Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald spoke to the media today, reflecting on a Knicks season that ended with a second-round loss to the Pacers and looking ahead to the team's plans for the coming summer. A number of New York reporters, including Al Iannazzone of Newsday, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, Marc Berman of the New York Post, and Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, passed along a few of Grunwald's more notable comments, so let's round them up:
- The Knicks will focus on continuing to build and add to their core group, but won't be able to acquire anyone via sign-and-trade, says Grunwald (Twitter link). That rules out the pursuit of a top free agent like Chris Paul.
- New York will have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception rather than the full $5.15MM MLE, and Grunwald says the club may have to dip into it to match offer sheets for restricted free agents Pablo Prigioni and Chris Copeland (Twitter link).
- Despite the team's limited cap flexibility, Grunwald is confident the team can be "creative" when it comes to adding talent, noting that the Knicks "have some ideas" for what can be done (Twitter link).
- After speaking to Jason Kidd, Grunwald is confident the veteran point guard will be back next season, as opposed to retiring (Twitter link).
- Grunwald declined to comment on J.R. Smith's free agency, but added: "I don’t think you should read that one way or another" (Twitter link).
- Although Grunwald was disappointed by the way the Knicks' season ended, he stressed that he likes the team and is excited about its future (Sulia link).