The biggest available NBA fish finally landed Wednesday afternoon, and in a surprise Damian Lillard will not be sipping banana daiquiris on South Beach but rather Shotz beer, the preferred pilsner of Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney. We can discuss the relative merits and livability of Miami verses Milwaukee another time.
For now, it would appear the balance of power has shifted, ever so perilously, back to Wisconsin, with Giannis Antetokounmpo getting a new wing man and the Bucks inching back to preeminence over the Celtics and Heat. For now.
There is a key element of that three-team, eight-player deal (which also included the Suns) that is intriguing and relevant on our shores: the Blazers are expected to flip Jrue Holiday to a contender, with the bidding starting immediately.
Do the Knicks qualify as a contender?
And whether they do or not, would Holiday be a smart pursuit?
The answer to both is actually the same — “yes,” but with an explanation.
The Knicks are certainly better right now than they were on the day their season ended May 12 in Miami. Adding Donte DiVincenzo adds to their depth and shooting. Another full year with Jalen Brunson running the show, and another year for the Brunson-Julius Randle partnership to blossom, should also bode well.
The East will be something of a mystery for the first few months as the usual suspects — Bucks, Celtics, Sixers, Heat — figure themselves out. The Knicks and Cavs start where they ended last season, on the periphery of that group. And the Knicks will sure get a quick taste of where they stand — of their first 10 games, half come against Boston, Cleveland and Milwaukee.
Holiday, of course, is the kind of player who Tom Thibodeau would have invented in a laboratory. He’s been on the NBA’s All-Defense first or second team five of the last six years. He handles the ball well. He shoots with range. He’s unselfish. Specific to the Knicks, he’d provide a welcome hand for Brunson in the backcourt, drawing the tough defensive assignment and taking some of the pressure off him to handle the ball as much as he did last year.
“Thibs and Jrue,” a longtime NBA executive texted me on Wednesday, “is a marriage made in basketball heaven.”
But at what cost? That is the eternal question facing Leon Rose as he tries to strengthen the Knicks’ core. Holiday will play this, his 15th NBA season, at age 33. He is due just south of $37 million, with a player option for next year he’s almost certain to decline. The Knicks would have to pony up players to match that number, which may reduce the number of draft picks required. But, as always, it is wise to remember how carefully Rose protects those.
What would a deal look like? Here’s one that works fiscally: Holiday to the Garden, with the Knicks shipping out Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Isaiah Hartenstein, DaQuan Jeffries and Isaiah Roby. Plus, you would suspect, two of their draft picks.
Do you do that deal?
If you’re the Knicks, don’t you need to at least see if that gets you to the table? Look, Holiday will be a sought-after asset by a lot of teams, especially Miami, which lost out on Lillard but has to believe it could still improve if it can build a package based upon, say, exchanging Kyle Lowry’s expiring contract for Holiday. There will be others willing to ante.
Will the Knicks? Should the Knicks? Wednesday’s maneuvers don’t rule out Giannis still leaving Milwaukee in 2025, though if he wins a second title with Dame he may just choose to plant his flag there for good. Karl-Anthony Towns is probably just a 5 percent upgrade on what you already have in Randle. Do you know for sure that Joel Embiid’s eye may wander given the recent zanies in Philly?
All of these things matter in Rose’s world, if he’s ever going to identify and then acquire the prize for which he’s saved up all his allowance money. Or he could keep building at the margins, making the team stronger — and also more attractive — for an option nobody has thought about yet.
In end, teams higher on the NBA’s list of likely contenders may make it a moot point. But adding Holiday would also likely move the Knicks up on that list, too. It’s worth a conversation.
