Analysis: To contend with top teams, Knicks must do more
Knicks guard Evan Fournier looks on against the Wizards in the second half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on March 18, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Knicks entered the summer with a plan. The first part was to send Obi Toppin someplace, the second was to sign free-agent target Donte DiVincenzo. Both of those things have been accomplished.
Now that the NBA Draft has been held and the first few days of free agency have passed, the Knicks can look around and figure out where they stand in the league — whether they are improved and, most important, whether they are a contender.
They still appear far from the final goal — contending with the top teams in the NBA. And because of that, they also are far from done.
The Knicks have been accumulating assets under the front office of Leon Rose while waiting to chase a star to add to the roster. Last summer, they were after Donovan Mitchell, who wound up being traded by the Jazz to the Cavaliers. Now, even as stars are in the market — James Harden and Damian Lillard are seeking new homes — the Knicks still seem in wait-and- see mode.
In adding DiVincenzo, the Knicks put in place not just a third member of the Villanova championship teams alongside Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart but a player who fits coach Tom Thibodeau’s desire for a tenacious and savvy defender.
But he’s also 6-4 and the Knicks gave up the 6-9 Toppin, in part to facilitate the signing of DiVincenzo, keeping the team out of the luxury tax (also thanks to Hart opting in to his $12.9 million player option). The Knicks’ options at backup power forward right now are small-ball lineups, with the 6-5 Hart or 6-6 RJ Barrett, or an offensively challenged addition of Jericho Sims. Isaiah Roby, signed last season to a two-way contract and playing with the Knicks’ Summer League squad, is a possible fill-in.
The Knicks hit the hard cap — unable to cross $172 million in salary this season — by using their non-taxpayer midlevel exception. If they seek a star to jump-start the process in their building toward contention, they have pieces they are ready to shed.
Evan Fournier and his expiring $18.9 million contract are attractive, but just as the Knicks shopped Toppin before the draft and settled for moving him for a pair of future second-round picks, they are finding little traction in trade talks for Fournier. The resolution may be a buyout. It’s hardly what they hope for, but they might have to settle for that to clear the contract.
To this point, the Knicks have held on to Fournier, just as they tried to do with Derrick Rose, to package in a trade. In an ideal scenario, Toppin could have been part of a larger deal, but that never happened.
The Knicks now must consider where and how the upgrade will happen. Barrett was dangled last summer in efforts to get Mitchell and with the Knicks stocked with options at his spot, he could be had again. Immanuel Quickley might never be as valuable as he is right now, coming off a season in which he was runner-up for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and he is eligible for a contract extension.
The decision to sign DiVincenzo and even to deal away Toppin may have been the easy choices. Deciding whether to surrender their assets if the next piece is Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine or OG Anunoby is the hard part.
Notes & quotes: The Knicks announced their Summer League roster, and the only returning pieces from last season are little-used Trevor Keels and Daquan Jeffries. Jacob Toppin, who was signed to a two-way contract, will not play with what the team described as a minor injury. Rokas Jokubaitis, who was drafted in the second round in 2021 by the Knicks, will not participate because of commitments to the Lithuanian national team.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
