Every dollar counts for Knicks in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
After the Mikal Bridges tradeThe Knicks could be limited in their first year in the NBA, limiting them to $178 million in team salary.
The Knicks entered the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday with $172 million in team salary committed to eight players. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
It is incredibly difficult to fill a roster with only $6 million.
The Knicks’ moves Wednesday night give them a little more financial flexibility.
New York could He cut his salary by trading one of his first-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for five future second-round picks. the knicks selected Pacome Dadiet with the other first round pick. If they draft and keep Dadiet and sign two second-round picks to minimum deals, the Knicks will have saved $3 million in team salary.
The Knicks can avoid the first cap hit by adding to the Bridges trade. They would need to add approximately $5 million in salary to the trade.
If they accomplish that, the Knicks will have a cap hit on the second deck ($189.5 million).
This would give them enough flexibility to offer Isaiah Hartenstein An agreement that starts at 16.2 million dollars. The Knicks are limited to that offer because they have Early Bird rights to Hartenstein.
They can offer Hartenstein a four-year contract worth up to $72 million.
Teams with cap space can offer Hartenstein much more than $72 million over four years. With Hartenstein expected to be the top target of several teams, it has become unlikely that the Knicks will be able to retain their center. (Hartenstein, of course, could choose to accept significantly less money and return to New York.)
With Hartenstein’s situation up in the air, the Knicks can be expected to continue looking for ways to shed salary and avoid the first apron.
What they did Wednesday gave them some flexibility. But they will need to do more to build a roster that can compete with the best teams in the NBA.