Championship Reinforcements: Could The Knicks Trade For Alex Caruso or Malcolm Brogdon This Summer?

Championship Reinforcements: Could The Knicks Trade For Alex Caruso or Malcolm Brogdon This Summer?

welcome in to locked on Knicks we’re continuing answering your questions in our offseason mailbag today do the Knicks need to or should they or who are some guys they should look at for non-star trades to potentially fill out the depth this off season uh what is the situation with Kevin Durant would the nck ever look at him again I don’t know we gotta ask the question so we’re gonna answer it and at what point would salaries become a little too much and push the Knicks over the second apron probably sooner than you would think we’re talking about it next on locked on Nicks you are locked on Nicks your daily New York Knicks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day all right welcome in to locked on Nicks today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet the $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and I want to thank you guys for making locked on N first listen today and every day whether you’re checking us out on your favorite podcast platform or taking in sites and sounds on YouTube we appreciate you making us a part of your daily routine make sure you hit that Auto download function on your favorite podcast app or the notification Bell on YouTube so you never miss an episode I’m Alex Wolf I’m M and Chief and ni site the strick L that you can find the strict. land he’s Gavin Char your favorite play play broadcasters favorite play by player broadcaster and we’ve been asked some questions by our favorite commenters uh and and fans of the show on Twitter and YouTube because we put out a solicitation for mailbag questions like probably about a week ago now week and a half maybe um we’ve just been getting through all of them as we can because whatever it’s the unlimited offseason right now there’s nothing going on so may as well answer every single one of your guys questions if any of you still have questions like feel free to tweet them right at us at lockon Nick feel free to comment uh on YouTube uh you know and just let us know if you have any questions you still want us to answer because again it’s the offseason and news is sparce right now so this helps us out a lot it makes it gives us something interesting to talk about and we know what you want to talk about then uh so let’s get into our first question this comes from Bugsy Sig on Twitter Bugsy Sig uh maybe in the same vein but who this was in sort of in response to someone else’s question I think but uh bugs you want to know but who are your under the radar trade targets to strengthen the bench as opposed to any quote star trade uh so Gavin I’ll throw that to you first I mean I guess the first thing is like do the Knicks need to make that sort of deal yeah so that was and and I love Bugsy Bugsy always asks really good questions and I I’d be I’d be curious to hear their rebuttal to this on on Twitter Bugsy if if you want to throw us a response we we could talk it through maybe maybe even on an episode um but I question the premise of of the question because uh I don’t think the Knicks have room to add anyone right now in yesterday’s episode we broke down our perfect offseason if things go right for the Knicks um they should probably not be adding anyone to the bench so let’s let’s break this down right assuming they bring everyone back they don’t bring Rus over and not I’m not even taking into account the scenario like we we were talking about in the last pod then potentially trading up in the draft and getting someone like a a Devin Carter or a jacobe Walter like someone who is legitimately good enough to play NBA rotation minutes right away um in that scenario like I’m I’m not even going to go there because it it doesn’t totally feel realistic that the Nicks could start this season with the rookie playing minutes and and I don’t even I know you were kind of getting to the idea that they could play Rus and Deuce together like I’m having trouble even figuring out like where you find that for that so just with the guys that were here last year here’s my like sample rotation I have Jaylen Brunson getting 36 minutes as a point guard Duce McBride only playing 12 minutes which sucks because he’s proven himself to be someone who can be a positive player playing 25 minutes a game in the playoffs like generally that’s a guy who will play 30 minutes in the regular season because of the Nick’s depth I only have dece at 12 minutes already two guard I have Dante playing 30 minutes I have Josh Hart playing it combined 28 minutes between the small forward and the shooting guard spot um I have o anobi playing 33 minutes that feels like for how valuable he is low how injury prone he is like probably the right amount in the regular season um I have boan bogdanovich again like a guy who was putting up an efficient 20 points per game in the NBA last year at only 14 minutes I have Julius Randle 35 minutes Isaiah hard side at 27 Mitchell Robinson at 21 like I say all that to say like that is that is all you get that is 240 minutes and it is with Deuce playing less minutes than he should Hart probably playing less minutes than he should on anything less than a title Contender Dante less minutes like I I I’ll I’ll spare I’ll spare you it’s the everyone but the big three Alex playing less minutes than they should on anything less than a true blue NBA title Contender and that’s not Tak into account they might bring precious back no Rus so I like where what am I missing here where where do they have room to bring in another dude who could play minutes off the bench or like like when he says strengthen maybe he means turning one of these guys away into someone else I just find it hard to find the right deal because all these guys are really good players yeah I’m with you like I think I think if the Knicks just run it back I mean we talked about it a million times I mean the team that they would be running it back with you know hadn’t even made the boan and burk’s move yet and was 14- two in January and no Mitchell Robinson that whole and no Mitchell Robinson yeah and looked like one of the best teams in the NBA with that with that crew so you know you wouldn’t fault the Knicks if they were just like you know what let’s try that again and just hope that the luck goes a little better our way let’s hope that Julius Randle doesn’t get undercut and separates his shoulder and that ogan and Obi doesn’t have a bone spur in his elbow and that the wheels don’t totally fall off off in the playoffs because you know all these guys just aren’t available um you know but I think I think if if I was going to look at the rotation that you laid out and point to one person that I would say that might be the guy that they look to upgrade the spot it would be boan bogdanovich like I think that he was already on shaky footing to begin with it took him a while to earn tips’s trust and I think ironically he finally had right as he got hurt and you know got knocked out for the playoffs but like the end of the regular season and then throughout the beginning of the playoffs and you know as we got further into that Philly series like you start to see like okay there’s a that they have an idea of what they want from him they want him to come in they know that they’re going to lose the minutes on defense but he can at least keep the offense afloat a bit during that time and you know give them another shot creator that they desperately need with that second unit and that’s good enough for all the non- Brunson minutes as long as he can do that and even some of the Brunson minutes it was nice to have him out there just to kind of give you know a little a little relief to to Brunson that way but you know looking at at the rotation like if if you’re looking to replace that 15 or so minutes per game I think he’s he’s the guy to do it with and also the salary chunk to presumably make any deal with um I’ve got a couple names in mind uh that that I’ll throw out there in a second but I’ll let you like uh rebut that first but I think there’s also some ways that you can do it where in an increasingly salary conscious environment that the Knicks are going to be in you could potentially turn Boon’s $19 million number into a lower salary number this offseason for a different player that you get maybe even more production out of so pay a little bit to lower that salary commitment and maybe keep someone for longer years and you know have a a better player available to you all for the price of like one of your first round picks or something I think that might be on the table too um but yeah I think boan is the main guy where I’m just like you’re better than an Evan fornier or something and I would love to see you play if you’re still on the team but ultimately you’re you’re pretty replaceable and probably here just as Canon fodder for a trade at some point yeah I think I I would love to see the Knicks open this season with Bo well I guess I’m gonna contradict this in a sec because I’m gon gonna throw out a trade but barring like like the perfect trade I would love to see the Knicks open this season with boan just because I I don’t think they got to really see his full potential like he it was a real acclamation process for him coming to New York as you noted and and honestly like we we probably should have expected that a little bit more given that his role in Detroit was vastly different than what he was being asked to do in in in New York like in Detroit there were no rules like he was like as much as Kate Cunningham was their best player like Boon was probably their best offensive player certainly their best scorer and and he got to play that role in the Knicks it was like all right you’re you’re probably going to be the second option on the floor when you’re on the floor you’re you’re G to play a half or at times like a third of the minutes here were playing in Detroit so like good luck finding a rhythm and it took him understandably a while to figure that out a year older maybe a year worse on defense like maybe a year even slower on offense and like not having like just enough burst to like complete some of those funky drives that that he flashed with the Knicks so I hear you there there was an argument for it but I I just love the idea of him getting to play with OG anobi which I I don’t know what the final number was it could not have been more than 45 minutes that they shared the floor last season I think there is a lot of potential there with those two playing together an anobi single-handedly locking down the defense and and I think the shooting that those two could provide for a bench unit to prop up a duic brde or in the minutes where Jaylen Brunson is out there like I think that could be really really potent we saw boan pair with Donovan Mitchell back in the day and they had an elite defensive anchor and Rudy gobear um those teams did not always translate to the playoffs because like ultimately like it was too much to ask boan to play 40 minutes because he’s just that bad of a Defender but in in in a smaller role with a equivalent defensive anchor or or close to equival OJ anobi Plus either Isaiah hardenstein or Mitchell Robinson they to protect the rim every single minute is on the floorex season like to me like you can really insulate him and you could really have a potent offense and and I think it is going to help Jaylen Brunson I think it’s even it’s gonna help Julius Randle like when Randle is playing those heavy bench units during that 14-2 um stretch in January that you reference Alex though that was maybe the only time things got shaky because there was just not enough shooting on the floor boan can solve that almost single-handedly so I think there are a lot of ways to use him I think there could be better options out there but I do think he’s valuable in a limited role if the Knicks use him correctly um we’re going to talk about that a little bit more we’re also going to talk about like all right like actually answer this question um who are the guys that we would trade for if a worst case scenario plays out or we just want to upgrade so we’ll get into that and much more next on lock on Nicks but first we got to let you know about our friends over at FanDuel and summertime means baseball the NBA finals and more and you can bet it all on FanDuel right now new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 200 bucks you can use to bet everything from the finals MVP to who’s going to hit one out of the park and uh I don’t know I’m looking at the finals odds right now you know we’re avoiding individual games at the moment because we’re recording this on the eve of game four uh or the like a couple hours before game four is set to start or game four game two is set to start so by the time you’re listening to this we might be looking at game three or game four excuse me uh and so I don’t want to talk about individual games uh I think I want to say just right now as I’m looking at it the Mavs are plus 330 to win the finals I feel like that’s still a bet worth throwing down a couple bucks on and seeing if maybe it hits uh you know maybe by by the time that you’re listening to this you’ll be like oh yeah absolutely that’s a good idea because they’re tied one1 or or something like that because they’ve been very good in game two so far uh this postseason so we’ll see how that all goes but either way no matter what you want to do visit fanduel.com locked on and add a big win to your summer bucket list FanDuel America’s number one sports book all right and we’re back in to keep talking through this this great question about if the Knicks should be pursuing non-star trades uh during this offseason so Gavin I’ll let you close out the the Boon section because I’m I’m eager to get into some of these potential moves here because I do think that there are I do think there are some intriguing guys that n could Target that could potentially upgrade that spot and better better armor them against potential injuries that that kind of derailed their season this past year yeah so I I I’ll give you I I said I would want to keep Bo on unless the perfect candidate came around to me that’s still Malcolm brogon I know they’re saying Gavin weren you singing this song uh four months ago around the trade deadline I was I was singing this song but you know what the hits are the hits I’m Gonna Keep playing them I really still like Malcolm brogon on the Knicks and I I don’t think the Knicks like ever totally solve their point guard uh their point guard their their problem of not having a a true blue backup point guard dusc bride showed flashes of that in the playoffs this year a little bit more self-creation his handle like at points was exceptional but in terms of just like having that I’ll try to avoid saying point guard again that point godness that like someone like a Chris Paul has and just like some of those qualities right like how to manage a game like sense of time and score when someone needs the ball when someone needs a play run specifically for them um I I just don’t think that is how Deuce is wired as a player and the the more important thing is that he just does not consistently create for others and and you need that in a backup unit at the biggest moments like the Sixers were not totally able to expose that in the Knicks and that was a minor miracle and it took Jaylen Brunson like at times playing close to every minute of every game and and I think for brunson’s future health for the Nick’s future as a title Contender that cannot be the way going forward you need someone who can handle the load in second units of course that will be Julius Randall to some extent and maybe that is enough if you surround him with a boan with a Dante with an anobi other guys who can create their own shot but I still don’t really see any of those guys as true pass first guys maybe that’s Ras yoka bidas I think Malcolm brogen’s kind of the best case scenario that in that he gives you some size he gives you some scoring and he’s a elite shooter the only caveat with that is I I think it only happens like if something disastrous happens with an ogan anobi so maybe this is just kind of a break in case of emergency scenario because you would just have such a glut in terms of guard minutes if you want to get brogon on the floor for 20 minutes you want to get Dante on the floor for close to 30 you’re trying to play Josh harder’s normal amount of minutes like it gets a little dicey unless you move Hart kind of to a full-time power forward you play Dante a little bit at the three there are ways you could do it it just kind of comes down to if Tom tho is comfortable playing a little bit smaller yeah I the only other thing with Brogden is he does make like three and a half million more than what you might have to trade deuce in this trade that’s that’s I should have said that but yeah well no like I think it would work with the 120% rule um but wait doesn’t that go away with the apron or no yeah but if they if they execute it before the actual like next League year starts and before they ink all those other deals then they’re not technically under the apron yet right so then they’d still be able to use that um so if they if they handle it expeditiously this offseason then you know maybe at the draft or something then none of that’s going to come into play because they won’t be over the aprons at all yet um but you know that that could push them closer to that second apron which might be something that they want to avoid uh was kind of more what I was getting at there so I guess that’s that’ll be a it’ll be interesting to see how that calculus plays out for the Knicks um in this off season and I guess in that vein both the trades that I thought of actually go the opposite direction where the Knicks would get someone who makes less money in exchange for bogdanovich that could potentially give them uh the same if not a little better production and maybe cost them a little bit in future assets to make that happen um I looked at like Denny AIA for example uh he’s on a descending extension so this is his his rookie extension they signed it starts him at 15 a half million and then declines over the course of 4 years to get him down to about 11 a half million by the end of it so that’s that’s a very Nixie deal I’m quite frankly surprised that some other team managed to pull that off this seems like the sort of deals that only the Knicks pull off where they’re they’re descending contracts like that that actually pay you more upfront than they do at the at the end um but I mean you could trade Boon for him straight up Boon makes like 19 million but with the 15 and a half million and then that 20% rule uh at least according to the the um trade MBA fans SPO trade machine which is pretty reliable it works straight up you can make that work with those two guys so maybe you do that and then trade one of pick 24 25 or maybe you trade one of the future picks um you know something like that Detroit like pretty heavily protected first round pick perhaps Washington’s own heavily protected pick you trade back to them which opens up more future avenues for them to be able to make other trades if they feel like they want to make one in the next couple years because when you have picks with that many protections on them it’s sort of hamstrings you as to what you can do as far as trading your own picks for a little while um so maybe that’s attractive to them to just say all right fine we’ll trade you after you we’ll get bonovich back he’ll be fine enough for this year he could do like what he did with the Pistons last year on this team this year maybe we flip him again at the trade deadline get something extrabed for him in exchange um and then you know the Knicks get a a good player that does a little bit of everything on a descending contract for the next four years that you know hope hopefully we’ll keep them if not totally out of the luxury tax maybe can help them skirt the second apron at some point with that descending contract yeah I I love the player I I don’t think the Wizards would do it or they would be really dumb to and and they’ve done dumb things in the past of course they they got Michael Winger I believe it was Michael Winger from the Clippers um to run their team I I just don’t he’s 23 years old and he’s 69 and he put up 15 points seven boards four assists shooting 50% from the field 37% from three good defense like to me for a team that just really does not have a lot going for them like it would be it would be tough to stomach like I think that would almost be a thing where the Knicks would have to give up like three first round picks and some of their own and you know you could you could make a case for it like especially if the Knicks thought like all right maybe like things aren’t going so well with Julius Randall and we we want to find like someone to replace him with while trading Randall for a star at a different position and you look at FDO as your power forward to the future then I could see that kind of draft um output being worth it to me like just boan and like and the Wizards first like if I’m Washington there’s I have no business doing that then again like I think with this current front office like they trade away Chris DS porzingis for nothing off a great season which seems insane and if you want to look at why the Celtics are where they are it’s because the Wizards basically handed them a championship so you know what maybe maybe you shouldn’t put it past them yeah for sure um I think we’ve got a couple other names to to talk about here still uh to for the Knicks to potentially look at uh they were looking to upgrade that boan bogdanovich spot and then we’ll talk about somehow in the year 2024 we’ll talk about Kevin Durant for a minute and then also just give a brief uh a brief look once again into what what the luxury tax is and how the Knicks can hopefully avoid it uh so that’s coming up in a second unlocked on Knicks this show is sponsored by better help we all carry around different stressors big and small when we keep them bottled up it can start to affect us negatively don’t I know it therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest and figure out how to work through whatever is weighing you down I found it incredibly helpful more than anything else like if you get a if you get a great therapist it can certainly be even more than this but just having a place to vent for 45 minutes a week like I I think people do not appreciate how much that does for your mental health and in turn your physical health um when you don’t have that resource available it is a lifechanger so if you thinking about starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely inline designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule all you have to do is fill out a questioner to get match with a licensed therapist and search therapist anytime for no additional charge get it off your chest with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com lock today to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp.com lockon MBA alrighty uh let’s let’s continue talking trade targets um I am G to get into uh the other guy I want it’s going to be a little bit of a controversial name but I’m going to I’m going to bring him up anyways um how about how about Jared Allen Alex and and this is to be clear as I as I kind of caveat in the first segment like I really only see a lot of these trades happening in like kind of like a Breaky case of emergency scenario so this is this is the fire extinguisher for if Isaiah hardenstein uh takes $30 million of of Sam prey’s money this summer um or I guess Klay Bennett’s money this summer um but Jared Allen as as an Isaiah hartstein replacement like I I think that will be the interesting question if hartenstein leaves like are the Nicks willing to take a small step back and say you know what Mitchell Robinson is as long as he’s healthy a more than capable starting center like like potentially one of the 10 best in the NBA um pressures AA more than capable backup and showed he can give you decent minutes in the playoffs like we’re gonna roll with those guys we just fine or they G to say like hey if we want to hit the ceiling of what last season’s team was which which we both think Darkhorse and be a title Contender we actually like maybe even want to upgrade a little bit on Isaiah hardenstein in and and reasonable Minds can debate if Jared Allen would constitute that and if it’d be worth the output I have here which is boan bogdanovich eh a 20 24 Nicks first round pick um probably their 24th pick and a top five protected 2026 first so while all that’s continued on hardenstein leaving here’s here’s the case for it um the Cavs I feel like they are they’re they’re clearly transitioning they’re ready to move on for the double big setup of of of Moy and Jared Allen it would be wise for them to allocate the resources somewhere else and just kind of play Moy as a true center for the Knicks it would give them a more Dynamic pick and roll threat and as the Knicks continue to build out their shooting infrastru structure and Jaylen Brunson continues to get better in the pick and roll game which he showed real flashes that that could be a super effective tool with precious aoua I I think having a big who is a great Rim Runner um could open up a lot for this offense and Jared Allen is certainly that Mitchell Robinson is not that Isaiah hardenstein is decent at it but he’s not he he doesn’t quite give you what Jared Allen would give you in terms of a guy who’s quick while also kind of having the vertical finishing that Mitchell Robinson brings to the table and being even quicker off his feet he can also create a little offense for you which will help the bench units even more make the Knicks even more unguardable in the closing moments of games and and does not really represent any meaningful defensive drop off from Isaiah hardstein like both are excellent defenders in their own right even if they get it done in slightly different ways so obviously that that’s not something I’m rooting for like it would suck for the dicks to have to like give away two first just because hartstein decided to take more money somewhere else but I do think there could be some benefits to going and getting Jared Allen even if he’d have to wear some Sunglass and adjust to those bright bright lights at MSG yeah and I think that you’d have to probably you know if you’re if you’re opting to say you know all right hardenstein left I’d like to stick with Mitch you have to have a contingency in place I mean it’s the same as if Mitch left somehow and you were left with only hartenstein like both guys have injury histories and you know you kind of figure that they’re going to pick each other up throughout the year as far as like when one’s injured hopefully the other isn’t but that’s not even always going to be the case necessarily as we as we saw this past year where pre toua had to step in and play huge minutes like I think you know if you if you have Mitchell Robinson left over from Isaiah hardenstein I think that even if it’s not a bigger splashier move like a Jared Allen you have to look to do something like that um and get another like capable Tipsy Center in there but Jared Allen would be like the best case version of that where you go all right well let’s just go get the you know one of the better versions of the type of player that tibs likes there that’s not Isaiah hartenstein and hope that it works out and that we can replicate the same type of onew punch that we had last year at our best and you know just let the cream rise to the top as far as who ends up starting versus backing who up but you know no matter what you’re in you’re in good shape there I think um so I’d be with it I think a lot of people would just have to go back and um delete a lot of a lot of stuff out of their Twitter history um from the the Jared Allen Nets days especially and then the Cleveland days too actually yeah Jared Allen’s never not been in a place where he’s been hated by Nicks fans so um but I’ll throw out my last my last potential trade out there that would constitute like a nons superstar trade that I think could be beneficial for the Knicks and that would be uh if the Bulls there’s some smoke that Demar D rozan might be looking to leave there and if that ends up happening I would hope that they take enough introspection to realize maybe now is the time to start recouping a little bit of the assets that we put into this core that really didn’t work out uh maybe they don’t do that but if they decided that they wanted to I think the Knicks could be an interesting fit for them think you could do something like boan bogdanovich give them one of the picks of 24 or 25 truly doesn’t really matter I mean let’s let’s just say for all intense purposes 24 and then maybe one of those very protected Detroit or Washington picks uh you know that are like in my opinion at least not very valuable first rounders as we’ve seen through the negotiations over the years I just think that they’re they’re so protected that they’re they’re never going to turn into a great first round pick they’ll at best be like the 12 pick in the draft or something but even that is only like the dart throw best case scenario where the team stays just bad enough to stay in the lottery but just good enough to not be top 10 it’s like there’s a lot of machinations in place there um so maybe throw them one of those and then you could get you could do both these guys and still save some money which would be sweet uh Alex Caruso and AO dumu I think would be a great return if you could do that use one of the first this year uh again another one of those like very protective ones and then just boan salary to make that happen Caruso is like an all Defense level player he could come off the bench he could give you great you know guard minutes he’s a little more point guardy at least he has been at points in his career so if you feel a little unsteady still about dece running the point guard Off the Bench he can come in there with Duce and give you I mean bench back court wise easily the best one in the NBA maybe the best defensive back court in the NBA period uh if you play those two guys together for large amounts of minutes which would be great um and then AO dumu like I mean I think is a he he probably would turn into the guy that would be a break in case of emergency sort of guy with the Knicks but pretty affordable contract he’s only making like 7 million for the next two years can score can shoot the three really well he shot like 40% from three and like three three three and a half atts something like that this year um so I mean he’s he’s a really good player the Knick’s got to see that a couple times uh I think both guys would fit in really well with this team and then you save like three four million dos off of what just Boon’s salary would be so I think that’ll be a good use of assets a good use of first round picks in a way that is productive and sort of just Builds on the concept of this team is pretty much right there but just a couple extra pieces would be really helpful to put them over the top yeah I’m I’m I’m in total agreement in that like I I love love love love kuso as a player I I think it would it would just sort of reinforced that the Knicks like just will put a rotation out there where they never play anyone with any meaningful weakness like it it was what we were talking about first segment boan like all right do you want to put a guy out there as a defensive liability like Alex Cruz is one of the best defenders in basketball like he’s turned himself into a good enough shooter that you can’t really play off him and at a certain point you look across the board at the New York Knicks and you say what is there to attack and there’s just there’s just nothing so in that sense it is a great deal I I guess my my first concern would just be dude like is that enough for the the Bulls like they turned down allegedly like I think the warriors were offer them two unprojected picks for him and and they didn’t do it and I know know you caveat of this you have to take into account like the Bulls I like I don’t even want to say the Bulls are a little nuts because you know what if they want to keep Alex Caruso like more power to them he’s an awesome player like I I don’t think that’s a c like I’m not gonna like neg the Bulls into this like I I don’t think that’s a crazy decision by any means they just sort of have to pick a direction and they’re not doing that right now um but if they did decide to trade him the other concern is is just like is there enough minutes so I I think tumu unless there were injuries and with the Knicks there probably will be injuries so in that sense like maybe you’re up the right path there like there’s no time for him I could slot in 21 minutes for Alex kuse so if you take Dante Devon chenzo down to 27 you keep Josh Hart at 28 and you just obviously wipe away Boons um uh 14 per game like that would that would get you to um to 21 minutes of Alex Caruso and night which would be pretty good like that’s like that I think that’s a reasonable am mount on him and like inevitably because there injuries like sometimes he more so I’m cool with it um I I think he’d be awesome do do you want to wrap up with this Victor Miguel question then a little bit of the luxury tax or do you have any final thoughts on that no no more no more on that let’s and I mean I don’t want to I don’t want to give spoilers but I think this next one’s gonna be pretty brief too Victor Miguel wants to know Victor Miguel forb on Twitter wants to know would you take Kevin Durant after all the crap he spoke against the Knicks uh Gavin my thoughts are pretty brief um I’m out on him at this point point I don’t think that I think that he still has ability um but I think that he’s more trouble than he’s worth at this point at then he’s worth at this point as a personality I just think that he’s destructive to every team that he’s been on recently he comes in and it’s like it’s like all the worst things that anybody says about LeBron I think are even like five times more with Kevin Durant he just he comes in everything becomes about him on the team you know when he gets there they make rash moves to try to appease him and try to build like this big three around him or whatever and then it all goes belly up after like a year or two and then you have Durant by the end of like year or two leaking stories that he possibly wants out already and whatever it’s just it’s a tale’s oldest time at this point at this point like the only good thing he had going for him was the Golden State thing and he could have kept that rolling for years and instead he was like no I want to go Forge my own legacy and then his just burn two franchises to the ground at this point um you know and just left them smoldering piles of Ash I mean that the Suns aren’t quite there yet but they’re damn close uh I don’t know I I think I would stay away from him at all costs I just don’t think there’s any I don’t think the benefits outweigh the cost even slightly with going after Durant at this point yeah I think his history’s on your side is is what I’ll say like G given the track record that totally reasonable take I I think if if the price was right like I I kind of have faith in the Nicks infrastructure to be like I think the same way not that obviously Kevin Durant had a much better reputation when he was going from the but I think without the championship pedigree the Knicks are very similar in that like just from like an emotional perspective they’re one of the Better Built teams in the NBA in recent memory like one of the more mature teams like one of the more like like just one of the best cultures like the NBA’s had in the last five to 10 years and I I I think they could handle Kevin Durant because like I don’t think Kevin Durant’s team ever hate him like I just think he makes a fuss and like to your point like that can blow up a franchise but when he’s not the best player like there’s a little bit less ability for him to do that and at this point in his career like especially if it was like a year down the road like it would be Jaylen brunson’s team and it would always be Jaylen brunson’s team so I think you could take advantage of what he brings to the table um without um the negatives and yet I don’t think it’s ever goingon to happen because the Suns like if you listen to Matt ispia like delusional or not like he he thinks they are contenders and he is treating them like they’re contenders and frankly like doesn’t really have a lot of alternative paths to go down um so unless they just get off to like the worst start ever next year I don’t think they’re trading Kevin Durant before the 2025 off season um so then you want to have the conversation sure for now it’s not even a realistic option and and even if it was right now the cost to get him would be too high for the Knicks for it to make a whole lot of sense because they probably have to give up a lot of their depth and a lot of their picks and I I just don’t see them doing it for a guy who is increasingly injury-prone and and despite an incredible offensive season increasingly on the decline and has not shown a track record of being a true blue superstar in the playoffs in recent years final question Alex comes from at Martin Joshua 8172 from YouTube we appreciate everyone asking on YouTube really cool um at what first year salary does it become impossible to keep OG and sard the second apron assuming you make your two draft picks keep oon and ihart at Max and sign minimums for the other roster spots Alex I’m leaving that to you it’s um so I’ll just say if anyone wants like a full explainer on this we did a full episode like a week and a half ago uh that we did like a whole like 30 something minutes on this and I think it was a really good episode so definitely go check that out if you want the full answer I for that reason I’ll just give the brief answer here to maybe wet your pallet a little bit um so that the tax line this past year was 165 million just to enter the luxury tax then it was 172 million for the first apron and 182 million for the second apron so the cap is going up from uh 136 million to roughly 141 million um so Jake fer in a recent article had estimated that the second apron will come in at 190 million so if we operate with that as the number there uh pretty much I mean so Isaiah hartstein deal if he signs the maximum that he can with the Knicks would start at about 16.2 million um did this I’m I’m trying to remember because I went down he said uh keep Boon and ihart make two draft picks and sign minimum so this means no keeping precious in this scenario so that’s some savings the two the draft picks would make like I think like two million each or something like that um you had 145 million already guaranteed this year if you guarantee boan bogdanovich’s contract um if OG signs a deal that averages to 38 or sorry to 35 million annually uh his first year would probably be about 31 million before you get into the raises so I think that I mean that’s pretty much it like I think right about there is where they’re going to hit that second apron because if you just look at like 145 million okay so then you add the 16.2 that’s 161 roughly then you add those two um two uh first round draft picks and then the minimum contracts are all like a one and a half to two million each uh depending on years of service for the player so then you’re looking at like I mean probably 1 170 something uh let’s just say like 172 for all intense purposes or whatever then no matter what no matter what you sign OG to anything that he would accept is going to put you in the second apron basically um I think that’s the Assumption the Knicks need to operate under and I almost wonder and I’ve outlined this a couple times in the last couple episodes but I wonder if maybe the right move for them at this point is to start looking into like load up as much as possible this season get into the second apron say we’re comfortable with the team that we have for this season coming up but make all their contracts front loaded as much as possible so that way they decrease in value over time so that way you run into this intersecting line where as the cap continues to go up hopefully your contracts go down and then eventually they pass each other in the night again and you become not a second apron team and maybe even not a first apron team if you really luck out with the 10% increases in the cap year-over-year so um I I can’t wait to see what the Nick strategy is as a guy who’s kind of nerdy about this stuff clearly uh with the amount that I talk about it but um yeah I guess time will tell as far as that goes I I just hope people uh are tuned in on YouTube to watch you do do graphs with with your arm I mean that that’s it’s next level podcasting right there you know visual aids that’s that’s where it’s at that’s why people love YouTube it’s not our faces certainly it’s definitely the visual aids so no it’s it’s it’s it’s the arm graphs all right uh he’s Alex I’m Gavin uh again uh please please please submit more mailback questions whatever you want we will always answer them we’ll always them in uh but tomorrow it is uh it is Julius Randle time we’re going to go in depth on him his contract extension and what happens if it doesn’t get signed and that is it for today’s lockdown Mick [Music]

The Knicks *when healthy* are one of if not the deepest team in basketball. Can the Knicks use Bojan Bogdanovic’s contract to make their bench even stronger?

Alex Wolfe and Gavin Schall list some of their ideal to targets to upgrade the bench and/or replace departing free agents before answering fan questions on if they’d take Kevin Durant on the Knicks and the luxury tax implications of OG Anunoby’s next contract.

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