NBA insiders on Knicks draft plans, potential trades, and free agency

In the June 16 episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, NBA insider Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, along with New York Knicks beat reporters Ian Begley of SNY and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News discussed a lot of Knickerbocker business ahead of the draft and free agency this summer.

Those topics included, mostly, what will happen with OG Anunoby as he is expected to decline his player option and enter unrestricted free agency, the two options available for Isaiah Hartenstein regarding his future, and other ancillary stuff such as dealing with other pending FAs and possible draft picks and deals.

We’re breaking down the podcast into three separate posts for easier digestion. You can listen to the full episode following the link above, or read about what these three discussed below and in our other two posts, as well as HoopsHype.

Bojan Bogdanovic’s Role and Trade Value

Scotto kicked off the discussion about the “ancillary” free agents and pending business to be handled by the Knicks this offseason touching on Bojan Bogdanovic’s situation in New York.

According to Scotto, the expectation is for the Knicks to guarantee Bogey’s salary for the upcoming season if only to keep him around as a trade candidate in the final year of his contract. If retained, Bogdanovic will earn $19 million during the 2025 season.

“The expectation as of now is the Knicks will guarantee Bojan Bogdanovic’s salary for the upcoming season, and he’ll become a trade candidate in the final year of his contract as a result,” Scotto said.

That’s a logical thing to do, as the Knicks biggest earners outside of Julius Randle ($30.3 million ) and Jalen Brunson ($24.9) are OG Anunoby (unknown but expected to sign a $35M-to-max-money contract), Bogdanovic ($19), Josh Hart ($18.1), and Mitchell Robinson ($14.3).

Of that group, it’s hard to see Brunson, OG, and Hart getting moved, so having Bogdanovic’s hefty salary around to match incoming money in potential trades is a good strategy.

Bondy supported this idea, highlighting the midseason trade made by the Knicks to land Bogdanovic was probably completed with that future big-trade scenario in mind.

“They made that trade midseason with the idea that they could use his salary as a means to trade for a star because they need to match salaries somehow,” Bondy said. “I think that’s their ideal route.”

Begley agreed with the decision to keep Bogdanovic, doubling down on the importance of his salary in facilitating future trades.

“If you don’t have his salary, where are you looking in terms of salary to move out in a trade? Julius Randle is going to be right under $30 million next year. Mitchell Robinson is just under $15 million,” Begley said. “You don’t have a ton of options in terms of middle-of-the-road salaries at a good number where you can put together a package to match a big number.”

Photo by C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images

Potential Star Acquisition via Trade

Addressing the prospect of acquiring a star player, Scotto dismissed the possibility of Donovan Mitchell joining the Knicks after New York decided not to pounce on the chance two years ago.

“The Donovan Mitchell to New York ship has sailed,” Scotto said.

The insider, however, noted that the Minnesota Timberwolves are emerging as a potential selling franchise because of the troubling financials the organization will find itself navigating sooner than later, as well as the ownership mess in Minny.

“When you look around the league in general, I think you have to look at Minnesota, given the ownership situation,” Scotto said. “What are they looking to do with that payroll going forward? That’s going to be a luxury tax team going forward, with the extensions of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels kicking in. Rudy Gobert makes a ton of money, and so does Karl-Anthony Towns. At a certain point, are they going to be able to afford that team? They had a great run this year, but time will tell if it’s going to be sustainable or not.

“I’d say executives around the league are monitoring Minnesota going forward to see if they can withstand that exorbitant payroll coming up.”

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Precious Achiuwa’s Market & Expectations

Scotto briefly discussed the free agent market for Precious Achiuwa, highlighting the Knicks’ financial constraints and roster considerations when it comes to their decision on extending (or not) Precious.

“Achiuwa is eligible for a $6.3 million qualifying offer, but money is tight with the Knicks,” Scotto said. “They’re already trying to bring back Isaiah Hartenstein, and Mitchell Robinson is still on the roster.”

Scotto quoted “people around the league” telling him they think “it might be a little tough for the Knicks, given their roster construction and future payroll concerns, to keep him even though he’s a restricted free agent.”

That might be right, but I seem to think the same as Begley, who answered back to Scotto’s comments suggesting the Knicks will likely submit a qualifying offer and see how that goes.

“With Achiuwa, I think you give him the qualifying offer and see what his market is. If you need to rescind the qualifying offer for financial reasons, you can. That’s probably how it’ll go,” Begley said. “Hartenstein’s deal is going to happen before Achiuwa, so you’ll have a chance to know whether he’ll be back before making a final decision on Achiuwa.”

Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images

New York Knicks Draft Strategy

Finally, the trio discussed potential Knicks strategies and approaches to the draft as they enter the event with back-to-back picks (No. 24 and No.25) at the end of the first round.

Bondy noted Leon Rose’s tendency to make deals on draft night, saying Rose “hasn’t been shy about wheeling and dealing on draft night.”

The beat reported doesn’t believe the Knicks “are going to have much use for their two picks late in the first round,” so he thinks New York is “going to try and swap them out, whether that’s to consolidate them to one pick or get another player.”

Begley, on the other hand, thinks the opposite—at least to an extent—will happen.

“I actually disagree,” Begley said. “I’m going to say that they make at least one of those first-round picks, and if they can move off of one to kick it two years down the road, maybe they do that. The picks in this draft aren’t valued highly. I’d think they make at least, if not two, of those three picks they have.”

Most recently, HoopsHype aggregated mock draft published on June 15 projected the Knicks to draft Baylor freshman center Yves Missi with the No. 24 pick and Virginia sophomore guard Ryan Dunn with the No. 25 selection.