The New York Knicks are gearing up for a busy summer.
Jalen Brunson is eligible for a contract extension, as is head coach Tom Thibodeau. OG Anunoby could become a free agent within a month. Isaiah Hartenstein's contract is not only up, but it also limits how much the Knicks can pay him. Due to a strange provision in the collective bargaining agreement, his 2024-25 salary in New York can't exceed $16.1 million. If someone offers him more, the Knicks have competition.
They will go all out to acquire a star player. Given the Knicks' financial situation, this could be a summer of moves. With the cost of talent rising, the Knicks will be looking to make a big name move soon.
But there's a lot more to the Knicks' list than just the glamorous deals. Athletic As the NBA draft and free agency approach, this news will be covered extensively, and while some of it may seem inconsequential, it could impact the future.
Here are four under-the-radar decisions the Knicks face this summer.
Julius Randle contract extension negotiations
Randle is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Knicks on Aug. 3, in which case the team could offer him a massive four-year, $181.5 million deal. Meanwhile, the Knicks front office likes to give extensions to key players, and they did so with Randle a few years ago.
But signing Randle to a new deal isn't just about signing a three-time All-Star. It's also about team building.
The Knicks have no intention of trading Randle but recognize they may have to in order to acquire a star player, and if no suitable target emerges this summer, the Knicks could look to the 2025 trade deadline in hopes of making a move then.
Aug. 3 is a great time for both sides to get a deal done. It's a month after free agency begins and early enough for the Knicks to know if they'll get a star player in 2024 and if Randle will (probably) be part of that trade. It's also early enough to commit to a contract with Randle and maintain their trade eligibility through the February deadline; after signing an extension, a player can't be traded for six months.
The Knicks often push for contract extensions when they acquire players, but in this case, they may be hesitant due to financial reasons.
New York might bite if Randle were to sign for less just to get a guaranteed four years, like he did a few years ago, but if he demands full money, the Knicks will have to think long term.
They have to decipher how much this roster is worth.
They are at risk of going over the second apron in 2025-2026, which would limit what exceptions they can use and what types of trades they can make.
Paying Randle a huge salary would only limit the team's flexibility. If the Knicks are confident they're a championship contender in August, they might sign everyone. But if there's any uncertainty, they might not select such an expensive roster for 2025-26 until they know more about the team.
How the Knicks handle Bogdanovic, whom they acquired in February, could shape how the offseason plays out. The Knicks have until June 28 to decide whether to release the 35-year-old forward, who will make just $2 million in 2024-25, or keep him for $19 million in guaranteed salary. If they choose the latter, it could be a sign that a star trade is on the way.
Part of the reason they acquired Bogdanovic, who had just had his second surgery in a month, was the flexibility of his contract: They could hire him at a mid-level salary, trade him for a star player or let him go if that didn't work out.
If the Knicks re-signed Hartenstein and Anunoby, they would be in danger of hitting the luxury tax or exceeding the first apron, which is not as feared as the feared second apron but comes with much harsher penalties than in years past. There's a world in which Bogdanovic's salary would get them to that level.
Let's say the Knicks pay Hartenstein $16.1 million for the 2024-25 season and re-sign Anunoby to a starting salary of $35 million. In that case, the Knicks would be paying roughly $155 million to just eight players: Brunson, Randle, Anunoby, Hartenstein, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride.
Add in Bogdanovic's $19 million and New York would be about $2 million over the luxury tax line and just $5 million short of the first apron by paying just nine players, which would limit the types of contracts they can offer and trade with other teams.
The two sides could also come to an agreement to push the trigger date back from two days before the start of free agency until the first week of July, by which time the Knicks may have more information about a trade.
If the Knicks are going to sacrifice financial flexibility, they'd want it to be worth it, whether that's a long-sought trade for a second star or a more modest upgrade for Bogdanovic and a few draft picks.
Should they keep the pick or trade it?
The last time the Knicks had two first-round picks in the same draft, they used it as an opportunity to acquire more picks. In 2021, they were armed with the 19th and 21st picks, traded their better pick to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a future first-round pick and used their worse pick to drop down to 25th and acquire an additional second-round pick.
In 2022, they turned their 11th pick into three future first-round picks.
That's the way front offices operate. The Knicks wanted to maximize their number of picks in hopes of overwhelming a team with a pile of first-round picks with a trade offer. Now they have a stockpile of protected picks.
They hold four picks from other teams (Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons) and again this year they have two picks in this summer's draft: the 24th and 25th picks they will receive from the Dallas Mavericks.
They could leverage those two by adding a couple of rookies on cheap, guaranteed contracts. They've had success with the 25th pick before, taking Grimes as well as Immanuel Quickley in 2020. McBride and Jericho Sims were other successful late draft picks.
They could trade both picks and include them in this hypothetical deal in exchange for a star player, or combine them to add a role player.
The Knicks could also trade out of the first round entirely again and swap the 24th and 25th picks for future picks, but that may be a strategy of the past at this point given that the Knicks view the summer as a time to make shape-shifting trades. Once the Knicks decide who they will select on draft night, the player with the 24th or 25th pick could begin his NBA career in a uniform other than orange and blue.
Burks and Achiuwa will both be free agents this summer, but their experiences will be different.
Burks is on an unrestricted contract, so he can sign with any team he likes, and if the roster needs some scoring help, Burks could be a consideration, especially given his performance in the second round of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers.
Just a few weeks ago, Burks was stuck on the bench and his market was unclear. He had shot just 31 percent from the field since being acquired from the Pistons in February. The guy whose first, second and third job is to score wasn't scoring. McBride had surpassed him in the rotation.
But Burks is an inconsistent shooter, having a rough start last season, a great month before the trade, a decline after arriving in New York, and a bounce back in May.
Over the final six games of the series against the Pacers, he averaged 17.8 points on 51-43-84 shooting.
It's possible that Burks, who made $10 million in salary, would again ask for more than the minimum, but given the Knicks' roster and salary structure, it would be hard to justify re-signing him.
Achiuwa's foray into the open market will be difficult to predict.
Because he's a restricted player, the Knicks could match any offer to bring him back at that price, so he could remain unsigned until the summer. Achiuwa showed defensive prowess while switching between center and power forward in his half-season in New York, and he could fit into some of the mid-level exception elsewhere.
He's also a candidate for the Knicks to sign and trade, given that other interested teams may offer smaller amounts just to avoid an offer sheet.
If the Knicks get too expensive or revamp their roster sufficiently, they could drop the $6.2 million qualifying offer, which would leave Achiuwa free to sign with any team he wants without any restrictions but without the risk of him taking the qualifying offer and adding a lot of money to the Knicks' books.
(Photo of Julius Randle by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
