Post-Precious: Is Knicks Center Search Over?

With nary a Knickerbocker competing in the Olympics, the New York Knicks finally nudged their way back into the mid-summer news cycle by announcing the presumed return of Precious Achiuwa on Tuesday.

On paper, the Achiuwa development should, at the very least, cull the critics who based their entire anti-Knick diatribes on the fact that Isaiah Hartenstein fled. Retaining the 6-8 force raised in The Bronx should at least quell concerns about the Knicks’ interior depth, which was the team’s sole soft spot heading into this dead period on the NBA calendar.

But Leon Rose is apparently keeping things alive on the domestic front with all the attention on affairs abroad. Should he continue? Therein lies the question.

Further intel from SNY’s Ian Begley hints that Achiuwa has some work to do if true metropolitan longevity is the name of the game: Begley reported that Achiuwa waived his no-trade clause as part of the deal and will be eligible to be dealt come December.

As it stands, it’s reasonable to assume that Achiuwa is the primary backup to starting center Mitchell Robinson, fresh off a series of ankle procedures that ate away at a potential career-best season. The depth the Knicks started with on Tuesday was headlined by second/third unit mainstay Jericho Sims and the Westchester platoon of Dmytro Skapintsev and Ariel Hukporti.

But that could change once the holidays and by the time Achiuwa is able to enter the trade block.

Ability was likely never the reason why Achiuwa lingered on the free agency ledger for so long: the former Toronto Raptor more or less saved the season in the paint on several occasions and he may have to do it again with both Robinson and Julius Randle coming off major medical procedures. Achiuwa has yet to be trusted in any long-term contention situation and the Knicks may opt to put an established name on their Christmas list at his expense.

The Knicks and their NBA brethren will likely know where they stand by mid-December: the NBA Cup/In-Season Tournament will have wrapped and some portions of the playoff picture will have already been painted. Protected picks will have some form of clarity, as will the statuses of the top interior free agents: not only will veterans from developing teams be available (i.e. Clint Capela, Kevon Looney) but the Knicks might also have their pick of projects fleeing rebuilds, such as Jalen Duren and Mark Williams.

But while it feels like Rose and Co. seem far from finished, it feels like the Knicks have assembled a strong semblance of what their opening night roster will look like. Begley hinted that the next step of the offseason process would likely turn to Randle’s next extension (or lack thereof) and Fred Katz of The Athletic foreshadowed the idea of “intentionally overpaying” Achiuwa to ensure a sizable return in a potential trade: Duren, for example, is making over $1 million less next year than Achiuwa, who was inked to a $6 million deal for one season.

Of note, a salary update from ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes that the Knicks now have $7.6 million to work with below the infamous second tax apron they’ve done their utmost to avoid this offseason. That number shrinks if Sims ($2.1 million) is on the roster come Aug. 16.

Even if there is a ticking clock attached to his metropolitan hours, Achiuwa faces an undeniably intriguing opportunity: with his employment secure for the next five-plus months, the 2020 first-round pick will get to work with the contending assets of the Knicks, one of which includes new assistant coach and interior guru Mark Bryant.

The opportunity to work with Bryant comes at an intriguing crossroads of Achiuwa’s career: while he’s inching closer toward becoming a pure center (putting on about 15 points since entering the league, subbing for both Hartenstein and Robinson toward the end of last year’s playoff run), he continues to be listed as a power forward. If Achiuwa is serious about exploring a follow in Robinson’s footsteps as a pure, traditional center, Bryant could become one of the biggest gamechangers of his NBA tenured.

All in all, the Achiuwa signing undoubtedly closed one talking point … while seemingly begetting several more. These, however, feel like the ones the Knicks are more than happy to … pun intended … paint over as a fateful season rages on.

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