New York Knicks May Make Another Trade to Clear Logjam at Center
A sense of relief probably swept through the entire New York Knicks organization when they finally succeeded in trading Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder for low-post scoring machine Enes Kanter, sharpshooting forward Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick (via the Chicago Bulls).
They finally got rid of a player who no longer wanted to be part of the team, and while many would argue that they didn't get fair value in return for the All-Star forward, the Knicks clearly thought they did the right move by pulling the trigger on the deal because going into training camp with him was going to be a major distraction.
Anthony is gone, but the Knicks may not be done making moves. The team now has a logjam at center with Kanter, Guillermo Hernangómez, Joakim Noah and Kyle O'Quinn on the roster, and conventional wisdom dictates that they can't possibly find enough minutes to keep all of them happy. That's why pundits think the Knicks will trade one of their centers in the coming months.
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"While general manager Scott Perry said the starting center job will be one of the most important battles of camp, he admitted something could happen in terms of a trade," the New York Post's Marc Berman stated.
Hernangómez and O'Quinn's contracts are reasonable, but Kanter and Noah's salaries will consume most of the Knicks' cap space in the next couple of seasons, so that's a concern as well.
"It would surprise no one if the Knicks moved one of the big men to clear the surplus. After all, assuming Kanter exercises his player option next season, the Knicks would be spending a combined $72 million on him and Noah over the next two seasons. That doesn't seem like an ideal use of cap space," ESPN's Ian Begley said in his column.
The Knicks just don't need four centers on their roster. Not when Kristaps Porziņģis is expected to play at pivot in small-ball lineups.
