The New York Knicks came into this offseason with the hopes of being able to sign one of the superstars on the market like LaMarcus Aldridge or Marc Gasol, but that didn't work out. Although the Knicks should be better next season, their roster is still nowhere near championship-ready and they need to get a lot more talent.
Knicks fans are probably hoping that in 2016 the Knicks could attract a top free agent to New York with the cap going up and a hopefully improved team, but the problem is they still won't have cap space, according to Ian Begley of ESPN New York.
The cap is expected to go up to about $89 million next season, but the maximum salary contracts are also expected to go up with the cap. As of right now, the Knicks are reportedly projected to have about $19 million in cap space in the summer of 2016. Maximum salaries differ depending on years of service, but the lowest max contract you will be able to give would start at about $21 million a year.
The Knicks have a few big contracts that are on the books for 2016. The main one, though, is Carmelo Anthony, who is set to make $25 million in 2016-17. Anthony has said that he wants to be on a competitive team that has a chance to win a championship, but meanwhile he is a major reason why the Knicks can't surround him with more talent, as he is taking up a good portion of their cap space.
Although the Knicks wouldn't have the cap space to sign a maximum player in 2016-17 right now, there are ways for them to clear room to get that cap space. The easiest way would be for Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams to both turn down their player options for 2016-17, which would save the Knicks about $12.5 million, but that is very unlikely.
The more likely route the Knicks would have to take would be one similar to last year when they made trades as salary dumps. Last season Phil Jackson traded both Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers for virtually nothing as a way to gain cap space heading into the summer. The Knicks could try to do the same this season with guys like Afflalo, Williams or Jose Calderon to ensure they have a chance to sign a max player.
The Knicks need to try to find a way to become competitive again soon, and considering they don't have their draft pick next season the best avenue to improve is probably free agency. The potential unrestricted free agents in 2016-17 include Kevin Durant, Mike Conley and Al Horford. All three of those guys will probably get max deals, and as of right now the Knicks wouldn't be able to sign any of them, but Jackson will almost certainly get to work once the Knicks are out of the playoff race to ensure that he has the cap space to offer max deals to those free agents.
