After trade deadline, Knicks still in position for run at Drummond

The K nick shad a quiet trade deadline but they’ re still in position for a run at Andre Drummond in the buy out market.

Passing on chances to trade for several Tier 2 options — including Victor Oladipo (went to Miami), Aaron Gordon (Nuggets), Nikola Vucevic (Bulls), Evan Fournier (Celtics) and Norman Powell (Blazers) — the Knicks maintained their roughly $15 million in cap space to entice Drummond.

The 27-year-old center, from Middletown, Conn., and a former UConn star, will be bought out by the Cavaliers and hit the open market, wherethesuitors are expected to include the Nets and Lakers. Unlike those two contenders, the Knicks can’t offer Drummond a ring chase. But they have one very important advantage in the buyout market: guaranteed money.

In the lone deal the team made, Austin Rivers’ eventful but short time with the Knicks came to an end when the backup guard, who had been cut from the rotation and away from the team, was traded to the OKC Thunder in a three-way deal that brought 2017 first-roundpick Terrance Ferguson, Vincent Poirie rand the Si xe rs’ secondround pick to New York, a source confirmed from multiple reports.

Given their flexible cap situation, the Knicks can entice Drummond with a lucrative multi-year deal — three years, $45 million, for instance. It’s the benefit of their restrained approach in 2020 free agency, when New York’s new front office held onto their cap space instead of spending it on the likes of Gordon Hayward. The Ringer reported Wednesday that the K nick shave emerged as a “serious potential destination” for Drummond, although multiple other outlets pegged the Lakers as the most likely landing spot.

Celtics acquire Fournier: The Celtics acquired Evan Fournier from the Orlando Magic for guard Jeff Teague and a pair of second-round draft picks, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Associated Press.

The Celtics were able to take on Fournier’s salary by using part of the trade exception that they created last year in the move that sent Gordon Hayward to Charlotte, the person told Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was still pending NBAapproval.