Knicks do nothing, then shock Warriors on road
For the Knicks, it was all smoke and no fire. Team president Leon Rose was a bystander to an explosive NBA trade deadline, clearly failing, in his mind, to negotiate anything worthwhile for his slumping roster.
Multiple sources said the Knicks were open to dealing anybody on the roster outside of RJ Barrett and were actively attempting to shed players on multi-year deals like Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks.
But as several players around the league were relocated Thursday—including James Harden to Philadelphia and Kristaps Porzingis to Washington—the Knicks stood pat. There were late rumors about acquiring Goran Dragic from Toronto, but the point guard instead went to the Spurs. There were also rumblings about Indiana’s Myles Turner and Spencer Dinwiddie, now a Houston Rocket.
In the end, nada.
Rose’s cautious approach to roster building continued. All his trades have been low-risk maneuvers. He’s handled free agency similarly, despite copious cap space over consecutive summers.
“That’s what I love about Leon,” said coach Tom Thibodeau. “He’s very pragmatic. He’s not going to overreact. It’s a challenging job.”
The inactivity leaves Thibodeau with a group that was reeling before shocking the Warriors late Thursday night, 116-114, behind 28 points and 16 rebounds from Julius Randle. It snapped a four-game losing streak and was the Knicks’ best win of the season, escaping San Francisco after Klay Thompson missed a wide-open potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer.
Fournier, who signed a four-year deal in the summer, endorsed status quo with the Knicks in the middle of a season-long five-game road.
“I really do believe we have the right pieces. We have talent, we have toughness, we have everything,” he said. “And we’re not that far from playing better and getting wins. It’s just about finding a way to play and sticking with that and building confidence and all that.
“We just have to find ourselves right now. We’re kind of going through it. It’s a tough road trip.”
In the meantime, Thibodeau has a rotation squeeze with Cam Reddish—who was acquired last month for a first-round pick—mostly riding the bench. Walker, in particular, hasn’t fit as the starting point guard and represents a potential buyout candidate, especially with Derrick Rose expected to return from ankle surgery after the All-Star break.
The Knicks’ front office, headlined by Rose, his longtime associate William Wesley and GM Scott Perry, have failed to build off last season’s surprising success, when Julius Randle led them to them to the fourth seed.
As constructed, they also won’t have cap space in the 2022 free agency and the direction isn’t clear. They have seven players currently guaranteed to earn at least $9 million next season, with Randle’s max extension kicking in at $26.1 million in 2022-23. They still have all their draft picks moving forward, plus Dallas’ protected first-rounder in 2023.
So there’s flexibility available, but the Knicks are neither contending nor rebuilding. The contracts Leon Rose doled out in the summer were supposed to be tradable assets, negotiated with team options so they could be easily moved. The deadline demonstrated they’re more like anchors.
By not shedding Noel, who has been unreliable and underwhelming this season after getting paid in the summer, the Knicks are headed toward a complicated situation at center. Mitchell Robinson has been the team’s best at the position but will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, awaiting his first big payday after his team-friendly rookie contract.
It’s bad business to pay two centers big money who have similar styles, but Noel is brittle and untrustworthy.
Whatever his strategy, Rose has kept it from the fans and media. The former agent hasn’t spoken publicly in almost five months. Still, the team reportedly added to the front office by agreeing to hire former Timberwolves executive Gersson Rosas as a consultant.
It didn’t amount to anything at the trade deadline.