The Knicks have decided to keep Bobby Portis Jr. for over $ 15 million next season. The reason is that they can use him in a trade to manipulate their cap space in a way that allows them to acquire more players.
Let me explain. If the Knicks decide to strike a deal for, say, Chris Paul, they can do so by deleting their books and absorbing most of his salary in the cap. This would allow them to put off a draft pick or Kevin Knox-type player in exchange.
However, if the Knicks want to acquire Chris Paul but also use their space to sign free agents, they’d better spend around $ 20 million in the open market and then pack Portis Jr.’s salary (after it’s guaranteed) as a deadline. in Oklahoma City to aggregate wages as a means of crossing the line to acquire Paul.
Basically, instead of creating the space needed to absorb Paul’s entire salary, just create a portion of that space and use Portis Jr. to make up the rest.
Bobby Portis Jr. is not a $ 15 million player in a normal market and 2020 is anything but a normal market. Bringing it back to that pace, the Knicks would actually waste a rare opportunity to use their space to sign veteran free agents at a discount or use their space to soak up bad contracts in hopes of getting sweeteners.
While there are scenarios they could explore in Portis Jr.’s trading to acquire more salary, as described above, this requires another team to be open to getting their salary back, which is a lot, even if it’s running out.