Just a few hours after the conclusion of the NBA Draft, Knicks president Leon Rose and his staff went right back into the office and started to make some moves.
Photo: —The Knicks announced on Thursday afternoon they waived guards Wayne Ellington and Elfrid Payton, forward Kenny Wooten, and center Taj Gibson. They also announced they declined the team options on guard Theo Pinson and forward Bobby Portis.
According to Yahoo’s Shams Charania, the Knicks waiving Payton saves $8M, while waiving Gibson saves $10.29M.
There is some mutual interest in bringing back Gibson and Portis, according to Ian Begley of SNY. Begley also reported that the Knicks will not give a qualifying offer to guard Damyean Dotson, making him an unrestricted free agent
Reggie Bullock will remain a New York Knick.
This was all confirmed by the Knicks a few minutes later.
Knicks Roster Moves pic.twitter.com/ml0yexhIL0
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) November 19, 2020
So here is what the Knicks roster looks like at the moment…
PG
- Frank Ntilikina
- Reggie Bullock
- Dennis Smith, Jr.
- Immanuel Quickley
SG
- RJ Barrett
SF
- Kevin Knox
- Ignas Brazdeikis
PF
- Julius Randle
- Obi Toppin
C
- Mitchell Robinson
After all these moves, the Knicks will have roughly $40M to spend in free agency according to Jeffrey Bellone of Daily Knicks of Fansided.
Updated chart with Pinson’s team option officially declined: pic.twitter.com/srVJ2b4ARP
— JB (@JeffreyBellone) November 19, 2020
NBA Free Agency will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. EST.
UPDATE – 11/20/20: Since the publication of this article, the Knicks acquired center Ed Davis and two 2023 second-round picks from the Utah Jazz. With Davis’ $5M contract, the Knicks’ available cap space falls to around $35M. The Knicks have four second-round picks in 2023, a year in which the NBA is eyeing the return for high school prospects
Featured Image: ---
