The New York Knicks are preparing for a busy summer.
Jalen Brunson is eligible for an extension, as is head coach Tom Thibodeau. OG Anunoby can become a free agent in a month. Not only is Isaiah Hartenstein’s contract up, but the Knicks are also limited in how much they can pay him. Due to a quirk in the collective bargaining agreement, his 2024-25 salary with New York could not exceed $16.1 million. If anyone offers him more, the Knicks have competition.
They will push for a star. This could be a summer of action, given the Knicks’ financial situation, which will encourage them to pursue a big name sooner rather than later as the roster becomes more expensive.
But the Knicks have more to do on their list than just shiny transactions, which The Athletic will cover extensively as the NBA Draft and free agency approach. And while some of them may seem insignificant, they could also affect the future.
Here are four low-key decisions the Knicks will face this summer:
Julius Randle extension negotiations
Randle is eligible to sign an extension with the Knicks on Aug. 3, when the team could offer him a contract worth up to $181.5 million over four years. Meanwhile, this board has preferred to expand its important players, even giving one to Randle a few years ago.
But signing Randle to a new contract wouldn’t simply mean committing to a three-time All-Star. There is also a team-building part of this.
The Knicks aren’t trying to trade Randle, but they recognize their search for a star might require doing so. If a suitable target doesn’t emerge this summer, then they could look ahead to the 2025 trade deadline, hoping to land one then.
August 3 provides both sides with an ideal time to reach an agreement. That’s a month after free agency begins, far enough into the summer that the Knicks know (probably) whether they’ll land a star in 2024, and whether Randle would be part of that trade. It’s also early enough to commit to Randle and still maintain his trade eligibility before the February deadline. A player cannot be traded until six months after signing an extension.
When the Knicks are interested in a player, they push to extend him. But in this case, finances might make them hesitate.
If Randle were to accept less money just to guarantee the security of a four-year contract, as he did a few years ago, then New York could bite. But if he wanted every penny, the Knicks would have to think long term.
They also need to figure out how much this template is worth.
They risk outgrowing the second platform, which would limit what exceptions they could use, what types of trades they could make, and more, in 2025-26.
Giving Randle a huge payday would only reduce his flexibility. If the Knicks are confident they are contenders in August, they may opt to lock them all up. But if there is even a hint of uncertainty, they may not go with such an expensive roster for 2025-26 until they gather more information on the group.
Whatever the Knicks decide to do with Bogdanović, whom they acquired in February, could be the test of their offseason. They have until June 28 to release the 35-year-old forward, which would pay him just $2 million for 2024-25, or to guarantee his $19 million salary. If they decide on the latter, it could be a sign that a trade for a star is on the way.
Part of the reason they acquired Bogdanović, who just had his second surgery in a month, was the flexibility of his contract. They could use him as a median salary to make a star trade or they could leave him if it doesn’t work out.
If the Knicks re-sign Hartenstein and Anunoby, they will be in danger of entering the luxury tax or possibly traveling above the first apron, which is not as feared as the dreaded second apron but is much more punitive than in previous years. . There is a world in which Bogdanović’s salary brings them down.
Let’s say the Knicks pay Hartenstein $16.1 million in 2024-25 and also re-sign Anunoby with a starting salary of $35 million. In that case, they will owe approximately $155 million to just eight players: Brunson, Randle, Anunoby, Hartenstein, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride.
Add to that Bogdanović’s $19 million, and payments to just nine guys top New York by about $2 million above the luxury tax line and just $5 million below the first apron, which would restrict the types of contracts they could offer and the exchanges they could make. with other teams.
There is a world in which both sides agree to delay the activation date from two days before the start of free agency until the first week of July, when the Knicks may have more information about a trade.
If the Knicks are sacrificing financial flexibility, they want to make it worth it. A trade for the highly sought-after second star would qualify as such, as would one that trades Bogdanović and a few draft picks for a more modest upgrade.
Should they keep or trade the picks?
The last time the Knicks had two first-round picks in the same draft, they took it as an opportunity to collect more picks. In 2021, armed with Nos. 19 and 21, they gave the Charlotte Hornets the best pick for a future first-rounder and used the worst to slide down to No. 25 and pick an additional second-round pick.
In 2022, they turned the 11th pick into three future first-rounders.
That has been the way of acting of this board. The Knicks wanted to maximize their number of picks, hoping they could overwhelm a team with plenty of first-rounders in a trade offer. Now they are hoarding the protected ones.
They own four picks from other teams (Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons). And once again, they have two in this summer’s draft: No. 24, which they will receive from the Dallas Mavericks, and No. 25.
They could use both of them, adding a couple of rookies on cheap, guaranteed contracts. They’ve hit the mark with the 25th pick before, not only with Grimes but also with Immanuel Quickley in 2020. McBride and Jericho Sims were also successful picks in the last draft.
They could also trade both picks, either including them in this hypothetical deal for a star or pairing them to add a role player.
They could get out of the first round once again, moving Nos. 24 and 25 for more future picks, although that may be a strategy of the past at this point, considering the Knicks are targeting this summer as their time to take shape. -change of trade. If they identify their guy on draft night, then the 24th or 25th picks could begin their NBA careers wearing colors other than orange and blue.
Burks and Achiuwa are free agents this summer, although their experiences will be different.
Burks has no restrictions, meaning he can sign with any team he wants. If a squad could use a scoring jolt, they might consider it, especially after his performance in the second round of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers.
Just a couple of weeks ago, when he was stuck on the bench, Burks’ market was blurry. He had shot just 31 percent from the field since he arrived from the Pistons in February. A player whose first, second and third job was to score was not doing it. McBride had passed him in the rotation.
But Burks is a fast shooter. He started last season on a cold stretch and then burned out during the month before the trade. He calmed down again after arriving in New York and then turned hot in May.
Over the Pacers’ final six series games, he averaged 17.8 points on 51-43-84 shooting.
Burks, who is coming off a $10 million salary, is likely to ask for more than the minimum once again, which would make it difficult for the Knicks to justify his return, given their roster and roster composition.
Achiuwa’s foray into the open market will be less predictable.
Because he is restricted, meaning the Knicks could match any offer to bring him back at that price, he could remain unsigned well into the summer. Achiuwa showed defensive chops during his half-season in New York, battling between center and power forward. He could fit a part of the mid-level exception elsewhere.
He’s also a candidate for the Knicks to sign and trade, considering another team expressing interest could offer a small package in return just to avoid an offer sheet.
If the Knicks become too expensive or overhaul their roster enough, they could withdraw the $6.2 million qualifying offer that would leave Achiuwa unrestricted and free to sign with any team he wants but eliminate the risk of him getting the QO and add too much. money to the Knicks books.
(Julius Randle Photo: Mitchell Leff//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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