7 New York Knicks who are as good as gone this summer

No. 5: Alec Burks

In addition to Bojan Bogdanovic, who is already on his way to Brooklyn, the other player that the New York Knicks acquired in their trade deadline deal with the Detroit Pistons last season was Alec Burks, a microwave scoring guard who has a history of excellence with the New York Knicks, parlaying a small contract into a big payday last time around.

Now, the Knicks have to decide if he truly fits a need or if they should wave goodbye a second time. Burks has a cap hold of $19.9 million, but since the Knicks are almost certainly staying over the cap they can hang onto that for now. The issue is that unless Burks is willing to sign for something close to the veteran's minimum, the Knicks probably cannot afford to bring him back.

It makes sense for Burks to hunt for a contract elsewhere, even given his history with the Knicks. He averaged 12.6 points per game in Detroit last season and just 6.5 in New York. With Mikal Bridges coming the path to playing time is only further reduced. Burks will almost certainly find more money and a larger role elsewhere.

The new wrinkle is that Burks could be included in the Bridges trade and be sent in a sign-and-trade to the Nets. The Knicks can perform an outgoing sign-and-trade and only cap themselves at the second apron, which they are doing anyway with the Bridges trade, and the Nets could add Burks as a veteran scorer to play and flip down the line.