The Knicks Off-Season Plans Just Got Interesting

The Players Union rejection of a media-money windfall smoothing scheme by NBA owners to prevent a sudden increase in cap space available to sign free agents in 2016 has failed.

This conclusion was inevitable really and I think the Knicks administration recognized this early on.  Phil Jackson (e.g. Knicks) critics have had a litany of dire predictions that the Knicks cannot possibly attract free agents this summer because all of the teams resigning their own free agents can resign them for a longer contract.  THAT algebra just went up in flames.  Why would a top tier free agent want to sign a long term contract based on this year's available market value?

This is not to say that the more brittle of the free agents should sign long term deals just based on possible re-injury but for others it's self-inflicted fiscal frugality.

This summer's free agent signings will hinge not on long term contracts but on the one-year contract AND an organization's ability and sincerity to resign that free-agent in 2016 to a more appropriate contract.  The Knicks and Lakers have always taken care of their own.

There's a second by-product of this fiscal wrinkle. Second-tier free-agents can be overpaid by today's standards and still be considered reasonable longer term signings over time.  What this means is that certain players who wouldn't normally be paid a higher salary can be signed at a higher salary to entice them to move.  In the first year they won't be a bargain but in subsequent years their salaries will look more appropriate for the signing team.  Expect this front-loading tactic to be liberally used to disrupt already fiscally challenged teams to cough up key players either in trade or by falling out of the free-agent bidding.

So what's this all mean for the Knicks?

Phil Jackson has been doing a stealth job for building the Knicks from the ground up.  He can sign many of this team's best fitting players to a short term contract that is incentive for these players to continue to hustle.  Signing richer 2016 contracts is plenty of incentive.

Calderon's fixed-cost contract is that much more desirable to trading partners.

Putting some placeholders in roster spots, next year may feature something like;

C - Bargnani, Aldrich
PF - Melo, Smith, Amundson
SF - fa1, Thomas, Tenacious
SG - fa2
PG - Galloway, Shved

I expect Calderon, Early, THJ, Acey to be on a trade bubble.

We'll have our first-rounder, probably trade for a second-rounder, and still have a couple of spots open.

Sadly Wes Matthews' injury precludes signing him as a free-agent.