The Knicks’ search for a third center is still alive, and Charles Bassey remains a name worth watching even after he landed with the Warriors.
Bassey signed a one-year, $2.85 million deal with Golden State last week, but the contract is only partially guaranteed. That detail matters. It keeps the door open for New York to revisit him later if the situation changes.
Right now, Bassey is buried on the Warriors’ depth chart. Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford are all clearly ahead of him. Rookie standout Yaxel Lendeborg and Gui Santos, who will push Green to play minutes at the five, are ahead of him too.
That kind of logjam makes Bassey a useful insurance policy, but it also creates real uncertainty about his long-term spot. There’s little chance all of those frontcourt pieces stay healthy and available for 60-plus games, which gives a player like Bassey value as a bench fill-in. Still, his deal does not become guaranteed until Jan. 10, so a cut is not off the table.
The Warriors signed Charles Bassey to a one-year, $2.85 million deal, which is partially guaranteed for $1.4 million, league sources told @hoopshype. Bassey helps fill the void of Quinten Post, who recently signed with the Grizzlies. ESPN first reported an agreement.
Even if Golden State doesn’t cut him, Bassey could still be moved. He waived his implicit no-trade clause when he signed, just as Jordan Clarkson did with the Knicks. That gives the Warriors flexibility if they decide they need help somewhere else.
A scenario like that isn’t hard to picture. Steph Curry could start hot, Green and Porzingis could stay healthy and look like themselves, and then a different part of the roster could suddenly need attention if Brandin Podzeimski or Gary Payton II struggles, or if De'Anthony Melton gets hurt again. In that kind of shuffle, Bassey could become the odd man out.
If Golden State does decide to move him, New York would not need to empty the cupboard. For a deeper bench center, it should take only a second-rounder, and the Knicks have plenty of those after the draft.
Bassey’s situation also feeds the growing sense that the Knicks are not in panic mode. This front office has shown it can adjust on the fly, and that it usually has more than one plan in motion.
The current center setup with Andre Drummond and Nick Richards, or whoever the Knicks bring in as the third-string option, may not inspire much confidence. It is a thin group, and it looks even shakier after fans got used to Mitchell Robinson as the backup center.
Even so, it would be surprising if New York entered next season’s postseason without making another move in the middle. Whether it ends up being Bassey or someone else they’ve been connected to, the Knicks still have room to keep tinkering.
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