Briefing: May 31
Knicks looking to trade back?
Good Morning,
Knicks are exploring the possibility of trading back in the draft. Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz report “the Knicks have been considering a number of different scenarios with the No. 3 pick that don’t involve R.J. Barrett…
“New York has explored the possibility of trading back in the lottery…trading the No. 3 pick for the Atlanta Hawks’ two first-round picks (No. 8 and 10) is under consideration by the Knicks.”
Due Diligence: Shortly after the ESPN report was released, Ian Begley reported, "Any potential trade between the Knicks and the Hawks involving their first-round picks is not currently under ‘serious consideration’ by either side.”
Why this matters
As Begley noted in his report, the Knicks could be simply exploring every angle in preparation for the draft, and the idea of trading back in the lottery is nothing beyond that.
OR…
As Givony and Schmitz noted in their report, they are looking for pieces to cobble together around superstar free agents. If the Knicks remain confident in attracting Kevin Durant and All-Star help, they could be angling to put themselves in position to use extra draft picks (think both the Dallas picks acquired in the KP trade and the potential of an added pick from Atlanta) as trade chips for “win-now” veterans.
The Knicks could also be counting the number of players on their roster beyond the max spots, realizing they are left with limited resources to fill out their squad. The value of two players on rookie scale contracts suddenly becomes appealing. Adding the 10th pick would give the Knicks an extra player on a four-year, $19.3 million contract (with opt-outs). It could be difficult to find a player in free agency at that price, even when you factor in the productivity drop-off between a rookie and veteran. A player on a rookie scale contract also maintains trade value down the road.
What are the salary cap implications of trading back?
As things stand today, and given the cap remains at the projected $109M for 2019-20, the Knicks are approximately $130,000 short of two max spots if they exercise Allonzo Trier’s option and guarantee Damyean Dotson’s contract.
If the Knicks trade the 3rd pick for the 8th + 10th picks, they would lose ~$370,000 in cap space from the added salary of acquiring two picks for one (~$1.27M) and net one less minimum roster charge (~$0.9).
However, acquiring the extra pick would provide them with an added $1.3M in tradeable salary (which they can extend 125% to $1.6M). This is important if they plan on filling up their cap space with max free agents and using the rest of their roster to add veteran help (or Anthony Davis help). Remember, the Knicks must wait 30 days after signing any first round pick before using the pick’s salary in a trade.
What if R.J. Barrett is really, really good?
Drafting a superstar is still the best outcome for every franchise in the NBA. We can look at potential trades and resulting salary cap impacts until we are blue in the face, but if R.J. Barrett turns into a superstar, perhaps nothing else matters. If you believe he is the real deal, you keep him.
The Knicks are set to workout R.J. Barrett on June 10, according to Jonathan Givony. The Grizzlies seem set on drafting Ja Morant with the second overall pick, but were declined a private workout with Barrett, according to ESPN.
Anthony Davis wants to play in New York?
Brian Windhorst and Stephen A. Smith believe Anthony Davis wants to play in New York. On yesterday’s First Take show, Windhorst said he thinks the Knicks are in a better position to trade for Davis with the 3rd pick since it would have been difficult for them to convince themselves to trade the first overall pick.
Stephen A. Smith: “[Anthony Davis] wants to be in NY, one could argue, just as much, if not more, than he wants to be in LA with the Lakers.”
More News
David Fizdale was recently in Los Angeles with Kevin Knox, who has been training pretty aggressively, per Steve Kyler.
LaGerald Vick, a 6-5 guard who played at Kansas, has a workout scheduled with the Knicks on Monday, according to Ian Begley. [Learn more about Vick]
Patience and Opportunism
by Jonathan Macri
Happy Friday Knick fans, and if you're a basketball fan in general, Happy "we have a series on our hands" day following a fun, competitive and telling Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Although maybe that's giving the Warriors too much credit. In an NBA email chain I'm on, someone made the comparison between these Raptors and the 2014 Spurs, who entered the Finals as underdogs to the two-time defending champion Heat. Miami ended up running out of gas against San Antonio, who managed to perfect offensive basketball as we know it in that series - still the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed on a basketball court.
Last night, we saw something of an equivalent defensive performance from Toronto. The Warriors entered Game 1 with easily the highest effective field goal percentage of any team in the playoffs, at 55.6. Last night, that number was 51.3. They had no room to operate, and sans Durant, I'm not sure how Curry or Klay get enough daylight to turn this thing around, even at home.
On the other end, Paskal Siakam introduced himself to the casual basketball-watching public. He was a combination of the energy guy who saw time as a rookie and sophomore, getting buckets in transition and around the rim, and the likely Most Improved Player from this year, hitting 2 of 3 from deep and showing an array of post moves throughout the evening.
Watching him last night, and the Raptors in general, it was hard not think of two tenets with which this team was built on: patience and opportunism.
Toronto knew what they had in Siakam and gave him time to develop. Ditto for Fred VanVleet, another third-year player who saw scant minutes as a rookie but was arguably their third-best player yesterday, if for no other reason than his suffocating defense on Steph Curry. The Raptors gave both of them time to marinate, and are enjoying the results.
They also didn't cave when San Antonio surely asked for Siakam in the Kawhi Leonard trade talks, which brings us to opportunism. Masai Ujiri obtained Leonard at the lowest price you could ever imagine for a top-five player in his prime. There were surely other times he could have gone all-in for a star and pillaged his asset base in the process, but he waited for the moment that was ideal, and did so on his terms. Worst case: he unloaded the last years of DeRozan's contract and could start over if things didn't work out.
Same goes for Marc Gasol, who, while not the player he once was, was still obtained at $.65 on the dollar, Danny Green - essentially a throw in in the Leonard deal - and Serge Ibaka, who he got for the "meh" contract of Terrence Ross and a late first.
This is how you build a team....
...says the guy who has been kinda sorta advocating for New York to empty the cupboard for Anthony Davis, something which would involve paying full price for a superstar in the form of young players. Most of their values are low at the moment, at least in terms of what they once were, or possibly, could be. For everyone who says the Knicks should bypass the Davis sweepstakes and take any free agent comers-on but otherwise stick to the plan of building with youth, last night was your Exhibit A.
Of course, every situation is different. As I wrote about earlier this week, Ujiri almost fell into this Raptors timeline when James Dolan quashed a trade for Kyle Lowry at the last minute. Had that not happened, Toronto would have tanked its little heart out, and may very likely have taken the same path the Knicks are on now. Who knows?
What we can be sure of is that regardless of how they got here, the Raps have built something special, and they did so on a rock-solid foundation poured from within. They have as stable a culture as there is in the league, which is how you swap out one coach and superstar for another and not skip a beat. It's what, above all else, the Knicks should take from what we've seen from the Raptors in these playoffs. Whatever decisions they make this summer, they have to continue the stabilization of their own house as priority number one. So far, it seems like they've done just that, but time will tell.
In the weeks to come, we'll find out just what additional lessons, if any, they've learned from afar.
Remember when…
May 31, 1991: Pat Riley is named the 16th head coach in franchise history. Riley would lead the Knicks to two divisional titles (1993, 1994) and to an Eastern Conference Championship (1994) in his four seasons with the franchise. He finished his tenure with a 223-105 (.680) record as Knicks coach. [Vivek Dadhania with more]
Thanks for reading, talk to you on Monday!