The Knicks may have found themselves another opening on a familiar trade target, and this one traces back to New Orleans trying to make room for Bennedict Mathurin.
Mathurin is set to join the Pelicans on a two-year, $16 million contract, though nothing is finalized yet. Early projections have New Orleans paying him about $7.8 million next season, which would push the team more than $2 million into the luxury tax.
That’s a spot the Pelicans almost certainly don’t want to stay in. They’ve never finished a season over the tax, and after winning only 26 games last year, the expectation is they’ll move quickly to get below it. Shamit Dua of In The N.O. reported that New Orleans is expected to make a “ small corresponding move to open up some space under the luxury tax, and create a roster spot for Mathurin.”
For the Knicks, that creates another possible path to Yves Missi.
New York has already gone after Missi multiple times as it looks for a backup to Karl-Anthony Towns, and it has kept an eye on the Pelicans center since at least this past winter. If New Orleans needs to trim salary, Missi’s $3.5 million number is one way to do it.
He’s not just filler, though. At minimum, he’s still their second-string center, and he isn’t the kind of player teams move without a reason.
The Knicks would still have work to do on their end. Their newly stocked second-round stash could help, but any deal would likely require a third team to take on money New York sends out. The Knicks can’t bring back more salary than they ship away, so the math has to work.
That part may not be as daunting as it sounds. Deuce McBride’s $4 million salary would be attractive to plenty of teams, possibly even the Pelicans. If New York prefers to package Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek instead, that gets trickier, but it still wouldn’t be impossible.
The bigger point is that the Knicks still need another playable big man, and the free-agent market has already thinned out. Nick Richards signing with the Miami Heat may have helped New York in one sense, but it also cut down the list of available options.
Missi isn’t perfect, but he looks like a better swing than a third-center placeholder. His touch around the rim needs work, though New York’s spacing could help there.
His defensive rebounding comes and goes, but he brings energy on the offensive glass. He’s also more mobile and offers more resistance at the basket than Andre Drummond.
Last season, Missi ranked in the 84th percentile of points saved at the rim per 100 possessions.
Mathurin’s arrival doesn’t mean the Pelicans are definitely moving Missi. But if New Orleans is determined to get under the tax, it has to make a move somewhere. That gives the Knicks another chance to circle back on a player they’ve been monitoring for a while.
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The Knicks spent part of the offseason looking at backup center options, and Nick Richards was one of the names on the board before he wound up with the Miami Heat. For a team trying to stabilize the minutes behind Karl-Anthony Towns, the idea made some sense on paper, but the fit was always going to be the bigger issue. Richards brings size and some interior presence, yet the broader question for New York was whether he could really give them what they need from that spot.
Andre Drummond is currently handling the primary backup center role, and the more the Knicks weigh the alternatives, the more that arrangement looks like it may have been the safer path. Richards' defensive and positional limitations made him a tricky match next to Towns, which is why New York may be better off keeping its options open rather than forcing a move that looked convenient more than useful. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Title Run Made The Mikal Bridges Trade Look Even Better
When the Knicks landed Mikal Bridges from the Nets in a sprawling deal that sent out multiple assets, the move was always going to be judged over time. It looked even sharper once the front office kept working the margins, using a second-round pick from Brooklyn to bring in Jose Alvarado from New Orleans, a Brooklyn native whose fit with the roster made plenty of sense from the start.
Alvarado ended up mattering far beyond the usual depth-piece label during the Knicks 2026 title run, especially once the games got biggest in the NBA Finals. His energy, defense and ability to tilt possessions gave New York another layer behind its stars, and it only added to the sense that the original Bridges trade was about more than one headline name. The more the championship season unfolded, the more that Brooklyn connection seemed to keep paying off for New York. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Could Still Add A Proven Champion Before Opening Night
Bruce Brown is still sitting in free agency as opening night gets closer, and the longer he remains available, the more he looks like the kind of low-drama addition contenders tend to circle back to in September. A 2023 NBA champion, Brown gave Denver a steady dose of energy and versatility last season, appearing in every regular-season game and then again in the playoffs while providing the kind of connective play that can fit almost anywhere.
For the Knicks, that makes him an appealing name to keep in the mix if they decide there is still room to shore up the roster before the season tips off. New York has been built around depth, toughness and playoff-readiness, and Browns experience in that environment is easy to see as a potential fit, even if the final decision on whether he lands in Manhattan remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]