Knowing how the New York Knicks’ front office operates, it isn’t a matter of if they’ll make an in-season trade. It’s a matter of when, for who, and at what cost.
Tyler Kolek’s reemergence is heightening the intrigue over “for who” by potentially making Miles McBride and/or Jose Alvarado more expendable.
Yes, McBride’s name is floated ad nauseam in trade scenarios. But that has more to do with his upcoming free agency than his dispensability. Though Landry Shamet has arguably made him redundant with his own emergence as the clear-cut “sixth starter,” Deuce’s three-and-D skill set is both still valuable and might not cost as much to re-sign as people think.
Throwing Alvarado’s name into the fold is brand new. He can’t be traded until December 15, but most would have rejected the idea regardless of when it was introduced.
Kolek is changing all of that. While Alvarado recovered from an ankle injury, he seized the backup point guard slot. Even now that JA has returned, Kolek has yet to give them back. And if that holds, the Knicks may be able to do more at the trade deadline than we thought.
Tyler Kolek is giving the Knicks more matching salary to work with
Most armchair GMs are in full-on “What can New York get for Pacome Dadiet-plus-picks?” mode. That is the right call. His $3 million salary is now an expiring contract, and almost certainly going to be shipped out by the February 11 trade deadline.
Still, $3 million doesn’t get you much—especially when it’s owed to a player with no standalone value. The Knicks, who can’t take back more money than they send out in any trade, must attach other salaries to him if they want to drive up the quality of their return.
At $4.4 million, Alvarado would let New York acquire a player making up to $7.4 million when paired with Dadiet. If the Knicks are so confident in Kolek that they’re also willing to trade Deuce at the same time, the team could take up to $11.4 million in salary.
All of this money can’t be dedicated to one player. The Knicks would need enough left over to bring their roster back to 14 bodies. But this type of package would put New York comfortably within range of guys like Day’Ron Sharpe ($10 million), Ty Jerome ($9.4 million), Jalen Smith ($9.4 million), Dean Wade ($9 million), Tre Jones ($8 million), Jaylin Williams ($7.7 million), and more.
The Knicks remain in wait-and-see mode with Tyler Kolek.
This isn’t a call for the Knicks to make a trade tomorrow. Kolek has flirted with becoming a rotation regular before, only to fall back in the pecking order under the weight of his weaknesses. Mike Brown and company need time to see that, at the very least, his turnover issues are a thing of the past.
That patience is a feature rather than a bug. The Knicks can’t go for the more expensive trade options until Alvarado is trade-eligible in December anyway. This also gives them time to see whether their biggest need is an upgrade from Andre Drummond, or if they’re better off chasing a higher-end ball-handler to complement Kolek and Jalen Brunson or a combo wing who can maybe slide up to the 5.
Whether the Knicks follow this trade-deadline approach doesn’t even technically matter. All that matters is they can if they so choose. The option itself wasn’t remotely available to them before.
Thanks to Kolek, it’s on the table now.
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