The New York Knicks are going to have to deal with a ton of free agents this summer, and with the current state of their roster, they likely won’t be able to retain everybody. Mitchell Robinson will be a free agent. Jose Alvarado has a player option that he will likely decline in order to get paid. Then there are guys like Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson.
Winning a championship solves everything. If the Knicks manage to win a championship this season, then it won’t matter too much what happens this summer, because this roster worked. It did its job, and they could worry about next year after a parade in the streets of New York.
But if they don’t, it’ll be a tough summer for New York.
Knicks' impending unrestricted free agents will put expensive roster in danger
The Knicks have gone all-in with their current group. They have five players making over $20 million, four of whom make over $30 million. With the new CBA, that’s a dangerous place to be.
If they want to keep their top guys together in the long run, they are going to have to make some very tough decisions with the rest of their roster, and those decisions will start this summer.
As noted, Robinson will enter unrestricted free agency this offseason. He’s dealt with a ton of injuries throughout the course of his career, but he’s still been integral to the Knicks’ success.
And that makes the situation even more pressing for the Knicks is that they don’t have another backup center. The next-best guy they have is Ariel Hukporti, who has been okay, but he doesn’t seem ready for consistent backup minutes.
Then, there’s Alvarado. They landed him in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans at the trade deadline, and he’s been awesome. But he’s been too awesome.
It seems obvious that he would decline his impending player option and enter free agency, with the hopes of earning more money over the summer.
But therein lies the problem. The Knicks can’t really afford to sign either of those guys, let alone both of them, to big contracts.
If the right teams come along, both Robinson and Alvarado could easily garner the full MLE (around $14 millIon), which would probably be too pricey for the Knicks.
And at that point, what does their depth even look like?
New York has to get through this season first, but barring a championship, this summer could get very, very ugly.