Pacome Dadiet once again finds himself on the ropes following the New York Knicks’ treasure trove of training-camp signings.
Suddenly, instead of just adding one veteran, it looks like the team might want to add two. Traveling that route would cost New York close to $5 million. With around $3.3 million in space beneath the second apron, that’s about $1.7 million more than the Knicks can spend. And they will want to shed even more than that to preserve the flexibility to fill out the 15th roster spot later.
Moving Dadiet or Deuce McBride in the only feasible way to juggle those agendas. Framed that way, there is no discussion or debate. It has to be Dadiet.
Granted that’s more complicated than it sounds. Even at just $3 million, he’s a net-negative contract. His value could actually dip further if he’s not moved by October, and the Knicks end up exercising his team option.
Unless acquiring a player they want as part of the deal, any Dadiet trade must also include a team with the financial wiggle room and roster flexibility to absorb him, and then potentially waive him.
All of this is doable—especially now, when teams can carry up to 21 players. There are, however, a handful of squads better suited to swallowing Dadiet’s deal (and draft compensation) than most. At least five of them, in fact. The Knicks should be spamming all of them right now.
Charlotte Hornets
Whether the Charlotte Hornets are interested in Dadiet as a stab-in-the-dark exploration is immaterial. They probably aren’t.
But the LaMelo Ball trade showed a clear emphasis on the bigger picture. With over $20 million in room under the tax and a handful of trade exceptions in their back pocket, it shouldn’t take more than a second-round pick or two to sell them on a deal.
And hey, if the Knicks can ratchet up the draft compensation enough to pry Moussa Diabate out of Charlotte in exchange for Dadiet, then even better.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls don’t have enough remaining cap space to absorb Dadiet that way, but they have yet to spend any of the $9.4 million room exception. Sponging up Dadiet wouldn’t cost even one-third of that.
Chicago also happens to have a real, actual open roster spot. If it has any interest in evaluating Dadiet as part of its reset under lead front office executive Bryson Graham, New York may not need to fork over as much second-round draft equity as it would when speaking with teams inclined to waive him.
Memphis Grizzlies
Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies have 19 players under contract. But that still leaves them with two preseason spots, and they are going to embark on a roster-cutting spree anyway.
Better still, the Grizzlies have enough of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception left over after signing Quinten Post to take on Dadiet outright. On top of that, they have already shown a willingness to lease out their malleability beneath the tax to facilitate salary dumps.
Just ask the New Orleans Pelicans.
Los Angeles Clippers
In case you haven’t heard, the Los Angeles Clippers are out five first-round picks beginning in 2029. This leaves them with a very clear agenda: inflate the value of other teams’ free agents next summer using their cap space, including perhaps one of the Knicks’ own, and load up on as many draft picks as possible.
New York can furnish the Clippers with second-rounders to pitch in with the latter. Los Angeles would almost surely be waiving Dadiet, since it hasn’t pivoted into a full-on youth movement (yet). But it has the flexibility below the tax to do that without issue, and Dadiet juuust fits into the $3.2 million trade exception they created as part of the Kawhi-to-Toronto deal.
Brooklyn Nets
For anyone who doesn’t think the Leon Rose-led front office would dare talk shop with the Brooklyn Nets, allow us to point you back to the Mikal Bridges trade. New York will do business with whichever teams serve its own purpose. Brooklyn falls into that camp.
Assuming Jalen Duren returns to the Detroit Pistons, nobody has more tax space than the Nets. With the entire $9.4 million room exception remaining, taking on Dadiet is no sweat.
Haggling over second-round compensation could get tricky. Brooklyn has 15 contracts on its ledger, and is unlikely to move any of them before the start of the season. General manager Sean Marks would be acquiring Dadiet probably to waive him, which could be the difference between New York needing one or two draft picks to get a deal over the hump.
So be it. The Knicks would be gaining the chance to sign another veteran with a better track record, and chance of contributing. Unless they believe this is the year Dadiet really, actually, finally looks like an NBA player, calling up Brooklyn is worth the potential opportunity cost.
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