Knicks' 2 Biggest Priorities After Initial Free Agency Wave

Though the Knicks' flashiest moves of the offseason are likely behind them, there's still work to be done for the defending champs. As free agency starts to cool down, New York has a few clear items to still tick off the agenda.

1.) Find a third-string center

The Knicks still need a third-string center—a break-in-case-of-emergency backup to the backup who could fill in in case of injury or foul trouble. Perhaps the Knicks had little faith in Hukporti’s ceiling going forward, but Hukporti filled the third-string role well.

Jonas Valančiūnas, who was waived by the Denver Nugget on Wednesday, has been one rumored name. Valančiūnas doesn’t offer much defensively, but he is a big man with touch who can score and rebound. But would he be happy sitting behind Drummond or fighting for minutes with Drummond?

Nick Richards has been another rumored name. Richards fits the bill of a traditional rim-running center, though at 28, on his third team in four years, he doesn’t offer much upside.

Beyond that, don’t expect to be too excited by the remaining names. The Knicks will mainly be looking at journeymen or players on the periphery of the league.

They could opt for a two-way player at third-string center, hoping for a big man with some raw potential who can be called up when needed, but that would be risky if an in-game injury occurred to Karl-Anthony Towns or Drummond.

2. Determining who to trade for an upgrade

As long as the Knicks stay below the second apron, they can still aggregate contracts in a trade, but they cannot take in more money than they send out.

Assuming the starting five are untouchable, Andre Drummond’s $2.4 million cap hit seems most likely if the Knicks want a better backup center down the line. But Drummond’s contract alone won’t fetch New York much, as there aren’t many upgrades making less than him. At the moment, he’d most likely need to be combined with one of Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado, or Landry Shamet.

The combination of Drummond and Shamet (both of whom, as new signings, can’t be traded until Dec. 15) is the priciest combination, totaling $7.8 million. That opens up a wider range of trade targets, but of course, it means losing a valuable piece in Shamet. The same goes for trading McBride and Alvarado, and they both make less money than Shamet.

The Knicks are surely aware of this. It may be worthwhile to sign another player to a heftier contract that can be used in a deal down the line.

The Knicks still have access to their taxpayer mid-level exception. However, the starting salary of $6 million would push the Knicks into the second apron, and that’s with two roster spots to fill.

The Knicks could either trade Pacôme Dadiet ($2.9 million) or Tyler Kolek ($2.2 million) to open up more room or they could give a portion of the TPMLE to a player while leaving enough room to sign another vet-minimum contract.

We’ll leave it to the cap experts on the Knicks to figure out the best methods for filling out the roster, staying below the second apron, and creating a sizable contract for salary filler. That contract could pay off down the line come trade season.

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