Another option could be Alex Len, who the Suns might let walk now they've drafted Ayton.
Guaranteed Salaries: $70,753,926Non-Guaranteed Salaries: Trey Burke ($1,795,015); Troy Williams ($1,544,951)
Expected Free-Agent Holds: Enes Kanter's player option ($18,622,514); Ron Baker's player option ($4,544,400); Kyle O'Quinn's player option ($4,256,250)
First-Round Pick Holds: No. 9 ($3,708,120)
Dead Money: $0
All-Inclusive Total: $105,225,176
Starting Cap Space: -$4,225,176
It says a lot about this summer that a team operating above the salary cap has one of the 10 best sheets.
Either the Orlando Magic or Utah Jazz could technically go here, but the Knicks potentially have more flexibility. The Magic can only waive non-guaranteed deals for Khem Birch and Shelvin Mack, and they still would barely be under the cap after the fact. The Jazz need to gut their roster of Dante Exum (restricted), Derrick Favors (unrestricted), Jonas Jerebko (non-guaranteed), Thabo Sefolosha (non-guaranteed) and Ekpe Udoh (non-guaranteed) to maximize their space.
New York's path to substantive breathing room is cleaner. Everything hinges on Enes Kanter's player option. They'll have more than $14 million at their disposal if he declines it. And while he won't match his $18.6 million salary on the open market, he sounds like he intends to test the waters.
"You could say that, yes [I'm leaning toward opting out]," he said, per the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "I'm not saying I'm in or out 100 percent. I'm just saying I want to stay here long-term because it's always weird just having one year and then leave and come back. I'd rather stay long-term."
Carrying Kanter's cap hold won't help the Knicks' bottom line. They'll have to renounce him if he hits free agency. They will open up more room from there if Kyle O'Quinn opts out, and they could always circle back to stretching Joakim Noah. Spreading the final two seasons on his contract over the next half-decade would save them close to $11 million this summer.
This discussion becomes moot if Kanter plays out the last year of his agreement. The Knicks could still duck beneath the cap if O'Quinn opts out, but waiving Noah isn't close to worthwhile when it wouldn't bring them within spitting distance of max room. If Kanter sticks around, look for New York to stand relatively pat on the margins and work the market with its non-taxpayer mid-level exception.