The NY Knicks are going to be armed with a boatload of cap space this upcoming offseason, but not a whole lot of talent to spend it on.
The summer of 2021 was supposed to be a huge one, with names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Paul George, and so on headlining the free agency pool.
Since then, all the HUGE names have signed extensions with their respective teams aside from Kawhi Leonard but let’s be real here…he just bought a $17 million house in Los Angeles, he ain’t going nowhere.
Now, we’re left to deal with “crumbs” and I say that loosely because of course, these are NBA caliber players and some have multiple All-Star appearances.
Names like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan lead the charge of unrestricted free agents, along with guys like John Collins and most notably Lonzo Ball, whom I’ve mentioned several times before that the Knicks should definitely try going after this offseason whether it be via sign-and-trade or try to sign him outright.
Should the NY Knicks absorb a bad contract for more draft picks this offseason?
There aren’t a ton of huge names I’d like the Knicks to go after if Kawhi does in fact decide to stay put with the Clippers, so I’m thinking why not absorb some bad contracts from other teams and stockpile even more draft capital to use on trading up in drafts or in a blockbuster deal for a mega-star.
This is only if the players they are targeting decide to take their talents elsewhere first.
The Knicks can then use these contracts a year or two from now to help them match salaries on bigger name players they’d like to target via trade in the future.
I think the Knicks front office’s reluctance to make any deal at this past March 25th’s trade deadline speaks volumes towards what they think of the current roster construction and I don’t think they plan on truly competing for a title until the entire team, top to bottom, is configured in Leon Rose and Co’s image.
That being said, maybe they want to build through the draft for a few more years and create a bit of an organic foundation before they make a huge splash via trade.
This is going to be tough to maneuver considering that the only Knicks players that are under contract at the end of the season will be Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Kevin Knox, Immanuel Quickley, and Mitchell Robinson.
Three of those names are absolutely untouchable, two are only expendable if the Knicks were to upgrade in the trade, and then there’s Kevin Knox who will be featured several times throughout this piece.
Here are 3 players the Knicks could explore trading for that could net them some more draft capital.