Getty Kevin Knox II during a January 11 game against the Charlotte Hornets.
With only weeks left until the NBA postseason subsides, rumors are flying left and right about the New York Knicks‘ aspirations for the upcoming offseason, and their hopes to land a star player.
Now that Julius Randle has taken the unexpected leap from role player to All-Star and All-NBA talent, competing for a title is closer within reach.
Second-year wing RJ Barrett also had a strong year, and looks braced to make a similar leap himself in next year.
New York’s projected to have over $50-million in cap space come free agency, meaning a free-agency splurge of some kind is inevitable.
But they have the chance to open even more cap space, should they need it, to acquire a big name like Portland Trail Blazers’ point guard Damian Lillard.
Trading away Kevin Knox’s $5.8 million salary for next season would put the Knicks in the $55-million range, a healthy lead on the rest of the league.
And the Boston Celtics may be the team to help them do it.
Kevin Knox to the Celtics?
In his latest for Mass Live, Brian Robb thumbed through trade targets for the Boston Celtics.
They’ve got $11-million remaining of the Gordon Hayward trade exception that was created in a trade last offseason that sent him to the Charlotte Hornets.
Because of their own limitations in terms of cap space, it seems likely they’ll weaponize it, as they look to rebound from a disappointing 2020-2021 campaign.
Robb mentions former ninth overall pick Kevin Knox as a potential target:
Another buy-low option after failing to break his way into Tom Thibodeau’s rotation in New York last season. At age 21, there is untapped potential here but the case can be made that the Celtics already have too much youth on their roster already.
The 21-year old is coming off of a disappointing third year where he played less and less as time went on. Despite showing some life to start the year, as Robb notes, he was fully out of head coach Tom Thibodeau’s rotation by the playoffs.
But, if nothing else, his three-point shot looks legitimate. Knox averaged 7.4 points through the first 15 games of the season while shooting 42% from deep.
In today’s game, that alone will earn you a flyer on an NBA team. For Kevin Knox, maybe that team is the Boston Celtics.
But he’s not the only New York Knicks youth facing relocation.
‘The Ntilikina Era Has Ended’
Fans had been hopeful that Frank Ntilikina would break what they’re calling ‘the Charlie Ward curse.’
The 26th pick from the 1994 NBA Draft, he’s the last rookie to sign a second contract with the New York Knicks.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie doesn’t feel (via The Athletic) it’s meant to be:
Ntilikina has a qualifying offer of $8.3 million that would allow the team to have restricted free agency rights over him. We’d be pretty stunned if the team extended that offer, meaning it’s likely he just hits free agency. His cap hold is also up over $18 million, so that won’t be of use to the Knicks, either. It seems likely the Ntilikina era has ended in New York.
The 22-year old guard, who’s played for four head coaches in four years, will undoubtedly get a flyer to play elsewhere for next season, solely based on his defensive aptitude.
Ironically, that same defensive IQ wasn’t enough to get him regular minutes over the Knicks’ five-game series against the Atlanta Hawks, where Trae Young averaged 29.2 points per game.
Ntilikina appeared for just 3:31 out of the entire series, including one two-second span in Game Three.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau once called the guard’s status with the team “situational.” Now it looks like the situation may call for a parting of ways.
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