The Utah Jazz moved John Konchar for a reason, and now the ripple effect could end up helping the reigning NBA Champions.
Utah dealt Konchar mostly because he wasn’t expected to crack the rotation much and because Josh Green was the safer option. The trade also opened up a roster spot, which could matter later this season. Since then, Konchar has become a free agent after the Minnesota Timberwolves waived and stretched him.
He’s not one of the league’s premier role players, but he fits the mold contenders keep chasing: a low-cost, high-effort wing who can help fill out a playoff rotation. And according to SNY’s Ian Begley, he’s already drawing interest.
"Per SNY sources, guard-forward John Konchar and forward-center Drew Eubanks are among the players on New York’s radar as we draw closer to training camp. Konchar, recently waived and stretched after a trade to Minnesota, is known as a strong rebounder/defender/offensive connector who can knock down perimeter shots over his seven-year NBA career."
The Knicks are trying to do something nobody has pulled off this decade: repeat as NBA Champions. Konchar wouldn’t make that happen on his own, but landing a useful player for very little is the kind of edge teams hunt for, especially this late in the offseason.
There’s also a little extra appeal here. Konchar is already being paid in dead money, and he’d be playing with a new deal in mind, which gives him something to prove.
He’s not the ideal role player - if he were, Utah wouldn’t have moved him in the first place. But he’s good enough to justify New York’s interest, and if the Knicks bring him in before the season begins, they’d be adding a solid piece at a bargain price.
Utah, for its part, understood this was part of the deal when it made the move. Once a team trades a player, what happens next is out of its hands. The only thing that matters is whether the trade solved the team’s own issues, and the Jazz clearly believed it did.
If Konchar ends up in New York and helps the Knicks chase another title, people will inevitably look back at Utah’s decision and ask questions. That’s part of the business when a team is trying to build the right way, especially in an era when that job is tougher than ever.
And down the road, the Jazz could be in the same market themselves, looking for exactly the kind of player New York is now considering.
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