Bigger fish to fry
Knicks waiting until ’19 to reel in winner
While announcing his expectation that Enes Kanter will opt into his contract for next season, Knicks president Steve Mills said he won’t be active in this year’s free agency because the team has eyes on the bigger fish in 2019.
“Our goal is to get our house in order, develop the foundation,” Mills said Thursday on ESPN Radio. “We are not going to be players this year. If we sign guys, it’s going to be for one-year contracts.”
The Knicks likely won’t have cap space but can use their mid-level exception ($8.6 million) and biannual exception ($3.4 million). However, they won’t be choosing from the high-end pool of free agents if the stipulation is that they’re only handing out one-year contracts.
It’s still possible they re-sign Kyle O’Quinn and/or Michael Beasley, but on one-year deals because, according to Mills, “We’ll be able to make room for a max guy (in 2019).”
Mills also confirmed that the Knicks will be chasing superstar free agents in 2019 when Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Love, Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard are available.
“We feel like we’re going to put ourselves in a position where stars are going to want to come to us,” Mills said. “That’s what we think.”
The Knicks feel like a difficult sell, whether it’s today or one year from now. They are projected to fall into the lottery once again next season – which would make it five straight seasons without a playoff appearance – and Kristaps Porzingis’ recovery timeline is murky.
“We expect him to be back during the season but we’re not going to rush it,” Mills said. “He’s too important to our future.”
Nonetheless, Mills believes he can sell the Knicks to the likes of Kyrie Irving. He said the front office has already made headway in changing the perception of the franchise through its interactions with rookies at the draft combine.
“Guys want to be part of a winning culture, they want to be a part of group of guys they want to play with. And Porzingis is a magnet,” Mills said.
“He’s the reason why everyone interviewing for coaching jobs wanted this job, because of him.
“We feel like we have a situation, the value of playing in (New York), the Garden is still a fabulous place to play, players love playing on this stage and we know this is the ultimate place. And we know we’re going to make this attractive to players.”
Mills also said he’s been given full freedom from owner James Dolan to execute his plan.
“Jim has given me the autonomy,” Mills said. “As long as we stay with the plan, he’s on board. And he’s given me the room to do that.
“And he wants to be involved in other things – growing the business of the Garden, new arena development, different kinds of things. He doesn’t want to get involved in what we’re doing.”