The New York Knicks' trade deadline was simple. The team effectively moved Guerschon Yabusele and two second-round picks for point guard Jose Alvarado, first sending Yabusele to the Bulls in exchange for Dalen Terry and then using Terry and draft capital to land Alvarado. Before the deal with Chicago, though, they tried acquiring Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan. While they didn't find any traction on a Yabusele-for-Sochan swap, the Spurs waiving their former lottery pick paved the way for the Knicks to walk away with both Sochan and Alvarado – certifying their deadline as a home run.
Knicks bring Sochan deadline rumors full circle in buyout signing
It was widely known that New York was hoping to find Yabusele, their biggest offseason signing outside of Mike Brown, a new home before the trade deadline. He never truly fit in Brown's system, which the coach said from the beginning would demand a lot of the Frenchman as he would need to learn how to play two different positions.
Yabusele's player option for next season seemingly scared many teams off, with the Knicks eventually working with the veteran to remove that option and facilitate the trade with the Bulls. One of those teams was reportedly the San Antonio Spurs, who Michael Scotto reported for HoopsHype declined an offer of Yabusele and Pacôme Dadiet for Sochan due to the 30-year-old's player option.
Even though the Spurs went on to waive Sochan, it makes sense that they would decline a trade offer that involved being accountable for Yabusele's player option next season (despite also gaining Dadiet). Waiving Sochan certainly incurs financial penalty of its own, but not for next season's cap sheet.
For the Knicks, Sochan and the Spurs parting ways was apparently a golden opportunity. It's unclear what their plan was to land Alvarado if they hadn't used Yabusele's contract to make it happen, indirectly or not, but fans don't have to worry about any of that anymore.
How the Knicks will use Sochan and Alvarado after adding both
Both Alvarado and Sochan are New York Knicks through the rest of the season, as the team looks to prove doubters wrong and improve on last year's results. Alvarado's role on the team is clear, especially with Deuce McBride having undergone surgery and being out until the postseason. He'll naturally replace that feisty guard presence off of the bench, which is the exact role played on the New Orleans Pelicans.
Fans should hope that Sochan, however, will not fit as easily into a role held by a current or recent Knick. The optimal deployment of the still-developing 22-year-old forward, on this team, is as a small-ball center. There was hope that Yabusele would shine in that role, but it never happened given that Karl-Anthony Towns started games and – when available – Mitchell Robinson backed him up.
Yabusele fit in pretty much only as a power forward, when he did fit in, and only got run at center when the team was desperate due to a combination of injuries and foul trouble. Sochan needs minutes there from his first game with the group, even if they only come in games where Robinson is resting.