Leon Rose has been conservative about spending since taking over as president of the Knicks, but he’s ready to put the team’s more than $50MM in cap space to good use, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. New York has more money available than anyone heading into free agency, and the primary target will be a new point guard.
The dream scenario for Rose is to land his former CAA client, Chris Paul, who declined his $44.2MM player option on Sunday. The Knicks are one of two teams that can offer Paul $123MM over three seasons, but there are indications that he prefers to stay in Phoenix after leading the Suns to the NBA Finals.
New York is also interested in Kyle Lowry, who reportedly is leaning toward the Heat, but the Knicks can offer a starting salary up to $39MM, which is more than he could get in Miami. However, Berman notes that would limit the team’s other options, such as finding a scoring wing like Evan Fournier, Duncan Robinson, Norman Powell or Kelly Oubre.
The most likely option may be Dennis Schröder, who won’t be staying in L.A. now that the Lakers have Russell Westbrook. The Knicks scouted Schröder extensively this week, Berman adds, to make sure he’s a good fit for Tom Thibodeau’s system.
There’s more from New York:
- The free agency process will provide an indication of how much the Knicks value Derrick Rose, notes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Rose played an important role after being acquired from the Pistons at midseason, but a rival team told Begley that some members of New York’s front office want to let him get other offers on the free agent market before making one of their own.
- The Knicks traded down before drafting Quentin Grimes, but they knew they couldn’t go lower than the 25th pick, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Kelvin Sampson, Grimes’ college coach at Houston, talked to New York general manager Scott Perry during the draft and says the Nuggets were ready to take Grimes at No. 26 if had still been available.
- Second-round pick Rokas Jokubaitis is expected to spend another year overseas before joining the Knicks, Berman adds in a separate story. The Lithuanian guard will join Barcelona after playing the past three seasons for Zalgiris. New York is already looking at four potential rookies on its roster next season, and Jokubaitis is on board with the plan, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.
Suns are unlikely to offer 3 year $100 million to Paul because it’s hard for them to keep Bridges, Payne and Johnson
It’s about bidding war
Damn, that’s kind of messed up if Sampson gave the Knicks some insider information. Did he provide the nuggets with the same intel? Let them know the Knicks were targeting him
It’s only insider information if it’s true. Not sure anyone could prove that.
Berman should expound on the Knicks extensive scouting activities regarding Dennis Schröder this week. Is he at Rucker Park?
Why do you post Berman stories. The guy is a dinosaur. Has no integrity left. He’ll say or print anything. The dream is a 39 yr old PG. Who’s never won a ring. So he’ll leave his best chance EVER to win one. To come play for the contending Knicks. Knicks are yrs away from contending. Getting Chris only makes us backtrack about 3yrs. Or frankly just kills all the progress we’ve made so far. There is no savior out there. Not Dillard not Kawhi.
We are trying to build a better playoff team. That’s all. A better team than last yr with upside. I got faith this FO and coach will do the right thing. PG and Scorer/Shooter is what we need most. Two starters and we make a significant upgrade. It’s only Thibs second yr. We’re not expecting to win anything. Just get better than last yr.
Grimes and McBride are solid picks. Rokas is a draft n stash player. He’s got a future, just not yet. So what if Sampson told Knicks that. All teams know who scouted which players for 1st rd. Otherwise they are fools and not doing their jobs. You think Denver just got a thought of drafting him 26.
These two picks tell me . Burkes is gone. Probably get a good offer Knicks can’t pay. Both our picks are players who can be part of rotation. It would be valuable to keep Bullock. But he could get offers too. Be nice if someway we can SnT them. To get value back.
I hope they don’t waste money on Schroeder.
As a Lakers fan, Schroeder isn’t worth that money! I’d like to see the Knicks be a really good team again and that would be a old Knicks move if they sign him and by saying that I mean they would be wasting money. He’s not worth it. He’s a great off the bench player but he forced the Lakers to start him and never was a real fit. He’s better when he’s coming off the bench. Perfect 6th man. I know he wants to start and wants all this money and some team will give it to him but I think they’ll regret it and I hope that’s not the Knicks. Explore other options
3/123m for Paul? 39m per year for Lowry? Completely asinine.
Schroeder has no leverage left. CP, Lowry, Conley, Dinwiddie, Ball all have higher stock. Only thing Dennis had going for him was LA could ill-afford to lose him for nothing, which post-Westbrook isn’t quite the case anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a 1 year balloon payment, maybe from NY if they strike out elsewhere. Not sure why anyone would throw a 4/80m back at him now.
Why is NY in your vocabulary. Why would we overpay for a backup PG. How can we strike out if we have the most cap space. Get informed please.
You own NYC now, pal? Is it your trademark? Or are you just another faux tough guy from White Plains who reps Queens when he’s out of state?
Also: Aren’t you same guy who wants to break the bank for Evan Fournier? Lol.
Advice: Stick to writing 3,000 word paragraphs that no one reads. It’s harder for people to see how fake you are then.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around most NBA salaries. I’m not being that guy who bitches about “millions of dollars for a kids game” either. There’s a 117M soft cap this season for each team’s entire roster. And people are talking about signing Kyle Lowry to a deal that eats up 1/3 of that total? I’ve heard $25M thrown around for a hobbled Spencer Dinwidde (probably not realistic, but who knows). Is he really a player who deserves 1/5 of a team’s payroll space?
I completely understand giving one of the game changing players like Lebron or Durant the Max salary they can earn, but the money being talked about for some of these other guys is just nuts.
This offseason scares me as a Knicks fan, because they have a bunch of guys coming off of “prove me” contracts and there’s a lot of opportunities for them to screw up this offseason by giving the wrong guy or two all their cap space.
Kyle Lowry at that amount does make sense b/c he is still one of the best 2 way guards in the NBA…as for Schroder, I dont get how he turned down the 4/64 million he was offered during the year, b/c I see him being worth about 10-12 million less than that
High salaries are the price of doing business and overpaying for a free agent isn’t as bad as it sounds because you don’t have to trade assets or develop a player to get what you need.
The risk is overpaying for a minor need or upgrade or thinking it’s better to pay less to get a bargain player.
If I’m the Knicks and considering Thibs is my coach, I reach out to the Spurs and offer a few #1s and Toppin for Murray. Young PG with decent assist numbers, plays great D (which Thibs would love), and pulls down the boards as well as scores. Part of a young core with room for an impact free agent, preferably at SF/3.