Knicks Implored to Pursue 3-Time All-Star in Free Agency

While it makes sense for the New York Knicks to embrace a youth movement in their efforts to rebuild their roster, history tells us things won’t shake out that way.

The Knicks are a franchise that loves to go big game hunting and will always put themselves in the shop window when a star-level talent becomes available. Regardless of their current plight, big market teams seldom need to develop their team via the draft.

Instead, teams like the Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers use their young talent as bargaining chips in trade discussions as they look to bring in ready-made difference makers. Unfortunately, that approach hasn’t been working for the Knickerbockers in recent years, but that doesn’t mean they will stop trying.

It should come as no surprise that Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale can envision a world when New York comes out of left field and makes a deal for All-Star scoring machine Bradley Beal.

“He (Beal) wants to stay with the Washington Wizards. We get it. But things change. The Wizards could flinch at paying him nearly $250 million over the next half-decade. He could desire a team better positioned for a leap. (Whether New York outstrips Washington in that department is debatable.)

At any rate, if Beal wants to consider moving on, the Knicks should try finagling their way into sign-and-trade talks. A finite cap space market all but guarantees Beal won’t ink his next deal with a new team outright, and New York has the requisite middle-rung contracts, incumbent prospects, and draft-pick equity to restock Washington’s asset cupboard,” Favale wrote in his recent piece.

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Beal Would Improve New York’s Offense

As Favale wrote, any move to acquire Beal would have to be done via sign-and-trade, which then hard caps a team for the rest of the season, limiting their ability to acquire additional talent. It’s also hard to project how the Knicks would line up next season if Beal were part of the team.

Julius Randle would almost certainly have to be part of the trade for salary matching purposes, as would one of RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin – unless the Knicks front office could sell Washington on the potential of Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes.

So, assuming that Beal was joining a Knicks team that somehow managed to retain Barrett and Toppin, it’s safe to say their offense would be electric, both in the half-court and on the break. Throughout his career, Beal has proven to be one of the best scorers in the NBA, capable of playing off-ball or initiating the offense, and has posted career splits of 22.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.1 rebounds on 37.2% three-point shooting and 45.6% from the field.

Furthermore, the Knicks would have to accept the loss of Mitchell Robinson if they were to pursue Beal, which could lead to them trying to include him as part of the trade, making it a double sign-and-trade similar to what the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets did in 2019 when Terry Rozier and Kemba Walker traded places.

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Why Any Deal Would Have to be a Sign-And-Trade

Beal ends the season with a decision to make on his $36 million player option, and should a deal to the Knicks materialize, would have to opt out in order to sign a long-term deal in New York.

The Knicks lack the cap space to trade for the St Louis. native outright, and given the short-term nature of Beal’s current deal, it would be foolish for doing so even if they had the capability. The six-foot-four wing is a legitimate star, and in the NBA, acquiring a star costs a litany of assets, so it’s only fair that the buying team expects some long-term control over the player they’re trading for.

As such, Beal holds all the cards here because if he doesn’t want to sign with the Knicks, he can simply opt-in to the player option in his contract and force the Wizards to either extend a new contract to him or trade him during the season, so they don’t lose him for nothing in the summer of 2023.

So, if the Knicks do become enthralled with the notion of adding Beal to their roster ahead of next season, the front office might want to start practicing their sales pitch now because Beal will have to be totally on board for the dream to become a reality.

 

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