Knicks: 3 ways to make roster space for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Elfrid Payton

1) Waive two players

The simplest avenue for the Knicks to create roster space is to waive two players and eat their cap hit.

Let’s rewind back to the Ed Davis trade for a second. While everyone was cheering on the Knicks for acquiring another second round pick for the veteran big man, Minnesota snuck two more players in the deal: Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman.

While Davis gives the Wolves some depth up front, is he really worth a draft pick and two players?

Well, let’s discuss those players.

If you aren’t a diehard basketball fan, you’ve probably never heard of Jacob Evans, and for good reason. The 2018 late first round pick has played in 59 NBA games over his first two seasons in the league, while averaging 2.8 points.

Evans can handle the ball a bit and play defense, but he isn’t good enough at anything to demand playing time. The Knicks must decide on the fourth year option of his rookie scale contract by December 29th anyway, so he is an easy choice to waive.

As for Omari Spellman, the New York Post reported that he is expected to receive a chance in training camp. He offers a lot more than Evans as a big man who can rebound, get to the line, and knock down a corner three, which is expected to be an important part of Tom Thibodeau’s offense.

If you like Spellman, even as a big within a rotation that already includes Mitchell Robinson, Obi Toppin, Julius Randle, and Nerlens Noel, options become more limited in identifying another player to waive.

Could Iggy Brazdeikis, a draft pick from the previous regime who didn’t even give him a full chance, find his way out the door? You would hope the new front office is making calls, seeing if they could recover a small asset in trading a player like Iggy before waiving him, but it’s hard to believe there will be a great market for him.