The New York Knicks are quickly approaching their first salary cap of $178 million, but avoiding it would allow them to spend just over $189 million, freeing up salary space to extend Isaiah Hartenstein’s contract with some smart financial moves.
The Knicks are trying to get around the hard cap, having traded the 25th overall pick for five second-rounders via the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Athletic’s Fred Katz believes the Knicks could consider trading Miles McBride, their 23-year-old guard — in fact, the team has already discussed it.
“The team has discussed the possibility of including Miles McBride in the Bridges trade, according to league sources – and not because they are eager to trade a 23-year-old powerhouse on a tiny contract, just $13 million over the next three seasons . It’s math. If they wanted, the Knicks could find a third team to send McBride to, acquire a future first-round pick and avoid the first-rounder hard cap. His salary plus Bogdanovi’s? it would narrowly surpass that of Bridges. But they have since avoided that scenario, a league source said.”