The New York Knicks are interested in adding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, but on two conditions.
According to Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints, the Knicks are one of the plenty of teams around the league who are waiting to get James at a discount.
“Most teams, according to league sources, are waiting to see if James is bought out before next season,” Irwin wrote on July 16. “Sources say the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks are among the teams waiting for such an end to the James-Lakers relationship.”
The Knicks only have the veteran minimum to offer James if he enters the buyout market. And the second condition is that James has to be bought out before the next season tips off.
Since they are above the apron, the Knicks are not allowed to sign a player from the buyout market during the season.
After Rich Paul and Leon Rose had already squashed their old beef, the Knicks could become a viable destination for James to cement his legacy if he could end New York’s five-decade-old championship drought.
Klutch Sports is back in business in New York.
For the first time since Cam Reddish’s ill-fated stint in New York, a Klutch Sports client — Jordan Clarkson — is joining the Knicks.
According to the New York Post, it was Paul who first reached out to the Knicks. This could pave the way for a potential LeBron final act in his favorite arena in the world — Madison Square Garden.
LeBron to Knicks Trades, Anyone?
GettyThe Knicks continue to be linked to LeBron James if he decides to part ways with the Lakers.
ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks named the Knicks as one of the two teams that can realistically trade for James — via a one-on-one swap with Karl-Anthony Towns — if he demands it from the Lakers.
Zach Lowe of The Ringer proposed a more complicated trade that would help the Knicks clean their books while providing the Lakers with a starting center and a much younger, elite defensive wing than James.
“To me, the Knicks are the most interesting one because they could sell it as like if it’s [OG] Anunoby] and [Mitchell] Robinson or some combination of Anunoby, [Mikal] Bridges and Robinson,” Lowe said on his podcast “The Zach Lowe Show” on Tuesday, July 1. “They could sell it as like, well, we get LeBron James and we’re kind of actually sneakily cleaning up our books for like two or three years down the line, assuming it’s a short-term LeBron deal.”
Bridges’ extension is coming and they will soon have to pay Brunson his supermax two years from now.
However, such a mega-trade is not feasible right now for the Knicks after they hard-capped themselves at the second apron following the signing of French forward Guerschon Yabusele to their $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception.
The Knicks are not allowed to aggregate salaries in any trade. Unless they can dip below the second apron by first making a salary dump trade, Lowe’s proposal will remain a fantasy.
No Indication of LeBron Trade Demand or Buyout
However, it is increasingly likely that James will end up sticking with the Lakers.
On Wednesday, July 16, The Athletic reported, citing league and team sources, that the Lakers have received “no indication” of a forthcoming trade request or buyout talks from James or his representatives.
Barring any of the wild scenarios — trade or buyout — that have been speculated by league personnel and talking heads on social media and TV, James will enter his unprecedented 23rd season in the NBA with the Lakers, according to The Athletic.
In the sections filled with employees from other teams, scouts and executives around the NBA buzzed with speculation about where else James might play, tossing around trade and buyout scenarios that, league and team sources told The Athletic, have never been discussed between James and the Lakers.
Amid the constant speculation recently about his future, both the Lakers and people close to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer expect that he will be with the organization for training camp once the season begins this fall, league sources told The Athletic.
James will become an unrestricted free agent — for the first time since he joined the Lakers in 2017 — after next season.
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