The New York Knicks made a move for the future by trading J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team trade that also included the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks received Lance Thomas, Alex Kirk, Lou Amundson and a 2019 second-round pick from the Cavaliers in the deal, and New York also waived center Samuel Dalembert to create the necessary roster space to complete the trade.
The Knicks’ future gets brighter after trading J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert
The trade of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert is a clear sign the Knicks are looking ahead to the future, and that future might not be so bleak given a lot of cap space and a high draft pick.
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The Knicks plan to waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Kirk and Amundson, although Thomas has a chance to stick around, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
New York entered the season with the hope of bouncing back from last year’s 37-45 debacle, but this year has been even more of a disaster. The Knicks have lost 12 games in a row and are 5-32, which is the worst record in the league. Carmelo Anthony is dealing with a bum knee and other high-money players in Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani also have injury problems.
New York may have been trying to win heading into this season, but this trade signifies that they're now in full rebuild mode. Knicks president Phil Jackson said as much in his statement on the trade:
“As our journey moves through this season, we will search for the type of players that fit the style we hope to exhibit for our fans. Our desire is to improve our ability to compete,” Jackson said. “In addition, these transactions improve our flexibility to the current roster and the salary cap for future seasons.”
Analyzing the Deal
Trading away Smith and Shumpert plus waiving Dalembert saves New York over $33 million in total this season once you include luxury-tax payments, according to Steve Kyler of BasketballInsiders.com. While money is basically nothing to the Knicks, saving that much cash in a horrendous season is a plus.
Looking ahead, New York is off the hook for the $6.4 million they could have owed Smith next season if he picked up his player option. The Knicks had to include Shumpert in the deal in order to get it done, but all signs pointed to him leaving in restricted free agency anyway.
New York only has about $32.7 million in guaranteed contracts for next season, with Anthony’s 22.9 million representing most of that number, per BasketballInsiders.com. It’s still unclear how much the salary cap will rise in the offseason, but the Knicks could have around $34 million in cap space (and possibly even more than that). There’s a long list of players who could be available (via BasketballInsiders.com):
Rajon Rondo (Dallas), Brandon Knight (Milwaukee), Reggie Jackson (Oklahoma City), Goran Dragic (Phoenix), Lou Williams (Toronto), Monta Ellis (Dallas), Arron Afflalo (Denver), Wesley Matthews (Portland), Jeff Green (Boston), Luol Deng (Miami), Jimmy Butler (Chicago), Draymond Green (Golden State), Tobias Harris (Orlando), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio), Greg Monroe (Detroit), David West (Indiana), Kevin Love (Cleveland), Paul Millsap (Atlanta), LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland), Brook Lopez (Brooklyn), Roy Hibbert (Indiana), DeAndre Jordan (LA Clippers), Al Jefferson (Charlotte) and Marc Gasol (Memphis).
New York is sure to chase the biggest names on the list, with players like Gasol, Aldridge and Rondo on the radar. But all three of those players are in great situations at the moment, so it's difficult to see them wanting to flee. Kevin Love is a wild card, although leaving LeBron James and Kyrie Irving for the Knicks' rebuild seems like a questionable move.
Paul Millsap and Goran Dragic would be nice targets, although both players are in good situations as well. Millsap is a key cog to the Atlanta Hawks' machine that has them leading the Eastern Conference, and the Hawks will have plenty of money to shell out to the big man this summer.
Dragic -- if he opts out of his $7.5 million for next year -- may be a more realistic target considering the glut of guards in Phoenix. The Suns just paid Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas this past offseason and they have young players in Tyler Ennis and Archie Goodwin waiting in the wings. A decision must be made on Gerald Green, who will be an unrestricted free agent.
Greg Monroe could be available too, as his frustration with the Detroit Pistons is well known. Monroe made the rare move of signing the one-year qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this past offseason, which appeared to signal his end in Detroit. However, the release of Josh Smith opened up more playing time, so perhaps that changes Monroe's outlook.
Roy Hibbert, DeAndre Jordan, Al Jefferson and Brook Lopez would all make some sense as well given the Knicks’ lack of talent in the frontcourt.
Restricted free agency has attractive options, although banking on restricted free agency always has its risks. Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler are the top options here, but they’ll likely be back with their current teams. More intriguing possibilities are Tobias Harris, Draymond Green and Reggie Jackson, who was believed to be heading to New York as part of the trade before it turned out he wasn’t included.
Harris is a hometown kid from Long Island, and he’s having a career year with the Orlando Magic. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reported in November that the idea of coming home is an appealing one for the 22-year-old, so that’s a situation to monitor. The Magic have a clean cap sheet, but there could be a limit to what they’d be willing to spend on Harris.
Green has been a revelation with the league-leading Golden State Warriors this season, taking over the starting power forward role and turning into a two-way stud. Green is making a paltry $915,243 this year, but he's set for a huge raise in the summer. The Warriors would surely love to pay up, but they already have over $77 million in guaranteed contracts for next season. A massive pay day for the third-year forward would put Golden State over the luxury tax unless there were big cost-cutting moves elsewhere. David Lee has an expiring contract of about $15.5 million, so he would be an obvious candidate to be dealt.
Even if New York misses out on its top targets ... there are solid second- and third-tier players to be had in free agency.
As for Jackson, CBS Sports’ Ken Berger reports the Knicks are going to continue to try and pursue the Thunder’s third guard up to February’s trade deadline. With Waiters on board and Jackson looking for big money in free agency, the Thunder may look to deal the point guard in order to both help skirt the luxury tax this season and avoid giving out another big contract in the summer. However, New York doesn’t have many attractive assets for Oklahoma City and the Knicks will be able to wait until free agency to throw a big deal at Jackson.
Even if New York misses out on its top targets, the list above shows that there are solid second- and third-tier players to be had in free agency.
In addition to the increased cap space this trade gives the Knicks, they also get more flexibility in the form of two trade exceptions worth $6 million and $2.6 million. These trade exceptions can’t be combined and would have to be renounced in order to use all off the cap space, but they could prove useful if that space isn’t used. The exceptions could also be used this season to take an unwanted player off another team’s hands while getting an asset attached in the process.
On top of all this, New York is hurtling toward a high pick in the upcoming draft. Getting Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns or Emmanuel Mudiay would help juice the rebuild, although there’s no guarantee those players pan out quickly or even at all.
Even so, as bleak as the Knicks look right now, the future isn’t completely dark. The tank is on and the summer of 2015 will be a huge one for the franchise.
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