Defending Knicks’ front office decisions in 2022 NBA Draft

The Knicks have significant options

Let me just start by saying I am well aware you are tired of hearing that the Knicks have cap space. I know it’s repetitive, but they would not talk about it so much if it was not so valuable.

Teams are essentially run around who makes the most money, and if you’re a team like the Lakers, you find that if that person is a crutch, you are out of playing cards when it comes to building a successful roster.

Let’s be real: Even at the deluded buyout contract of $9.2 million, no one wanted Kemba Walker. We always knew it would cost us something to move him, as that went without saying.

Instead of trying to attach him as the final piece of a bigger trade or flat out pay him $8 million in another buyout, New York offloaded his deal to Detroit.

In one move, the Knicks opened up over $12 million in potential cap space, a significant amount of money as free agency approaches. They also added some additional first-round picks, which can be used as needle movers in future trades.

What should the Knicks do with their assets?

New York has been attached to Jalen Brunson for the majority of the past year, and now, it will be time to see if the interest was real and mutual.

So many fans are so opposed to signing him, and truthfully, I have no idea why. The year we went to the playoffs, there was a major difference in our rotation; We had a starting point guard.

I will by absolutely no means say that I loved Elfrid Payton. All I will say is that he played and was consistent.

This past season, they relied on Walker being an answer, with supported play from Derrick Rose. When both players ended up being sidelined, they were forced to institute Alec Burks (the wing) as their starting point guard.

This led to scenarios with Burks, Randle, and Barrett sharing duties as the primary ball handler, something that was inconsistent and did not play to the team’s strength at all.

Brunson is an absolute upgrade from this, from Walker, and from Payton. He is a really solid player and would factually make the Knicks a much better team that would win more games. And is that not the point of all of this, to win more basketball games?

With the moves the team made on draft night, they now have the tools to get him.

If they do not sign Brunson, though, they still hold a lot of draft capital and open room to make moves, as well as some add-in veteran deals. They could go make a play for Dejounte Murray, Malcolm Brogdon, or even Kyrie Irving. Not having to force this team to take on the Walker money is just going to make negotiations for these players easier in the long run.