Could Knicks Attract Jaylen Brown in 2024 Free Agency?
The New York Knicks have made lofty free agent pursuits over the years but have since become patient in their approach.
Most notably, the Knicks played the long game to land Jalen Brunson in free agency without executing a trade. They reportedly tried to gauge the Dallas Mavericks' interest at the most recent trade deadline, but their patience paid off.
When identifying the top teams Brown should consider joining in the future if he leaves the Boston Celtics, NBA Analysis Network ranked the New York Knicks at the top of the list.
New York has the flexibility to make some major moves down the line. They are a team to keep an eye on as they could have a championship foundation in place when Brown hits free agency in 2024.
There are many directions that NBA hypotheticals can go when projecting all the way out to the summer of 2024. As of right now, the Knicks have yet to complete a trade for Donovan Mitchell and instead have a robust offering of future draft capital in their war chest. The outcome of those trade talks will play a significant role in their trajectory.
For the 2024-25 season, the Knicks currently have Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, Even Fournier, Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes, and Jericho Sims to potentially be re-signed. The big variable will be R.J. Barrett, who is due for a new contract next summer.
If Barrett signs long-term and develops the way he is expected, the Knicks could form quite an impressive wing tandem by signing Brown. Keep in mind, Barrett turned 22 in mid-June, so he's still quite young.
To that end, think about where Brown will be in his NBA career by 2024?: he has averaged 24.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists over his last two regular season campaigns, and is still only 25. During the Celtics' last playoff run, he averaged 23.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He has already played in 85 playoff games in his career.
Now, if the Knicks were to trade for Mitchell, they would already be loaded on the perimeter. The team would already likely be deploying Brunson and Mitchell in the backcourt with Barrett on the wing. Unless deploying micro-ball is the desired style, it would be a bit crowded on the perimeter.
On the other hand, if the Mitchell trade pursuit doesn't pan out, Brown would be a tremendous star talent for the Knicks to pursue. It just remains to be seen what the roster will look like by then considering it could change massively even before this year's training camp.
Brown could emerge as the Knicks' franchise cornerstone playing within the largest media market in the country. While the defending NBA finalist Celtics are in a great situation, an alternative of that nature is at least worth consideration.
It's essentially guaranteed that Brown will at least reach free agency as a formality in 2024. The Celtics are restricted to offering him just 20 percent of his $28.5 million final-year salary for the starting salary of a contract extension. So, even if he wants to quickly re-sign, he'd need to wait to sign a deal close to where his value will be.
Among the other teams listed as intriguing destinations for Brown to consider in his future free agency endeavots include the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers.
