You already know what to do.
The New York Knicks are in a position to negotiate for a star, but no clear names have been presented.
Part I detailed six stars whose names could appear in public discourse this summer or next season, analyzing their futures and whether the Knicks could become a destination for them.
Here’s Part II, which covers more big names that may not be on the move but could come up in star-hungry conversations:
The Suns have shown no signs of breaking down their core, at least not yet.
Owner Mat Ishbia and the Suns are a disaster. Phoenix has traded all of its eligible first-round picks and trades, outgrown the second deck, eliminated its flexibility, and was swept in Round 1 of the playoffs.
For now, the Suns’ best chance to keep Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal together is to pray that talented players are willing to sign there for the minimum and then hope that health and familiarity leads to more success in 2024-25. But if they continue to perform poorly, a change in philosophy could occur.
Booker, if Phoenix ever decided to trade him, would become the obvious name for the Knicks. Durant is about 30 years old. Beal has a no-trade clause. Booker fits the superstar moniker, someone who has been in the top four in MVP voting and has made two All-NBA teams. He is only 27 years old. And, like many of the other speculated targets for New York, he is a client of CAA, a member of the same agency that Knicks president Leon Rose once ran.
But even if the Suns struggle in 2024-25, leading them to pursue offers for Booker next summer, the Knicks would approach with a huge complication.
There is a stipulation in the new collective agreement that is not being given enough attention. As the basketball world obsesses over how flying past the second deck can hurt a team’s flexibility, the first deck is changing, too. Now, if a team is above the first platform, it cannot receive more money than it gives in a trade, and that rule will make it almost impossible for two teams above the first platform to trade directly with each other.
It would be necessary for the Knicks to gut their roster to avoid going over the top spot next summer. Jalen Brunson will have a new contract, which will include a significant raise, whether he signs the extension this summer or re-signs as a free agent in 2025. Julius Randle, a free agent in 2025, should receive a raise. OG Anunoby, assuming he returns, will have a giant contract. Isaiah Hartenstein (assuming he’s back too), Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo will make eight figures.
Meanwhile, the Suns’ payroll will resemble the GDP of a small country.
It means that the only way those two teams could make a trade directly would be if they sent the same amount of money, down to a penny. And that won’t happen. (There is a loophole yet to come, however.)
This is one reason the Knicks are targeting this summer or the 2025 trade deadline to deal for a star: Finances limit the team’s options in 2025-26.
And this wouldn’t just be true for negotiations with the Suns.
Antetokounmpo is the Knicks’ dream scenario, as he would be anyone’s. The sharks are circling after the Bucks’ disappointing 2023-24 season, which ended in an injury-induced first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. But these are the same bullies who have coveted Antetokounmpo for years. All the two-time MVP has done during that time is re-sign with Milwaukee over and over again.
A trade for Antetokounmpo will not happen this summer. But the Bucks won only 49 games last season. He and Damian Lillard never found chemistry. The team is stripped of its Draft picks and much of its future. The rest of the league is waiting to see if another disappointing season would allow him to jump.
But any team that is already expensive would have the same problems with Antetokounmpo as they did with the Suns. The Bucks will be above the first apron, unable to receive more dollars than they send in a trade. And if the Knicks are also above the first apron, then they would need to find a way out.
There is a way two teams above the first platform could get around these rules: they could add a third team.
To make the math easier (because NBA legalists haven’t made this easy at all), let’s say two teams, each above the first apron, want to make a trade. Team A is sending $50 in salary. Team B is returning $45 in salary. The trade would not be allowed since Team B receives more salary. But they could include a third team, Team C, one with cap space or a trade exception large enough to absorb the salary without sending anyone away.
For example, team A could send team B $50 in salaries; Team B could send Team A $45 in wages; and Team B could also send Team C $10 in wages. In that scenario, teams A and B send more money than they absorb.
If shiny new contracts for Brunson, Randle, Anunoby and more send the Knicks to the second tier in 2025-26, then a hypothetical trade for Booker or Antetokounmpo becomes even more difficult than in the scenario detailed above, as Phoenix and Milwaukee could sit tight. on top of the second apron too. Teams in that territory cannot add salaries.
If this situation understandably confused your brain, come away with this conclusion: The Knicks could technically make a trade with a team also above the first apron, but the process of doing so would be complicated at best.
This is a pivotal summer for the Pelicans, who are becoming expensive and could try to change their core. The problem is that they don’t want to make themselves worse in the process.
They have a decision coming up with Ingram, who is entering the final season of his contract. Will they pay him maximum or close to it to keep him in the city? Or will they trade him for another talent and hope the team can thrive with Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and promising youngsters Trey Murphy and Herb Jones?
It’s hard to find a trade from Ingram to the Knicks that makes sense for New Orleans. The picks may not appeal to the Pelicans, who just won 49 games and will want to keep what they deserve. Trading him for Randle would create a nightmare alongside Williamson.
Ingram’s adjustment to the Knicks would also raise questions. He’s a smooth wing, an underrated passer and a 20-point scorer, but New York would have to pay him, sending himself into rich territory. Would it be worth the financial burden and lack of flexibility that would come with simply adding a 26-year-old player who hasn’t been an All-Star in four years?
The Jazz are closing in on a decision with Markkanen, who is entering the final season of a team-friendly contract. They may extend it this summer. They could wait until next offseason to bring him back as a free agent when the 27-year-old can make more money. Or a team that remains in the early stages of a rebuild could move its All-Star forward.
If Utah opts for that latter strategy, the return would not be cheap. Team CEO Danny Ainge isn’t exactly known for settling for scraps.
Markkanen may not need time to fit in with the Knicks’ offense. He is a top-notch shooter and one of the best off-ball scorers in the league. Not many players block and cut with the vigor he does. He could work magic with Brunson. But if he were available, others would want to come in, although they would have to pay him in a year. The last time Ainge controlled a bidding war, he took away the futures of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
Trading for Markkanen would likely mean giving up Randle, considering those two forwards along with Anunoby, a free agent whom the Knicks hope to re-sign, and a center would be too clumsy an option.
Embiid’s departure in Philadelphia is not even close, and may never come. He’s always told people close to him that he wants to be a one-team star, and while other fans may long for him to ask him out, that’s not happening yet. The 76ers have maximum cap space heading into the summer and hope to use it to attract another big name, adding Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, a restricted free agent they are bringing back.
If this new version of the 76ers doesn’t come to fruition, who knows Embiid’s reaction? But for now, the former MVP and one of the NBA’s leading scorers will remain just at the end of I-95.
LaVine’s market is not strong, especially because of his contract. The Bulls’ success after he was injured last season didn’t help his case either.
The 29-year-old still has three years and $138 million left on his contract, which most teams view as a net negative. Even if it didn’t take draft picks to get him, it may not be worth it for the Knicks. LaVine is a scoring machine and a flashy shooter, but he is not a high-end distributor. Elite teams would pulverize him and Brunson at the top of the defense.
There’s a reason LaVine is still in Chicago, even after the Bulls encouraged the rest of the league to call on him last season.
(Photo of Josh Hart and Devin Booker: Chris Coduto//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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