After receiving official confirmation they won’t get this year’s Washington Wizards first-round pick, the New York Knicks should definitely be bummed. But they’re free to get over it quickly. They just saved a ton of money that could prove useful later.
For those who may not remember, the Knicks would have snagged the Wizards’ pick if it landed outside the top eight. Since that’s now guaranteed not to happen, they’ll receive Washington’s 2026 second-round pick (projected to be No. 31), and its 2027 second-rounder.
We needn’t pretend this is somehow a blessing in disguise. The front office rolled the dice trading the Ousmane Dieng pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2022 draft in hopes a primetime asset would emerge from the smattering of selections that came back. New York was no doubt counting on Washington’s obligation, specifically, yielding a lottery selection at a time when the team was good, and in need of cost-controlled talent.
That calculus missed. Then again, so did Ousmane Dieng. The Knicks also used the other assets they received in that trade to help build the championship-contending roster you see now. This isn’t exactly buyer’s-remorse territory. It’s more like “Aw, shucks!” waters.
Still, while New York didn’t hit a home run here, it will have a slightly easier time navigating the offseason cap sheet.
The Knicks just gained financial flexibility
Let’s enter an alternate universe in which the Wizards pick conveyed to the Knicks at No. 10. This would have left them on the hook for a $6.4 million salary next year. That’s a massive difference compared to paying the No. 31 selection.
If New York finds someone willing to take the rookie minimum, they’ll earn $1.4 million—a $5 million offset. And that isn’t even considering the tax savings.
To be sure, fans shouldn’t concern themselves with owner James Dolan saving money. But the Knicks have three key players entering free agency this summer: Mitchell Robinson, Mohamed Diawara (restricted), and Landry Shamet. With just $16.5 million in projected room beneath the second apron before re-signing any of them, the team is already walking fine lines.
Add a $6.4 million salary to that equation, and New York is basically $10 million south of the second apron. Though crossing this threshold isn’t taboo, it does complicate the offseason, stripping the Knicks of the right to aggregate salaries in trades and use the mini mid-level exception, among other things. The former restriction, in particular, could prove costly if they intend to push for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.
New York didn’t get lucky, but this is at least a silver lining
Pretty much everyone under the sun would prefer to have a lottery pick or late first-rounder over Shamet, Diawara, the mini MLE, and perhaps Robinson, too. Even if the Knicks didn’t intend to draft and develop someone with that selection, it holds more trade value than two second-rounders.
This additional flexibility loses more luster knowing New York will have to be a second-apron squad anyway if it keeps the band together. And yet, that matters in itself.
So much analysis of the Knicks’ future rests on the conviction that this core can’t win it all. Statistically speaking, that’s the safe assumption. But unless you believe this nucleus isn’t even kind of, sort of, close to the inner circle of title contention, every penny allocated to the roster counts. New York proved as much at this past trade deadline.
No one, again, is asking you to celebrate Washington keeping its pick. Just don’t view it as a complete and total killjoy.