Getty Norman Powell dunks the ball past Nerlens Noel during a December 31 game against the New York Knicks.
Now that the New York Knicks have reached the playoffs for the first time since 2013, expect the offseason rumor mill to be working double time in free agency.
Their long-awaited turnaround has finally taken place, thanks in large part to All-Star forward Julius Randle and Coach of the Year candidate Tom Thibodeau.
No matter what happens in their first-round series with the Atlanta Hawks, expect New York to finally hold status as a free agent destination this offseason once again.
Norman Powell to the Knicks?
In his latest reporting for Bleacher Report, NBA Insiders See These Under-the-Radar Free Agents Getting Huge Paydays, Jake Fischer touched on free agents who could land big contracts this summer.
Six-year veteran and three-point threat Norman Powell made the list, being tied to a number of teams, including the New York Knicks, who stand to have the most cap space in the entire league this offseason.
Fischer noted them as the “biggest threat” to lure the 27-year old out of Portland, where he’s spent the last half of this season as a member of the Trail Blazers:
New York could pose the biggest threat to lure Powell away from the Pacific Northwest, as Thibodeau is considered a noted fan of the swingman.
It’s not the first time the Knicks’ head coach has been tied to the free-agent wing. Fischer reported back in April that Thibodeau “covets” the career 37 percent shooter from deep.
One person he spoke to suggested Powell could earn up to $20-million annually this offseason:
I think Norman Powell is gonna get 20-plus easily. He’s just a guy that can play with anybody. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective. He’s a good defender, he’s a great athlete, he gets to the rim. You can play him at the 3, you can play him at the 2. He’s a great character guy.
It’s unclear whether New York would be willing to spend that much on a non-All-Star player, given their hopes of building a contender and bringing a championship back to Madison Square Garden.
Powell’s postseason efforts, as well as New York’s pending success, could determine just how hard the team goes (or if they go) after him this offseason. He’s not their only target though.
New York Wants to Upgrade at PG
The point guard position has served as a top-three detriment to the New York Knicks’ progress as a franchise for seemingly the last decade, if not longer.
So naturally, with the team bracing for a competitive stretch the front office hopes will hold for years, they’re viewing an upgrade at the position among the top priorities this offseason.
As recently as Tuesday, the Knicks were being reaffirmed as suitors for 23-year old Lonzo Ball. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned them, in addition to the Chicago Bulls, on an episode of The Woj Pod:
I think Ball and Chicago will be an interesting one to watch, and it will be interesting to see what New Orleans does and how they want to structure their payroll, how far they’re willing to go on matching an offer sheet. Do they want to match it at all? But I think Lonzo will get a pretty good number. I think whether it’s Chicago, whether it’s New York, and some other places with younger point guards who might want to bring in a little more of a veteran.
Ball finished his fourth season averaging 14.6 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
And prior to Wojnarowski’s reporting, SNY’s Ian Begley reported just a week ago that Kyle Lowry is considered as a free agent on New York’s offseason radar:
Kyle Lowry is among the point guards on the Knicks’ radar for the 2021 offseason, SNY has learned. Lowry will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. He will likely command multi-year offers from several teams, but his future in Toronto is unclear due to the uncertainty over the future direction of the franchise.
With all of this said, it bears repeating: potentially any and all upcoming free agents will be (and should be) tied to the New York Knicks.
With their culture turnaround in full swing and potentially league-leading amounts of cap space, they’ve returned to an exclusive pool of free-agent destinations.
The only question now is whether or not they’re prepared to capitalize.
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