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

2. Swing for the fences

The Knicks could look at their roster size problem as something that requires an easy fix – waiving a player, making a minor trade – or as part of a bolder strategy to utilize their excess cap space to acquire a large contract.

If Leon Rose still has his eyes set on finding a legitimate lead guard, he could use multiple players in trading for one player, such as for Lonzo Ball, or dare I say, John Wall.

The former All-Star apparently wants out of Washington. He is due to make $41.2 million this season, and more than $90 million over the next two seasons. Knicks fans are running away as I write this.

However, if the Knicks can include Julius Randle in a trade for Wall, they would only need to add a little more than $4 million in salary to absorb the point guard into their cap space. If the Wizards become desperate to move him, perhaps they throw in a sweetener, although that seems unlikely.

The best chance New York had to absorb a bad contract came and went when the Hornets decided to waive Nicolas Batum instead of finding a third team to facilitate a sign-and-trade with Boston for Gordon Hayward.

But the Knicks shouldn’t stop searching for deals in which they can leverage their cap space to either improve their roster or gain a sweetener. In the process, they might end up trading a few extra pieces, creating roster space for Kidd-Gilchrist and Payton.