My guess: a bunch of the trade rumors we see that may not make direct sense from a purely player perspective and is more about their contract (along with fit).
The below is about trading for Gary Harris and why the Knicks would do it. Maybe kinda sorta would be same for Malik Beasley.
My 100% total guess: Harden has been rumored to want to go back to Houston, legit enough that the same teams vying for a possible Durant trade would also line up behind doing anything to get Embiib who would be assumed to ask out if James jetted. I think the Knicks are at least looking to fortify to trade for Embiib; every team probably is doing this.
This is where I finally get behind Knixkik's love of connecting the CAA dots: Leon and CAA were Embiib's agents before Leon came to Knicks and I think Embiib has been rep'ing himself since. I think there would be some there there: I do think Embiib is heavily on the minds of the Knicks FO and they have the pieces to do this.
Is Gary Harris the answer?Forget about the Anunoby chase or the hopes for a star. The Knicks’ true soulmate is a blue-collar spot-up shooting guard in Orlando.
Gary Harris would make for the perfect Knicks player.
It’s not just because Harris plays a position of need in a Thibsian way. It’s not just because he’s drained better than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts over the past two seasons, which could boost New York’s lagging long-range performance. It’s not just because he could provide a veteran presence off the bench or because he’s a low-maintenance addition, someone the team wouldn’t have to bite into its future to acquire but who could help immediately.
It’s because of those spicy financials, too. He has the perfect Knicks contract.
This front office has made a conscious effort to compile salaries from the NBA’s middle class, ones along the lines of Rose’s $14.5 million or Fournier’s $18 million. It’s part of their star-hunting strategy. Piecing a few of those players together can add up to enough salary to trade for a max contract.
Harris, who makes $13 million this season, is in that class. But that’s only part of the reason he’d fit in with the front office’s long-term plan.
Though the Knicks have searched for Rose-related trades over the past couple of months, the team has floated the possibility of holding onto the veteran point guard because of his contract structure, as The Athletic previously reported. Rose has a 2023-24 team option for $15.6 million. The deadline for picking up team options is after the draft, which means if a star trade pops up on draft night, the Knicks could pick up Rose’s option and pair him and Fournier together to send out $34.5 million in expiring 2023-24 money.
But the draft is scheduled for June 22. Free agency begins June 30. The deadline to pick up Rose’s team option is between those two dates, which means this strategy would work only if the Knicks found a trade on draft night. And trades for stars are more likely to pop up come the first week of July.
Here’s where the geekiness of Harris’ hypothetical fit with the Knicks hits a new level: You know what’s even more flexible than a team option? A non-guarantee date.
Harris’ $13 million salary for 2023-24 doesn’t guarantee until June 30, the day free agency kicks off. But teams and agents can mutually agree to move that date back however late they like, something Harris’ people might be amenable to since the vet may not earn such a high salary if he were to hit the open market this summer. With Harris, the Knicks could wait a little longer, maybe even into the start of free agency, in its search for a star. Unlike with a team option, it’s not draft-day-or-bust.
The agent-team relationship plays a hand in these situations, too. Harris is represented by CAA, Knicks president Leon Rose’s former agency.
For what it’s worth, Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon, whose $20.9 million salary for 2023-24 also is non-guaranteed, is in a similar contractual situation. Pairing Gordon and Fournier’s expiring money together this summer would allow the Knicks to bring back a player on a super-max contract. Gordon’s contract doesn’t guarantee until June 28. Fournier and Harris or Fournier and Rose would get them close but not all the way there.
I’m not sure teams have sought after Harris and it doesn’t sound like the Magic are dangling him, so it’s difficult to get an exact read on his market, but let’s travel back to seven deadlines ago for an idea of what he may cost: In 2016, the Charlotte Hornets traded matching salary and a couple of second-rounders for Courtney Lee, who was on an expiring contract. That’s about what 3-and-D role players go for when they can become free agents in the upcoming summer.
Meanwhile, the Magic are wallowing at the bottom of the conference. They held onto Harris at the 2022 deadline and re-signed him over the summer. Maybe they want to keep him again. But if a suitor called about him, they would have to pick up.
According to league sources in contact with Houston, the Rockets have insisted on a first-round pick for Gordon. But they may be forced to settle for less.
