The New York Knicks have some roster decisions to make before the start of the 2020-21 NBA season.
After a relatively quiet free agency period, the New York Knicks find themselves in a bit of a conundrum. They have 17 NBA players and they are only allowed to carry 15 into the regular season (excluding two-ways).
While this sounds like a competitive situation for the team as they open training camp this week, and for a few players, perhaps it will be, what we do know is that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Elfrid Payton will somehow find a way onto the roster.
Payton signed a one-year, $4.67 million guaranteed contract to return to the Knicks. Technically, he is only one of two true point guards on the depth chart.
Kidd-Gilchrist signed a non-guaranteed deal with an Exhibit 10 clause that allows him to collect a bonus if he is waived; however, as a veteran forward with clear ties to the front office through his Kentucky lineage, it seems hard to believe he would sign on the dotted line unless he had some assurances of playing in the NBA.
The Knicks currently have 20 players (including two-ways and Exhibit 10s) under contract heading into training camp, the most allowed by the league during the offseason.
How can New York free up two roster spots to make room for Payton and Kidd-Gilchrist before the regular season begins?
Let’s explore a few options.
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.
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.
3. Trade for draft picks or a 2-for-1
This is probably the most difficult path forward. Most teams across the league are already up against their own roster constraints, and unless the Knicks are willing to include a significant young piece, it’s hard to believe they could net much value for any of the bottom-dwellers on their roster.
I know Knicks fans love them some Iggy Brazdeikis, but is any team really going to cough up a draft pick for him?
If Leon Rose is comfortable waiving Jacob Evans, New York only needs to create one more spot to fit both Payton and Kidd-Gilchrist on their roster. Optimally, they would do so by making a trade where they gain an extra second round pick or perhaps a player in a 2-for-1 deal, perhaps with a third team involved.
Reggie Bullock is a nice piece on a reasonable contract who should generate interest on the market. Perhaps Rose can pair him with Brazdeikis for a decent return?
What about Kevin Knox? The team has until December 29th to decide on his fourth year option. While you would think they would want to keep the Kentucky product around under the tutelage of his former coach Kenny Payne, his fit on the current roster is a bit awkward, and he at least gives the front office some value to dangle in trade.
Trading either Bullock or Knox before the season seems a bit far-fetched. Again, this is the most difficult path to creating an open roster spot.
While we all read the tea leaves to guess what the Knicks will do next, it’s very possible a deal will emerge out of nowhere, like the Ed Davis trades that put the Knicks in this situation to begin with. I guess we will have to wait and see, but expect both Elfrid Payton and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to be included on the roster when the regular season begins.