The Miami Heat just recently signed Klay Thompson to a contract after he was bought out by the Dallas Mavericks. They had to depend on another team buying Thompson out in order to make the deal happen, and they needed Thompson to want to go to Miami. Luckily, the New York Knicks don’t have to depend on things like that. They already have great role players.
Some teams around the league need buyout players like Thompson. That’s what the Heat need right now. But the Knicks are in a great spot. Even though they have spent a ton of money on the top of their roster, they have also built up some elite depth behind those guys. They’ve found quality players, signed them to cheap contracts, and given them new ones.
New York doesn’t need Thompson. The Knicks don’t need players like that. Instead, they have guys like Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, and even Mohamed Diawara.
Knicks don't need guys like Klay Thompson
The problem with the Heat was a self-inflicted wound. They did it to themselves. However, it was a wound that was worth inflicting. They made a giant trade.
Miami shipped out a ton of players and a ton of picks to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Giannis Antetounmpo. The trade absolutely gutted the team’s depth.
That’s a huge problem in today’s NBA. In order to win at the highest level, you need to have great depth. And Miami? It just doesn’t have that right now. Thompson was a lob. An alley-oop thrown up to the Heat by him and the Mavericks via a buyout. (Primarily by Thompson.)
The Knicks are not in that situation. They are nowhere close to that type of situation. They don’t need to wait for guys like Thompson to request to be bought out so they can sign them.
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges make a ton of money. But the Knicks have found a way to surround them with plenty of depth.
Shamet came to town on a solid contract, and he earned himself a new one with the Knicks. The same can be said about Alvarado, who the Knicks traded for. Now, he’s primed for a new role.
Then, there’s Diawara, who New York found very late in the draft. Even guys like Tyler Nickel, who played Summer League for the Knicks, looks like a solid player.
The Knicks have done a great job of insulating its core with depth. They don’t need guys like Thompson. They have their own, homegrown (or home-found) Thompsons already.
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