basketballwacko2 wrote:I think the knicks kinda screwed the pooch on these 2 picks. Why not either pick best available and give them rookie contracts or trade the 2 picks to some team for one pick in say 2027 or something?
The Knicks are going to be “hard capped” at the 2nd apron due to the Mikal bridges trade. However there is an exception that allows you to complete the require 14 man roster by adding 2nd round draft picks and vet min players (who made less than the non tax payer MLE the year prior) to your team.
The hard cap doesn’t occur automatically while being in the 1st or 2nd apron but those would still be the most reliable ways to add talent once a team has gone over the 1st apron. Unrelated to your comment but I also think the league realized this and separated the draft days to give those teams time to review talent & create a show those teams fans will watch.
The Knicks are going to likely be over the 2nd apron for the next few seasons & this weak draft made trading those pick for a future first unlikely.
TLDR: Teams in the 1st & 2nd apron are going to mostly draft in the second round going forward. The Knicks didn’t “mess up” they made the a choice not to draft in the 1st based on their current cap situation.