Knicks’ exchange plan for a discontented star initially focused on the Timberwolves center of Karl-Anthony Towns. But now flanked by D’Angelo Russell, Towns are more likely to remain in Minnesota. The Knicks are also expected to hire Tom Thibodeau, with whom Towns has had differences.
Marc Berman of the New York Post:
However, since Leon Rose has been hired as president, the player to watch out for is mostly the combined guard Suns Devin Booker, according to league sources.
Rose represented Booker before being hired by the Knicks. But the discussion of executives turned into agents who land their former customers far outweighs the reality of what’s really going on.
With four more seasons left on his contract, Booker also has little influence in choosing his team. He could request a trade on his own and make them feel obliged to move him. But the main way for players to choose their commercial destination is to refuse to sign again with unwanted teams. Booker who threatens to leave in 2024 won’t scare many teams anytime soon. And many other teams could offer something more than the Knicks, whose main assets include their first players, two first players Mavericks, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and Kevin Knox. The most valuable of these assets – the first New York players – would become less valuable with a main Booker.