Chris Paul prefers his next basketball home to be either in New York or Los Angeles; and 2) Reportedly there is a deal with the Knicks on the table that Thunder general manager Sam Presti is comfortable with, but Leon Rose needs to make the final decision.

What else did we learn? On the heels of Macri’s report, Empire Sports Media interviewed former NBA executive Bobby Marks, who says the Thunder will not treat Paul’s contract like a salary dump. Thunder beat writer Joe Mussatto agrees with this sentiment and told Chris Sheridan on a recent podcast that OKC will not attach a pick or young asset to get off Paul’s contract which is owed more $85 million over the next two years.

What this all means: If the Knicks want Chris Paul, they can probably have him. But they are going to have to give up something to get him, probably one of the Dallas first round picks and a young player, such as Kevin Knox.

Since New York can create more than $40 million of cap space, even if the cap remains flat at $109 million, the Thunder will certainly try to use that to their advantage in asking for picks and young players rather than salary in making a deal work.

For the Knicks, if trading for Paul is a priority, their negotiation goal should be trying to include Julius Randle in the deal. Randle is on a soft expiring contract with only $4 million of his $19.8 million salary guaranteed in 2021-22, but by including him in a potential trade, the Knicks would give themselves some breathing room in 2020 to add more players to their roster around Paul.

The Knicks could also get creative in exercising Bobby Portis’ $15.8 million team option and using him to exceed the cap to acquire Paul after spending some of their free agent money this offseason, but he offers less value to Oklahoma City as a forward they would want in return.

That’s what we know now. But keep refreshing your Twitter timelines, because nothing remains static in the NBA.