New York Knicks president Phil Jackson made a few things clear during his season-ending press conference last month:
1. He’d like to trade Carmelo Anthony.
2. He’d like to be more hands-on with coaches and players next season. (And he doesn’t care about being viewed as a meddling exec for doing so.)
3. And he’d like to keep some of the Knicks' young free agents on the roster.
Jackson may have spent more time talking about New York’s “group of young guys” than he did Anthony during his mid-April chat with reporters. He cited Ron Baker, Chasson Randle and Willy Hernangomez as players who play the style he prefers.
When asked if there was something Knicks fans can expect to see more of next season, Jackson mentioned the young Knicks.
“Getting up into people, playing hard, (picking) up full court at times, ball movement, activity instead of standing,” Jackson said, referring to the way the younger players performed in the final games of the season. “… That's what (fans are) going to see more of.”
You don’t have to be a detective to conclude that, based on Jackson’s words, the Knicks will be retaining some of the young players that were on the roster last season.
And that approach makes sense. Whether it was Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis or Jeff Hornacek, many a Knick coach has talked about the importance of roster continuity. Bringing back players like Baker, Justin Holiday, Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee would give the Knicks some roster continuity heading into 2017-18. But those signings also would take the Knicks entirely out of the running for big-name free agents.
The Knicks currently have eight players under contract next season. If they end up with the seventh pick in the draft, they will pay their first-round pick $3.8 million in 2017-18.
So let’s assume that they renounce their rights to all of the players not currently under contract for 2017-18. This would remove the value of each player’s cap hold, creating more money for the Knicks to spend in free agency.
Under current salary cap estimates, the Knicks would have $19 million to spend in free agency in this scenario. That, of course, is well below the first-year salary for the lowest tier of maximum salaried players ($25.2 million for players with 0-6 years of service).
What can $19 million get the Knicks in free agency? That’s unclear at this point.
But it doesn’t seem like enough to lure New Orleans point guard Jrue Holiday or Indiana Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, who some in the organization see as potential free-agent targets, per league sources.
The Knicks would have to move some money off of the books to afford either Holiday or Teague.
It’s safe to assume that either player could command near max money on the open market ($25 million). The Knicks would have to clear at least $7 million off of their committed money for next season to have enough money to give Holiday, Teague or any other player with six years of service or fewer a max contract.
Could the Knicks afford to sign both Jrue and Justin Holiday this summer? Again, that seems like a long shot, though it’s not out of the question.
The Knicks own Justin Holiday's Early Bird Rights, so they can just keep him on the books at his cap hold of $1,471,382, exceed the salary cap with other free-agent signings and then sign Justin for the Early Bird salary, which projects to be around $7.8 million. If Justin commands a salary higher than that, the Knicks would have to use cap room.
So, how can the Knicks create more cap space for this summer?
If New York trades Anthony, it can bring back as little as $20,915,008 to send out Anthony’s $26,243,760. That would free up a little over $5 million (assuming no cap hold was needed for an empty roster spot and that Anthony agreed to waive his trade kicker in the deal.) The Knicks could also free up roughly $9 million if they choose to release Joakim Noah via the stretch provision (unlikely).
Let’s just say that the Knicks free up $5 million in an Anthony trade and renounce all of the rights to current free agents. That leaves them with $24 million to spend (a number that would fluctuate depending on how many players the Knicks received in the trade).
Twenty-four million is a significant amount of cap space. But this number is based on the idea that the Knicks don’t bring any of their younger players back for next season. Again, if you listen to Jackson’s words, that doesn’t seem likely.
In discussing the current roster and how it projects for 2017-18, Jackson said last month that there are “a dozen players that we’re very confident can support and be a part of a team. So we feel pretty good about that.”
That would seem to be pretty good news for Ndour ($1.3 million team option for 2017-18) and Randle ($1.3 team option). Both players’ salaries -- or a cap hold, in Randle’s case -- will likely be on the books in July. It seems almost certain that Baker’s $1.5 million cap hold and Holiday’s $1.4 million hold will also likely be on the books in July.
If New York indeed keeps the rights to all of these players, it will eat up $5.2 million in cap space. Even with $5 million in additional cap space in a theoretical Anthony trade, the Knicks still would be left with $19 million in cap space in this scenario.
And some of that cap space may have to be used on re-signing Justin Holiday (if he commands a salary higher than the Early Bird Rights slot) and potentially matching an offer for Baker, who will be a restricted free agent. Some of the Knicks cap space may also be used to re-sign free agent Derrick Rose.
So the Knicks may not have enough money to make land a top-tier free agent this summer. Their biggest acquisition could come on draft night (they like De'Aaron Fox and Frank Nkilitina, among other point guards) or in the package they get back in an Anthony trade.
For a team that has tried to chase big-name free agents in the past, this may not the worst thing in the world. The Knicks own all of their first-round picks going forward and have two second-round picks in this year’s draft. And building a solid core through the draft seems to be the most efficient way to construct a consistent contender, something the Knicks haven’t had in a long time.
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