Knicks eventually trade out of first round in NBA Draft after flurry of moves, stockpile future picks

The NBA Draft began Tuesday night with unusual uncertainty even at the very top. But if the choice for the No. 1 pick was questioned, one thing that seemed almost certain long before Adam Silver began announcing the picks was that the Knicks would trade out of their slot.

While players realized dreams and teams hoped that those players would help them realize theirs, for the Knicks the dream was different. Just barely coming down from capturing the first NBA title in 53 years for the franchise, the goal for the Knicks was to find ways to save every possible dollar against the salary cap to allow them to hold their veteran core together for another run at a repeat.

That meant a first step Tuesday night when they were on the clock and pushed the No. 24 overall pick back to No. 25 in a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. And then with the No. 25 pick the Knicks selected Sergio De Larrea, a shooting guard from Spain as a draft-and-stash candidate.

But before they could even check the passport status for de Larrea they were moving again, shipping him to Dallas for the 30th overall pick, Koa Peat. The Knicks then moved again, dealing Peat to the Phoenix Suns for a package of second-round picks and cash — successfully escaping the first round and the guaranteed salary slot that a selection (as long as the player wasn’t stashed overseas) would have forced them to commit to, instead adding the No. 47 pick in round two and four more future second-rounders.

The No. 24 pick would have cost the Knicks a starting salary of approximately $3.42 million. Shuffling down one spot saved them about $140,000. But by continuing to shuffle around the draft and eventually moving completely out of the s they save the entire amount.

While the starting five is under contract for next season the Knicks reached the heights they did this season while utilizing a deep roster, often going 10 and 11 players deep into the rotation. Three of those rotation pieces — Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson — are unrestricted free agents, while Jose Alvarado has a player option that will have to be exercised or declined by Friday. Alvarado, who pushed his deadline date back four days to give the Knicks more flexibility, would figure to be returning on a multi-year deal. But the Knicks have to find ways to squeeze as much cap space below the second apron to try to keep as much of the roster intact as possible.

The constraints on the Knicks front office became clear when Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan went on WFAN a week ago and said, “If we could bring back the whole team exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to. We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do and we're not going to do those, One of them is the second apron. Can not go into the second apron. But that’s up to (team president) Leon (Rose). I’m just telling him how big of a check I can write. I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”

The Knicks do hold the first pick in the second round, No. 31 overall, a result of a trade with the Washington Wizards that never conveyed as a first-round pick with the protections on the asset. They also have the No. 47 pick, obtained in the trade Monday, and the No. 55 overall pick.

While the attention is focused on the top of the draft, the lottery picks that the Knicks used to be choosing among, the impact of success of the organization is that the Knicks are left to find gems later in the draft. Walt Perrin, who developed a reputation for draft acumen in Utah and joined the Knicks in 2020 as the assistant general manager in charge of college scouting, has answered that call, helping stock the Knicks roster with late first-round picks and unheralded players added in the second round.

At No. 31 the Knicks could have a choice of Duke’s shooting guard Isaiah Evans or North Carolina center Henri Veesaar.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.