The New York Knicks have been one of the summer’s biggest entertainers, improving a roster that was already bordering on elite. The team that made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals two years in a row, and only injuries kept it from making it to the conference finals in May, has added Mikal Bridges. They have also renewed OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson and only Isaiah Hartenstein has been a painful departure for Tom Thibodeau’s team. The Madison Square Garden offices continue to do things well after years of competitive emptiness and bad decisions. But the Knicks’ summer is, at the very least, noteworthy.
In ESPN’s annual Tim Bontemps poll, the Knicks received votes in two opposing categories, something unusual: best and worst move. The best, the renewal of Jalen Brunson below the market or having obtained Mikal Bridges; the worst, the new contract of OG Anunoby (And Hartenstein’s arrival to the Thunder was also voted one of the best.) That duality has summed up the summer for Leon Rose, New York’s chief operating officer. He has a plan to overtake the Celtics at the top of the East, one where management and players go hand in hand. Some of the roster has bought into it from a financial standpoint, but he needs everyone on board, no exceptions.
The first to do so was Jalen Brunson, who forgave millions in his extension. The point guard signed for $156.6 million and four seasons, leaving a lot of money on the table (not the $113 million that was said, but close to ~50 million). After signing Mikal Bridges, a former teammate of Brunson at Villanova University, the point guard agreed to pay less to be able to play with his friends Hart, DiVincenzo and Bridges himself. For Mikal, by the way, they paid the same price that was paid for Kevin Durant in 2022: five first-round picks and a trade, plus Bojan Bogdanovic, Shake Milton and add-ons to close the deal. They paid a fortune because it was the right time to do it.
With the new collective bargaining agreement, the easiest way to get stars or important players is to trade for them. Boston, Dallas, Minnesota or Denver have proven this, and New York has wanted to follow that path. Because once they are yours, you can sign them to the maximum contract, as has happened in the case of OG Anunoby, who they got in December. Unlike Brunson, the Briton did not leave a penny on the table, signing for five seasons and $212.5 million: three more than the point guard per season. As in the Bridges case, overpayments can be made as long as the owners have given their approval to exceed the luxury tax and agree to the fine. It is evident that in order to compete, a team has to spend: 13 of the 16 teams that played in the playoffs last year are in the luxury category.
One of the Knicks’ goals this year was to avoid getting hard capped on the first apron. The second was impossible when adding salaries to get Bridges, but they managed to stay at just $181 million in salaries. The arrival of Mikal meant the departure of Hartenstein, an evil impossible to avoid in Leon Rose’s long-term project, but in the hopes that the former Nets player will accept a pay cut in his next renewal, copying Brunson’s style (and something that Hartenstein did not do with the Thunder). But the millions Brunson has saved going forward would allow him to, say, avoid a second apron next year* and thus still be able to use the mid-level, add salary in trades or send cash.
The plan is to create flexibility while building a roster for the long term, mimicking the Celtics’ format.. Before arriving at Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Kristaps Porziņģis first went through Malcolm Brogdon, Josh Richardson, Daniel Theis or Marcus Smart and Rob Williams. They all arrived via trade or draft, and they turned them into better assets until they won the ring. And while they can’t compete on the court, where they are very close, they will do it from the offices: Leon Rose and Brad Stevens is the real duel that can decide who wins the Eastern Conference in 2025.
* Julius Randle is eligible to sign an extension as of Aug. 3 or will be a free agent next summer if he declines his player option worth more than $30 million. The maximum the Knicks can offer is $181.5 million over four seasons.
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