The New York Knicks have been lost for a decade now. They can’t seem able to make the most of their draft assets, and are no longer a prime destination for top-tier free agents despite being one of the biggest sports markets in the world.
That’s why they’re going to try and start from scratch. It’s the dawn of a new era in their front office and the roster should also be treated as such, as other than Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, and maybe Frank Ntilikina, all their players should be available in trade talks.
And, according to Ian Begley, they’re willing to absorb ‘toxic’ contracts and pay up a lot of money if that means that they’ll also land a valuable asset in return, likely to be used in the Draft to land a future star:
According to @IanBegley, several teams stated that the Knicks are “open” to taking on a bad contract via trade in hopes of acquiring an asset in return.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 27, 2020
That would make the most sense for the Knicks right now. They could either absorb a big contract like Chris Paul’s, John Wall’s, or even Russell Westbrook’s to help them compete right away and clinch a playoff berth for the first time in years.
They could also take lesser deals for overpaid players if that meant landing some nice draft capital to get their young stars some help and build a contender for the future.
Either way, they know that they have to spend big to win big, and that they just won’t be able to compete at the highest level with the roster they have right now. At least, it finally seems like they’re heading into the right direction. They’re used to overpaying players, so they might as well do it with a purpose now.
