The New York Knicks have made their intentions for this NBA offseason crystal clear. They need to find an upgrade for the point guard position and want to be buyers in free agency, so they are attempting to clear as much cap space as possible.
During the 2022 NBA Draft, the Knicks used the No. 11 overall pick to begin that process. They ended up moving that selection, four future second-round picks and Kemba Walker for three future first-round picks.
While those selections may not convey any time soon, as they have heavy protections on them, New York now has more tradable assets to include in a package should an All-Star player come available. They also cleared some of the cap space they need moving on from Walker’s contract.
But, there is still some work left to do when it comes to clearing money. New York has to trade some combination of Nerlens Noel, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and Cam Reddish to reach the $25 million threshold they are aiming for.
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In a recent piece by Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype, he shared that the New York Knicks have had exploratory conversations with the LA Clippers centered around Noel.
For LA, the acquisition of Noel would be to help replace Isaiah Hartenstein, who may have priced himself out of the team’s range. With John Wall expected to sign for their mid-level exception, they may not have the money to keep Hartenstein, who proved to be a solid rotation player last season. The Clippers have a trade exception worth $9.7 million that Noel could slide into, which could be the course of action that the Knicks push for.
They can incentivize the LA Clippers by including some draft capital to do that, as their goal is to take back as little salary as possible. If they trade Noel into that exception and waive Taj Gibson, the Knicks would have $24.5 million in cap space to spend, which could be enough to land their point guard target, Jalen Brunson.
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The Dallas Mavericks should be crossing their fingers that New York cannot find takers for some of their veterans, as the more cap space they clear the better chance they have at prying Brunson away.
