Knicks · 2026 Draft 6/23 & 6/24 (page 5)

martin @ 5/26/2026 3:07 PM

Knixkik @ 5/26/2026 3:41 PM
martin wrote:

Meleek Thomas is a great target for what this team could eventually need.

martin @ 5/26/2026 4:36 PM
Knixkik wrote:
martin wrote:

Meleek Thomas is a great target for what this team could eventually need.

Yeah and ideal target for 24-31 too

Knixkik @ 5/26/2026 7:27 PM
martin wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
martin wrote:

Meleek Thomas is a great target for what this team could eventually need.

Yeah and ideal target for 24-31 too

Obviously no idea how good he will be, but Thomas reminds me of Jared McCain. We could really use that type of player off the bench once he gets acclimated to the nba game.

martin @ 5/28/2026 1:27 PM
martin @ 5/29/2026 12:31 PM
newyorknewyork @ 5/29/2026 12:58 PM
Knicks selecting pick #30 has a nice ring to it.
Blade37db @ 5/29/2026 2:07 PM
I don't understand the NBA cap with its aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?
martin @ 5/29/2026 4:52 PM
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Salary cap won’t deny you from signing draft picks or resigning your current players, just sometimes how much you can sign them for (Knicks can only sign Shamet for 104% of the MLE allotment). Knicks will be a second apron team and can do vet min signings but no MLE type signings.

martin @ 5/29/2026 7:17 PM
I can see this guy at #31, not sure at 24 but who knows

Philc1 @ 5/30/2026 7:47 AM
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

newyorknewyork @ 5/30/2026 12:10 PM
I can't see Mitch commanding $17mil unless he balls out in the Finals.
BlueKnickers @ 5/30/2026 12:49 PM
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

martin @ 5/30/2026 12:59 PM
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

Correct. They'd be over the second apron so trades get much harder and you are pretty much left with the team you got plus vet mins, give or take.

From the Googles:

The primary restrictions enacted when a team enters the second apron include:

Trade Restrictions

No Contract Aggregation: Teams cannot combine two or more player salaries to trade for a single player.
No Cash in Trades: Franchises are prohibited from sending cash to another team as part of a trade negotiation.
No Traded Player Exceptions (TPE): Teams cannot use trade exceptions generated in prior years.
100% Salary Matching: Incoming salaries can only match or be less than outgoing salaries, losing the 110% buffer that other teams are granted.
Sign-and-Trade Limitations: Teams cannot acquire a player via an outgoing sign-and-trade.

Free Agency & Signings

Loss of Mid-Level Exception (MLE): Second apron teams completely lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign free agents.
Restricted Buyout Signings: Teams cannot sign free agents who were bought out during the regular season if their previous salary was above the $12.2 million MLE.

Draft & Future Penalties

Frozen Draft Picks: Teams are prohibited from trading their first-round picks that are seven years out.
Draft Drop: If a team remains in the second apron for three out of any five seasons, their first-round pick will automatically be moved to the very end of the first round, regardless of their actual draft position or record.

Knixkik @ 5/30/2026 8:12 PM
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

BlueKnickers @ 5/30/2026 8:48 PM
martin wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

Correct. They'd be over the second apron so trades get much harder and you are pretty much left with the team you got plus vet mins, give or take.

From the Googles:

The primary restrictions enacted when a team enters the second apron include:

Trade Restrictions

No Contract Aggregation: Teams cannot combine two or more player salaries to trade for a single player.
No Cash in Trades: Franchises are prohibited from sending cash to another team as part of a trade negotiation.
No Traded Player Exceptions (TPE): Teams cannot use trade exceptions generated in prior years.
100% Salary Matching: Incoming salaries can only match or be less than outgoing salaries, losing the 110% buffer that other teams are granted.
Sign-and-Trade Limitations: Teams cannot acquire a player via an outgoing sign-and-trade.

Free Agency & Signings

Loss of Mid-Level Exception (MLE): Second apron teams completely lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign free agents.
Restricted Buyout Signings: Teams cannot sign free agents who were bought out during the regular season if their previous salary was above the $12.2 million MLE.

Draft & Future Penalties

Frozen Draft Picks: Teams are prohibited from trading their first-round picks that are seven years out.
Draft Drop: If a team remains in the second apron for three out of any five seasons, their first-round pick will automatically be moved to the very end of the first round, regardless of their actual draft position or record.

OK TY

BlueKnickers @ 5/30/2026 8:50 PM
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

I see. So Mitch is potentially our Either/Or player.

If it means running the same team back again that is hardly a bad outcome. Experience playing together has real value

Knixkik @ 5/30/2026 9:35 PM
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

I see. So Mitch is potentially our Either/Or player.

If it means running the same team back again that is hardly a bad outcome. Experience playing together has real value

Right. I assume making the finals means no major changes to the core.

Assuming Jose picks up his player option, it would mean 9 players under contract. Shamet and Diawara should be back on multi-year contracts, and then need to fill at least 3 more slots to get to 14 with rookies/ vet minimum guys. We should be able to do all of that and stay below the second apron. If we are also signing Mitch, we are exploding over the second apron.

Remember, once we go over, we essentially start a 2-year clock. Once those 2 seasons are up, it means changes to the core of the team to some degree. So Mitch is the deciding factor to start that clock or not next season.

BlueKnickers @ 5/30/2026 11:19 PM
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

I see. So Mitch is potentially our Either/Or player.

If it means running the same team back again that is hardly a bad outcome. Experience playing together has real value

Right. I assume making the finals means no major changes to the core.

Assuming Jose picks up his player option, it would mean 9 players under contract. Shamet and Diawara should be back on multi-year contracts, and then need to fill at least 3 more slots to get to 14 with rookies/ vet minimum guys. We should be able to do all of that and stay below the second apron. If we are also signing Mitch, we are exploding over the second apron.

Remember, once we go over, we essentially start a 2-year clock. Once those 2 seasons are up, it means changes to the core of the team to some degree. So Mitch is the deciding factor to start that clock or not next season.

In that case, barring injury, most of our starters could remain highly productive longer than the next two seasons.

If I understand correctly then it is probably more important to protect our core than prioritize Mitch.

I believe we can find big bodies for paint protection on the cheap. I was interested in what Trey Jemison could do for us. He's 6'10" with a legit power forward body and looked like he could give us some presence in the paint.

martin @ 5/31/2026 11:35 AM
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

I see. So Mitch is potentially our Either/Or player.

If it means running the same team back again that is hardly a bad outcome. Experience playing together has real value

Right. I assume making the finals means no major changes to the core.

Assuming Jose picks up his player option, it would mean 9 players under contract. Shamet and Diawara should be back on multi-year contracts, and then need to fill at least 3 more slots to get to 14 with rookies/ vet minimum guys. We should be able to do all of that and stay below the second apron. If we are also signing Mitch, we are exploding over the second apron.

Remember, once we go over, we essentially start a 2-year clock. Once those 2 seasons are up, it means changes to the core of the team to some degree. So Mitch is the deciding factor to start that clock or not next season.

In that case, barring injury, most of our starters could remain highly productive longer than the next two seasons.

If I understand correctly then it is probably more important to protect our core than prioritize Mitch.

I believe we can find big bodies for paint protection on the cheap. I was interested in what Trey Jemison could do for us. He's 6'10" with a legit power forward body and looked like he could give us some presence in the paint.

So this is good stuff IMO. Knicks could ABSOLUTELY extend and keep all their guys and be 100% justified, both talent wise, age wise, etc.

BUT but but, if you were Leon and knew that your roster would be locked in or be very inflexible over the next 2-4 years with the core of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG, KAT... what moves *may* you think about. The starters are literally all 30 give or take 6 months. That's a easily an additional 2-3 years at prime athleticism, age, bball IQ, etc. Perfect window to have a 3 year run at championship easily.

Full roster would be:

Starters: Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG, KAT.
Bench: GTA, Deuce, Clarkson, Shamet, Mitch.
Extra Bench: Kolek, McCullar, Mo, Huk, Sochan, Dadiet, Trey.

Which role on the team would you target most that would help extend the timeline of the starters and which bench players are overlapping enough that you would move in lieu of this last summer of opportunity to make a trade. And would that trade be worthwhile enough or nah?

Knicks got #24, 31, 55 and they aint gonna just sit tight in this very very deep draft IMHO. What the opportunity is is another story, and of course another team got to have similar visions to trade down and grab something.

For me, there are 3 types of roles that I think Leon/WWW would target:

1) Backup C who could possibly shoot from distance, or a backup C who could mirror the Mitch role but with some scoring capability.

2) Guys with breakdown ability. Knicks just don't have a guy off bench who has the handle and speed with distance shooting to cause havok.

3) Another wingstop who is slightly different than Hart, OG, Mikal.

Morey Johnson Jr would be one example: wingstop that is a somewhat bigger PF than OG who is also a very good weakside defender and rim protector. Slot next to KAT or small ball C with distance shooting potential. Zuby Ejiofor or Jayden Quaintance too.

Or perhaps Luigi Suigo or Henri Veesaar to do long term KAT things? If Aday Mara falls past 14, Knicks should think about hunting him. Or Chris Cenac or Baba Miller as second round developmental fliers? Trevon Brazile has Mitch vibes in bounciness, defense with decent hands.

Is Meleek Thomas a 20's pick? His distance shooting and ball handling are something the Knicks don't got. Dailyn Swain is a wingstop defender with handles and is always downhill to rim.

If you are Leon, what's your choice? You got Brock Aller just getting the cold and hot sweats thinking about doing a trade with that #31 pick. This is his dream scenario with the second round now on a completely separate day; he is going to have 12 extra hours to find a trade in the second round. Brock got the whole finals series to figure out a trade to move up in the first round and meld heads with Walt to find a guy in the 11-23 range to move up to? SAS did move up to #15 to draft Kawhi and no one saw that coming? George Hill was traded for that #15 pick.

Knixkik @ 5/31/2026 11:50 AM
martin wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
BlueKnickers wrote:
Philc1 wrote:
Blade37db wrote:I don't understand the NBA cap with it's aprons and rules like I do the NFL's.
Can the Knicks sign a 1st round draft pick with our current cap situation and/or if they decide to re-sign Shamet with Bird rights?

Knicks are about $17 million under second apron next offseason. They have 3 key free agents (Mitch, Shamet and Diawara). Diawara is RFA so the Knicks can match any offers on him. Mitch is likely to get a offer of $17 million or more just by himself and he’s UFA so he the Knicks have no ability to match but they can outbid but that will mean going over the second apron at least for a second year.

The second apron has immediate penalties like only being authorized to use taxpayer MLE and not non-taxpayer MLE to sign free agents which is a difference of several million. The bigger penalty is if a team is above second apron 3 out of 5 years their first round pick is automatically moved to the end of the first round


Like Martin said teams can still resign their own players and sign draft picks but that still can push you over second or first apron. One thing about the cap is you can’t even try to roster less than 12 players to try to stay under second apron because the nba automatically adds salaries matching the league minimum for whatever number of roster spots you aren’t using

In layman's terms, does this mean the Knicks can blow out their cap but still retain everyone on the current roster, but they would be severely handicapped in signing players in free agency?

This is exactly right. If they want to go over the second apron, might as well overpay free agents for 2 years because how far they go over doesn’t matter. If they want to move on from Mitch due to all of his concerns, they have flexibility to remain under the second apron. Obviously depends on how things go the next couple of weeks. The mitch decision becomes the second apron decision though. Knicks can only go over 2 years in a row, so big decisions ahead.

I see. So Mitch is potentially our Either/Or player.

If it means running the same team back again that is hardly a bad outcome. Experience playing together has real value

Right. I assume making the finals means no major changes to the core.

Assuming Jose picks up his player option, it would mean 9 players under contract. Shamet and Diawara should be back on multi-year contracts, and then need to fill at least 3 more slots to get to 14 with rookies/ vet minimum guys. We should be able to do all of that and stay below the second apron. If we are also signing Mitch, we are exploding over the second apron.

Remember, once we go over, we essentially start a 2-year clock. Once those 2 seasons are up, it means changes to the core of the team to some degree. So Mitch is the deciding factor to start that clock or not next season.

In that case, barring injury, most of our starters could remain highly productive longer than the next two seasons.

If I understand correctly then it is probably more important to protect our core than prioritize Mitch.

I believe we can find big bodies for paint protection on the cheap. I was interested in what Trey Jemison could do for us. He's 6'10" with a legit power forward body and looked like he could give us some presence in the paint.

So this is good stuff IMO. Knicks could ABSOLUTELY extend and keep all their guys and be 100% justified, both talent wise, age wise, etc.

BUT but but, if you were Leon and knew that your roster would be locked in or be very inflexible over the next 2-4 years with the core of Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG, KAT... what moves *may* you think about. The starters are literally all 30 give or take 6 months. That's a easily an additional 2-3 years at prime athleticism, age, bball IQ, etc. Perfect window to have a 3 year run at championship easily.

Full roster would be:

Starters: Brunson, Hart, Bridges, OG, KAT.
Bench: GTA, Deuce, Clarkson, Shamet, Mitch.
Extra Bench: Kolek, McCullar, Mo, Huk, Sochan, Dadiet, Trey.

Which role on the team would you target most that would help extend the timeline of the starters and which bench players are overlapping enough that you would move in lieu of this last summer of opportunity to make a trade. And would that trade be worthwhile enough or nah?

Knicks got #24, 31, 55 and they aint gonna just sit tight in this very very deep draft IMHO. What the opportunity is is another story, and of course another team got to have similar visions to trade down and grab something.

For me, there are 3 types of roles that I think Leon/WWW would target:

1) Backup C who could possibly shoot from distance, or a backup C who could mirror the Mitch role but with some scoring capability.

2) Guys with breakdown ability. Knicks just don't have a guy off bench who has the handle and speed with distance shooting to cause havok.

3) Another wingstop who is slightly different than Hart, OG, Mikal.

Morey Johnson Jr would be one example: wingstop that is a somewhat bigger PF than OG who is also a very good weakside defender and rim protector. Slot next to KAT or small ball C with distance shooting potential. Zuby Ejiofor or Jayden Quaintance too.

Or perhaps Luigi Suigo or Henri Veesaar to do long term KAT things? If Aday Mara falls past 14, Knicks should think about hunting him. Or Chris Cenac or Baba Miller as second round developmental fliers? Trevon Brazile has Mitch vibes in bounciness, defense with decent hands.

Is Meleek Thomas a 20's pick? His distance shooting and ball handling are something the Knicks don't got. Dailyn Swain is a wingstop defender with handles and is always downhill to rim.

If you are Leon, what's your choice? You got Brock Aller just getting the cold and hot sweats thinking about doing a trade with that #31 pick. This is his dream scenario with the second round now on a completely separate day; he is going to have 12 extra hours to find a trade in the second round. Brock got the whole finals series to figure out a trade to move up in the first round and meld heads with Walt to find a guy in the 11-23 range to move up to? SAS did move up to #15 to draft Kawhi and no one saw that coming? George Hill was traded for that #15 pick.

These are the primary questions to answer this summer. Knicks are lucky to have 2 valuable picks. But at the same time, the draft cupboard is pretty bare over the next few years, so they need to take advantage.

If I am trying to figure out how to extend this core, I’m focused on 2 things: backup center (regardless of Mitch being back or not) and guard/ wing shot creation. So you listed the big men. There’s a lot of options, whether at 24 or 31. And then for shot creation and shooting im looking at Meleek Thomas. I am just envisioning putting a guard or wing alongside Brunson who can take pressure off of him for long stretches. Right now we get away with some offense running through KAT. But longterm we need another guard/ wing who can do it. Our version of okc having McCain and Ajay Mitchell.

Of course it’s unlikely we stay at 24 and 31. Our front office likes to move around in the draft. Trades are harder to predict, but I look at someone like Cam Spencer in Memphis maybe being worth pick 24 or 31 giving his shooting, playmaking and longterm minimum contract. But these players are hard to find. I agree though the primary goal needs to be extending this core that is proven to have the ability to compete for a championship.

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